We’ve been reporting and writing a lot about Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) “shadow budget” over the last week. And I wanted to take a moment to explain some of the reasons why.
As I’ve noted before, Ryan is the Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee. So he’s the House Republicans’ chief budget writer. Later in the Spring, the Republicans will come up with their official alternative budget. And it will be written, like this one, by Ryan, in consultation with the other Republican members of the Committee. In other words, it’s sort of a ‘shadow budget’ or first draft of the Republican budget. And among a lot of other things it calls for deep cuts in Social Security benefits, partial privatization of Social Security and big shift of taxes to the middle class and abolition of Medicare in favor of vouchers which seniors will use to purchase private health insurance.
Minority Leader Boehner and the rest of the House leadership are working to have it both ways — on the one hand saying that Ryan’s budget is full of great GOP ideas and ways the GOP would kick butt on the deficit (which is a play to the base and pundits who haven’t read it) but also insisting it’s not the official GOP budget so he and his caucus aren’t on the spot to justify what it contains. In other words, the question is whether the entire 2010 congressional mid-term is going to be fought out as a colossal bait and switch gambit.
So why is it so important?
For two basic reasons. Read More
Sarah Palin favorably cites Pat Buchanan column that says opposite of what she thinks it says.
It dovetails almost seamlessly with Stephen Colbert’s Sarah Palin “satire” last night. Watch.
As long as we’re on Palin, Jon Stewart had some fun with Palin’s “mavericky notecard hand-scribbled buzzwords.” Watch.
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Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC): A contribution from my leadership PAC is “a seal of conservative approval.” That and the day’s other political news in the TPMDC Morning Roundup.
Sen. Shelby (R-AL) released his blanket holds on Obama nominees this morning — but he’s maintaining his holds on a few unnamed nominees he says are directly related to “the Air Force tanker acquisition until the new Request for Proposal is issued.”
Shelby statement after the jump … Read More
A lot of House Republicans are walking away from the Ryan GOP shadow budget. But not Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). She supports privatizing Social Security and abolishing Medicare in favor of a system of insurance vouchers for the elderly, as advocated in the Ryan budget proposal.
We’re looking to see what others are saying. Let us know what you hear.
This one’s for Danny Abramowicz, Tom Dempsey, Archie Manning (though he may not feel it yet), George Rogers, the Dome Patrol, Eric Martin, Dalton Hilliard, Bobby Hebert, and all those other Saints:
Usually when we hear about something looking to drop a ton of money to create a astroturf campaign against something like the Endangered Species Act it’s some oil company or big manufacturer. This time it’s the State of Alaska. And Rudy Giuliani wants the contract.
Surprisingly, the National Tea Party convention turns out to be a frothy brew of birtherism, anti-immigrant hysteria, homophobia and Christian fundamentalism. Didn’t see that coming.