I Apologize

Have you looked at Paul Ryan's deficit reduction plan? It's garbage...no one has the balls to cut anything or tax anyone.

He'll never get it through Congress and one reason he'll never, at least in the near future, be a serious candidate for president.

I will say, however, that Mr. Ryan is one of the few Republicans that I respect and has his thinking cap on when trying to address the problem and not just right wing hyperbole.

Interesting take by Bruce Bartlett. I may read his new book.

Paul Ryan's Budgetary Holy Grail - Forbes.com (http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/11/cut-spending-taxes-budget-medicare-paul-ryan-opinions-columnists-bruce-bartlett.html)

Also good info from Heritage.

The Three Biggest Myths About Tax Cuts and the Budget Deficit | The Heritage Foundation (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Reports/2010/06/The-Three-Biggest-Myths-About-Tax-Cuts-and-the-Budget-Deficit)

While I agree mostly with Heritage's take, I would advocate implementing the FairTax and temporarily elevate the rate with the elevated % of it exclusively for debt reduction and not put into the general fund. Once the entitlement programs/debt interest are reformed and under control the rate would reduce to a "normal" rate.

My main gripe with Ryan's proposal is that it takes nearly 70 years to tackle deficits and he only targets non-defense spending. I will give him credit, at least he has the guts to go after Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security but I won't pretend he doesn't lose credibility when he takes defense spending off the table.

Yes and that trillion was pretty much wasted and everything he said it would do it has not done.

Yeah, except for grow the economy three consecutive quarters? And keep, oh, tens of thousands police, firemen, and teachers employed across the nation? And oh, allow a number of states and municipalities to meet their budget(s) without plunging local economies into depression. And should we start on GM and the banks who have turned the corner and are paying back the bailout money - almost all of it?

Yeah, the stimulus and bailout sucked big time!!

My main gripe with Ryan's proposal is that it takes nearly 70 years to tackle deficits and he only targets non-defense spending. I will give him credit, at least he has the guts to go after Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security but I won't pretend he doesn't lose credibility when he takes defense spending off the table.Agreed. Defense has to be included in comprehensive spending cuts. Defense spending has been good to me over the years, but there's definitely room to cut there.

Yeah, except for grow the economy three consecutive quarters? And keep, oh, tens of thousands police, firemen, and teachers employed across the nation? And oh, allow a number of states and municipalities to meet their budget(s) without plunging local economies into depression. And should we start on GM and the banks who have turned the corner and are paying back the bailout money - almost all of it?

Yeah, the stimulus and bailout sucked big time!! here is an article from the NY times in 2003 on reform in regards to banking / home loans New Agency Proposed to Oversee Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae - NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/11/business/new-agency-proposed-to-oversee-freddie-mac-and-fannie-mae.html) who was right on this, Hmm ? In 2005 ,Dems were saying we had no need for reform , video included Maxine Waters Caught Lying About Fannie Mae Ties on 'Real Time' | NewsBusters.org (http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/10/11/maxine-waters-caught-lying-about-fannie-mae-ties-real-time)
McCain - Federal Housing Enterprise Regulatory Reform Act of 2005 (Democrats blocked reform) (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2083758/posts) back in 05 , dems were saying Rep's sucked for wanting to pass reform on Banking and the GSE's too ... Blame Fannie Mae and Congress For the Credit Mess - WSJ.com (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122212948811465427.html) And also in 2005 , lord Obama met with Fannie Mae CEO , and ... well we know how well that worked out . IN 2006 , Pelosi and Co. took control of congress , 4 years later have we seen anything get better ? Both parties suck , sad to say ,but the entitlement mantra from the Dems is sick .... we are entitled to what we work for , not what politician can steal from Peter and give to Paul .

you quote 2005 as Dem's saying there is no need for reform. the GOP at that time had both control of congress, and the white house. they didnt need the Dem's. so its a little hypocritical to blame anyone. they are all at fault

you quote 2005 as Dem's saying there is no need for reform. the GOP at that time had both control of congress, and the white house. they didnt need the Dem's. so its a little hypocritical to blame anyone. they are all at faultGOP didn't have enough to break a filibuster.

OK the Dems and Repubs are to blame. But TEA party ain't the answer. No one would listen to them or respect them. It would be a free for all. Talking tough, quoting the declaration of independence will get their card pulled and their bluff called. What would be left is a group of emotional fanatics.

The notion that Reagan WASN'T a fiscal conservative is asinine nonsense.

Bush agree with you on that one, but most conservatives understand Bush 2 wasn't a fiscal conservative.

This is exactly the kind of thing that makes me lose faith in our citizenry and the collective future. We had a President who oversaw roughly $3 TRILLION IN NEW NATIONAL DEBT BECAUSE HE SLASHED TAXES AND DRASTICALLY INCREASED SPENDING (NOT ON THE PUBLIC BUT SOLELY ON THE MILITARY-INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX) AND YET PEOPLE SOMEHOW WANT TO HOLD ONTO A FANTASY OF FISCAL CONSERVATISM.

I mean that's just nonsense. Why waste time w/ insipid, stupid fantasies that contradict the historical record? I'm not even creative but I can think of more exciting fairytales on a whim!

Yes and that trillion was pretty much wasted and everything he said it would do it has not done.

Thats probably the G NO P's fault and not Obama's. In fact, I know it is!