The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
Best I can tell, there are two reactions to the Paul Ryan budget proposal emerging from the Left.
The first is a smug overconfidence that the proposal is dead on arrival and an underlying assumption that Ryan's plan will fail to resonate with the American people. This response is typified here by politico J.B. Poersch:
“It was a good day for Democrats,” said J.B. Poersch, former executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee who is heading an independent expenditure effort for Democrats in 2012. “It’s going to sting [Republicans]. This is a news flash for seniors. It’s probably an overreach, and they are likely to pay politically.”
And the second reaction is an acknowledgment of the seriousness of the Ryan plan and of the dramatic contrast that the president's lack of seriousness provides. Says Andrew Sullivan:
Here's why [referring to J.B. Poersch] I can't stand the Democrats...This is the kind of politics Obama swore to avoid in the campaign. We have a serious and flawed plan to get the debt under control - and the Democrats' immediate response is to go into total opposition. The president has been more muted in his response. But the onus is on him now to provide a plan that matches the impact on the budget that Ryans' does, with different emphases.
So where is that plan? Or does the president have none?
Sullivan's right. President Obama will need to produce his own plan that matches the spending cuts and deficit reductions of the Ryan plan if he wants to maintain any semblance of credibility. Not that credibility seems to be all that important to him these days...
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Jul '10
Re: The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
Ryan's plan is important because the GOP can no longer be accused of simple obstruction and criticism without an idea of its own. He has instead put forth an ambitious proposal that the Democrats now have to counter. That their knee-jerk response is to flippantly dismiss it with no proposal of their own answers definitively which party is serious about tackling the budget problem and which isn't. This is the kind of policy proposal the GOP needs to run on as a platform to turn the 2012 election into a referendum of which vision for America to follow instead of a mere Obama popularity plebiscite.
Jun '10
Re: The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
Wow!! Never thought I'd see the day that Andrew Sullivan and I agree on something. And his point is good--the Democrats are playing politics while the country goes to hell around them.
Jul '10
Re: The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, the new DNC Chairperson, has declared the Ryan budget to be a "...death trap for seniors..." and a "tornado through nursing homes.".
The GOP needs to get ahead of this, by crafting a message that they'll keep faith with seniors while securing America's future. Seniors may be the most ill-informed segment of the population and if you leave it to the Democrats, they'll believe the demagoguery.
Oct '10
Re: The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
Diane--can you research all of the doom and gloom prognostications from the 1990's over welfare reform? I would love to compare the striking similarities in hyperbole to Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget proposal. We need to rat out these idiots with their own words.
Sep '10
Re: The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
Great Post,
If only Americans would act in their interest rather than from fear. Kenneth's point about the demagoguery is spot on. We need to push back immediately on the worst of the lies.
On the up side the Democrats are behaving about like normal, Republicans are for the rich, against the poor and seniors. Hopefully this is not a surprise to the Republican leadership in the house and Senate.
Oct '10
Re: The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
They are in a bad position. A serious proposal from the left will require astronomical tax rates.
Re: The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
Thanks for the assignment, Ken. I'll see what I can do! (But keep in mind that Al Gore had not yet invented the interwebs by the time welfare reform went through).
Oct '10
Re: The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
Paul Ryan's budget proposal is brilliant. It is a torpedo beneath the water line of the welfare state. The other comments are correct--the messaging is critical, but I am cautiously optimistic. I think the Tea Party movement is just the begining of a more citizen involved electorate. People will download the Ryan budget and read it as I have started to do. It will precipitate the adult conversation we need to have about these entitlement programs. We will be forced to explain that we are really strengthening the safety net, not eliminating it. The liberal media will not be able to control this debate.
Paul Ryan's budget is also an excellent example of the kind of policies we need to propose that are so eloquently described in Yuval Levin's article "Beyond the Welfare State" in the recent National Affairs.
Edited on Apr 8, 2011 at 3:45amNov '10
Re: The Left's Reactions to the Paul Ryan Budget
An 88% across the board tax hike, according to NRO.