Reid: Ryan Budget Uses ‘Fraudulent’ Math To Inflate Deficit Reduction

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On the floor Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) railed against the new budget plan released by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and questioned its arithmetic.

“The Paul Ryan budget 3.0 uses the same fuzzy math as his previous two budgets,” Reid said. “It relies on accounting that is creative at best and fraudulent at worst to inflate its claims of deficit reduction.”

He described it as “extreme,” unbalanced and containing the “same skewed policies” that help the wealthy at the expensive of the middle class.

Today House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan will unveil an extreme budget that is anything but balanced. This budget reflects the same skewed priorities the Republican Party has championed for years – the same skewed priorities Americans rejected in November. The Ryan Republican budget will call for more tax breaks for the wealthy, an end to Medicare as we know it and draconian cuts to education and other programs that help America’s economy grow and prosper.

As Yogi Berra famously said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.” We’ve seen this show before. The Ryan Republican budget will shower more tax breaks on millionaires and continue to tilt the playing field to the advantage of big corporate interests, while raising taxes for the middle class. And, like last year, the plan refuses to close a single tax loophole in order to reduce the deficit.

Meanwhile it guts investments in education, health care, public safety, scientific research and job-creating clean energy technology. The Ryan Republican budget would end the Medicare guarantee and force seniors into a voucher program. It would ax preventive health care such as cancer screenings and charge seniors more for prescriptions. And it would further reduce funding for food inspectors, police officers and first responders. …

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