Speaking of budget cuts...

 

First of all, linky linky. (Link doesn't work...it's on the front page of Drudge if you want to read it)

 

So, this is kind of a two part discussion. First of all, the elephant in the room (pun totally intended), the GOP cuts.

 

Most of you guys that have been around for a while know that I've always been pretty far right wing. I say that because I don't want to come off as bashing the right or the GOP in general, even though I have. But what about this plan did Ryan think would appeal to the American people during an election season?

 

When I first saw the headline where the GOP proposed 5 million in cuts, I was like "Hey, awesome move guys, make it look like you're actually working to help the problem instead of just complaining." Honestly, I'm still glad to see they put something together, but dear lord you put a cut to domestic welfare programs AND a corporate tax cut in the same bill?

 

I'm not saying the idea is completely unsound...I really don't pretend to be an economic guru. I don't know if corporate tax cuts are successful in our generation or not, but talk about some bad PR.

 

Combine this with the fact that the GOP lead man is almost certainly going to be Mitt Romney, this puts the GOP in a very awkward, evil-corporate-monster position. Really, the only people I can see this bill appealing to are the far right wing tea partiers, and it seems like we established early on that they constitute a fringe element more than an actual voter base. This won't win them the election is what I mean.

 

Article wrote: But the document — which pairs deep spending cuts with a reduction in the top tax rate paid by the wealthy — quickly provided new fodder for Democrats, who argued that Republicans would slash the social safety net while protecting the rich.

 

Article wrote: Ryan calls for turning over to the states responsibility for the major federal programs for the poor, including Medicaid and food stamps, and giving recipients a deadline to find work and get off the government dole — much as welfare reform did to cash benefits in the late 1990s.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about this. Some of you (stares at Whale) will have more of an educated opinion that myself. I'm a big fan of passing more power to the states, but it seems to me on the surface that the states would just turn to the federal government for assistance in funding anyway.

 

Article wrote: Federal education and job training programs would be consolidated and “modernized,” the plan says. And spending on Pell grants for college students would be reduced and retargeted toward low-income students most in need of assistance.

 

Urgh, again I'm no expert, but I really hate to see education cuts in any form.

 

Article wrote: “It would shower the wealthiest few Americans with an average tax cut of at least $150,000, while preserving taxpayer giveaways to oil companies and breaks for Wall Street hedge fund managers. What’s worse is that all of these tax breaks would be paid for by undermining Medicare.”

 

That was from the White House, so obviously there's going to be some political bias. But that's the vibe I get as well...breaks for corporate America while the low end continue to get hammered.

 

Of course, that's my humane side talking. In reality corporate America foots the lion share while those on government assistance are really just receiving more than giving. But I've become a little more humane as I've gotten older, and frankly I still fail to understand why we're giving money to oil companies. Hopefully one of you can explain that as well.

 

The second part of this discussion is really just the obvious-at least plans are being made I guess, but when will the real plan surface? Both parties can only come up with partisan demands and no compromise while the economy continues to bleed money.

 

It's not a fun topic, but totally relevent to our current dilemma and really the election in general.

Ergo, throw out there a comment saying "Let the agency that Ron Paul says is bad continue digging us into a grave"