The Nature of Things

So the Republicans in the House of Representatives voted for the Paul Ryan budget plan which would destroy Medicare as we know it and then they went on break. They went home to meet their constituents in town hall meetings. Perhaps they had been reading the Washington Post or watching the inside-the-Beltway pundits on the cable news programs and so expected to be greeted as conquering heroes. Those boos and pointed questions from angry voters must have come as quite a shock to their delicate psyches. Wherever the people who voted for this draconian plan have met the public, they have found that people do not like what they did. They are asking the congresspeople questions like, "Why are you trying to balance the budget on the backs of the elderly, the sick, the poor, the children, while at the same time you are giving additional tax breaks to the richest people in the country?" Apparently, the congresspersons are finding it difficult to answer that question, as well the...

"It's not a budget. It's a cause," said Rep. Paul Ryan (R., Wisconsin) when he introduced his so-called budget a few days ago. In that statement at least he was honest. Nothing else about his "budget" appears to be. He claims that it will reduce the federal deficit over a 10-year period. In fact, every economist who has taken a serious look at the plan, including the economists at the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, have said that is a lie. (They may have said it more politely than that, but their meaning is clear.) This budget cum cause has as its clear aim the transfer of money from the poor and middle-class population to the wealthiest members of the population, both individuals and corporations. I clearly am no economist, but even I can understand that when you are setting out to destroy the social safety net, programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security that so many poor and middle-class people depend upon, and you intend to trans...