by KAZVorpal
You remember Paris Hilton,
don't you? For you younger readers, she
was the first Kim Kardashian, a person who was famous, simply for being famous. When Ms. Hilton first appeared on my TV
screen in a "reality" show, I just assumed that she was some new actress I had never
heard of. After watching one of her
movies, I realized that she was not. No,
Paris Hilton, and now, Kim Kardashian, are famous, not because they have
accomplished anything, but simply because they are famous, period. Today, I'd like to nominate the celebrated
and influential Republican Representative, Paul Ryan for membership in that elite
club.
Paul Ryan has been in
Congress for 14 years now and only two of his bills have passed: In July, 2000,
he changed the name on a post office building, the Congressional equivalent of
a golfing "Gimme" and in December, 2008, he changed how arrows (as in bows and
arrows) were taxed. It makes me wonder
if that post office was named after bow-hunting Republican spokesman and savant,
Ted Nugent.
It was dà ©j- vu all over
again this week, when math whiz Paul Ryan presented his Republican budget plan
to Congress. This year's budget plan is
remarkably similar to last year's, only this time it's better. Now, by cutting taxes for the wealthy down to
25%, Ryan says he will balance the federal budget by 2023, not 2038. That's truly remarkable. In a word, unbelievable. I think this thing really deserves a "New and
Improved" sticker slapped on it.
The Ryan Plan, like all
Republican budgets, eliminates federal deficits through massive tax cuts for
the wealthy. But mathematical analysts
with expertise in both addition and subtraction have pointed-out a potentially
fatal flaw: How can you balance the federal budget with more tax cuts? Here's where the Ryan budgets traditionally
get a bit fuzzy. Obviously there have to
be lethal cuts to federal programs and colossal tax hikes to middle class workers
to balance the budget, but with this year's plan, like the last, nobody knows the
particulars. Last fall, we voters were
promised that the finer details of the Ryan Budget Plan would emerge after the
election. Well, it is now five months
after the election and Ryan's details, both fine and coarse, are still missing
in action. Paul Ryan glossed-over this
year's hollow plan in his March 12th Wall Street Journal op-ed by simply saying,
"Yet the most important question isn't how we balance the budget." Really? His article, titled: " The GOP Plan to
Balance the Budget by 2023" had the subtitle: "The goal can be reached, with no new taxes, while
increasing spending 3.4% annually instead of the current 5%." What a hoot.
Tell me, all you right-wing Daily Republic bloggers, would you let me
get away with that kind of snake oil hokum?
Oh, and President Obama has not increased federal spending by 5%
annually, and not even by 3.4%, but less than 1% over four years. Could such a faulty premise somehow alter Ryan's
calculations?
The
header for my Daily Republic column is "The Big Picture," and I always try to
make world and national events relevant to us regular folks living in Fairfield, California. So here's your bottom line: Don't worry; nothing will change. Because there are more representatives
possessing basic math skills than there are Tea Partiers, Paul Ryan's Magical
Mystery Tour de Force Budget has absolutely no chance of ever getting through
Congress, and Paul Ryan, like trailblazers Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian
before him, will continue to remain famous and influential, while accomplishing
absolutely nothing.
