Republicans propose to ‘trim’ the federal budget

Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan in today’s Wall Street Journal outlines the Republican budget proposal for the next 10 years, starting in fiscal year 2012. He is using nail clippers when an ax is needed.

House Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., right, walks through an underground tunnel in Washington Tuesday with committee member Rep. Tom McClintock, R-Calif., on their way to a GOP caucus meeting. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan in today’s Wall Street Journal outlines the Republican budget proposal for the next 10 years, starting in fiscal year 2012. He is using nail clippers when an ax is needed.

Under his proposal it will take till 2050 to rein in the deficit. Of course, that is far better than what Obama is proposing, which is more, much more, of the same.

Ryan says his budget will trim $6.2 trillion over the next decade. It does take a slice out of the sacred cows of Medicare and Social Security. It also ends subsidies for noncompetitive “green” energy projects.

Frankly, it still sounds like a teenager’s promise to cut his spending from 200 percent of his allowance to a more manageable 150 percent.

“Our budget,” Ryan writes, “which we call The Path to Prosperity, is very different. For starters, it cuts $6.2 trillion in spending from the president's budget over the next 10 years, reduces the debt as a percentage of the economy, and puts the nation on a path to actually pay off our national debt. Our proposal brings federal spending to below 20% of gross domestic product (GDP), consistent with the postwar average, and reduces deficits by $4.4 trillion.”

The sad part is it doesn’t have a ghost of chance to clearing the Democrat-held Senate.

This is how The Associated Press framed it: “Under the decidedly arcane congressional budget process, the GOP plan is not actual legislation but provides a nonbinding, theoretical framework for future action in Congress. And with Democrats controlling the Senate, the GOP plan serves more to frame the debate heading into next year's election than represent a program with a chance of passing Congress and actually becoming law.”

Just wait for the wailing from the liberals about the plan being welfare for the rich. A WSJ blogger noted, “The GOP budget would also overhaul the tax code, setting the top individual and corporate rates at 25% rather than 35%. The changes would be revenue-neutral, since the budget would eliminate a series of tax breaks. But even some Republicans say it's unrealistic to try to balance the budget without some increases in revenue.”