Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
(Image source: House Budget Committee)
BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN
Mitt Romney is set to announce House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan as his running
mate. Ryan, the chief architect of the House GOP’s budget plan dubbed the “Path to
Prosperity.”
REP. PAUL RYAN: “The facts are very, very clear. … We can choose a path to prosperity.
Let’s take a look at how we can do it.”
Ryan’s plan converts Medicare into a system of vouchers for seniors. It also caps non-defense
discretionary federal spending at a little over $1 trillion
Most Republicans have embraced the plan — and Romney himself has once said he’s quote
“very supportive of the plan.” But it’s been widely criticized since its introduction,
including from members of Ryan’s own party.
FORMER HOUSE SPEAKER NEWT GINGRICH, VIA NBC: “I don’t think right wing social engineering
is any more desirable than left wing social engineering.”
Referring, specifically, to Ryan’s calls for a major revamping of Medicare by subsidizing
private insurance plans. Expect that to get a lot of scrutiny in the coming weeks, especially
because the Congressional Budget Office has said seniors would end up paying more for
their health care under the Ryan budget.
Though supporters praise the plan, critics say it replaces Medicare with a voucher system.
MSNBC: “It is going to create challenges in Florida and other states. Pennsylvania
has a large elderly population and other states as well, where you have seniors, concerned
about Medicare...”
Then there’s the issue of Social Security, for which Ryan has backed privatization. House
Republicans say is preserves the existing program for those over 55 AND makes the program
“permanently solvent” but it’s another potential headache for Romney. Already, critics
like Christine Pelosi have called the Ryan plan a “Roadmap to ruin for Social Security.”
But for some conservatives who’ve been calling for a serious re-thinking of the federal deficit,
the fact remains that Ryan is likely to excite the base.
In recent weeks editorials in The Weekly Standard, The Wall Street Journal, and the Boston Globe
have all appealed to the GOP’s presumptive nominee to seriously consider the Wisconsin
congressman.