The grown-ups speak

I'm not at all optimistic that they're not going to be demagogued. Strike that - I know that they're going to be demagogued. I'm not at all optimistic that the demagoguery won't work. I don't know if the unbelievable problems we face are sufficiently apparent yet to 50% + 1 of the people in this country to allow the adults to make the kinds of changes necessary. But it's good to see that there are people like Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan who are serious about dealing with the real issues.

The GOP Path to Prosperity

No one person or party is responsible for the looming crisis. Yet the facts are clear: Since President Obama took office, our problems have gotten worse. Major spending increases have failed to deliver promised jobs. The safety net for the poor is coming apart at the seams. Government health and retirement programs are growing at unsustainable rates. The new health-care law is a fiscal train wreck. And a complex, inefficient tax code is holding back American families and businesses.

The president's recent budget proposal would accelerate America's descent into a debt crisis. It doubles debt held by the public by the end of his first term and triples it by 2021. It imposes $1.5 trillion in new taxes, with spending that never falls below 23% of the economy. His budget permanently enlarges the size of government. It offers no reforms to save government health and retirement programs, and no leadership.

Our budget, 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.

Barack Obama has made it clear that he's got no interest whatsoever in addressing, never mind fixing, the federal budget problems. He's going to be a hindrance. The only question that matters is, is he going to be a hindrance in a way that helps get him re-elected, or is he going to be a hindrance that the country recognizes as needing to be removed from office in 20 months?

Here is the vision of two possible futures.  Which do you choose?  Which will the American people choose?