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The dishonesty of Paul Ryan Paul Ryan introduced a new argument about Medicare today. I love it, because it shows that his critics have been right all along: Ryan isn’t nearly as candid about policy and trade-offs as his reputation suggests. The argument is about the $716 billion of Medicare cuts in the Affordable Care Act. Ryan and Mitt Romney have been citing those reductions as proof that Obamacare “raided” Medicare. If you haven’t heard the line in one of their speeches, then perhaps you caught it in their new advertisement, which has all the sublety of Cialas ad. Jonathan Cohn — “It’s Time to Revoke Paul Ryan’s Wonk Card”
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The dishonesty of Paul Ryan

Paul Ryan introduced a new argument about Medicare today. I love it, because it shows that his critics have been right all along: Ryan isn’t nearly as candid about policy and trade-offs as his reputation suggests.

The argument is about the $716 billion of Medicare cuts in the Affordable Care Act. Ryan and Mitt Romney have been citing those reductions as proof that Obamacare “raided” Medicare. If you haven’t heard the line in one of their speeches, then perhaps you caught it in their new advertisement, which has all the sublety of Cialas ad.

Jonathan Cohn — “It’s Time to Revoke Paul Ryan’s Wonk Card”

Will Mitt Romney’s budget ax have an Oedipus complex? “Mitt Romney, as everyone knows by now, has pretty much lived his life in hopes of living up to the example set by his father George, possibly to his own political detriment. For him now to be casually suggesting that he’ll jettison the federal agency that his father led suggests, once again, that the daddy issues here are rather more complex than meets the eye. George Romney was not just named to lead HUD by Richard Nixon—he was fiercely committed to the department’s work, and resented Nixon’s attempts to rein in his plans for it, eventually resigning his Cabinet in protest. In their indispensable new biography of Mitt, Michael Kranish and Scott Helman note that Nixon had appointed Romney to HUD as a way to punish him for refusing to release his delegates to Nixon at the 1968 GOP convention.” Alec MacGillis, Will Mitt’s Budget Ax Have An Oedipus Complex? - Photo courtesy of Sumnonrabidus’s Blog
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Will Mitt Romney’s budget ax have an Oedipus complex?

“Mitt Romney, as everyone knows by now, has pretty much lived his life in hopes of living up to the example set by his father George, possibly to his own political detriment. For him now to be casually suggesting that he’ll jettison the federal agency that his father led suggests, once again, that the daddy issues here are rather more complex than meets the eye. George Romney was not just named to lead HUD by Richard Nixon—he was fiercely committed to the department’s work, and resented Nixon’s attempts to rein in his plans for it, eventually resigning his Cabinet in protest. In their indispensable new biography of Mitt, Michael Kranish and Scott Helman note that Nixon had appointed Romney to HUD as a way to punish him for refusing to release his delegates to Nixon at the 1968 GOP convention.”

Alec MacGillis, Will Mitt’s Budget Ax Have An Oedipus Complex?

- Photo courtesy of Sumnonrabidus’s Blog

What impact will Obamacare have on the deficit? “Critics of the Affordable Care Act keep insisting that the law will increase the deficit. But the best evidence we have, from the most trusted authorities we have, suggests that those critics are wrong – and that the law, if anything, will reduce the deficit. I know that many people find that difficult to believe. But, really, it’s neither complicated nor far-fetched. The law spends a lot of money, in order to make Medicaid available to more people and to provide subsidies for lower- and middle-income Americans buying private insurance. But it also finds a lot of money to pay for those new expenditures—mainly by raising some taxes, mostly on very wealthy people, and then reducing the cost of Medicare, mostly through cuts designed to eliminate corporate welfare or foster more efficient treatment.” - Jonathan Cohn, Today in Hackery: The Latest Attack on Obamacare Photo courtesy of Foreign Policy
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What impact will Obamacare have on the deficit?

“Critics of the Affordable Care Act keep insisting that the law will increase the deficit. But the best evidence we have, from the most trusted authorities we have, suggests that those critics are wrong – and that the law, if anything, will reduce the deficit.

I know that many people find that difficult to believe. But, really, it’s neither complicated nor far-fetched. The law spends a lot of money, in order to make Medicaid available to more people and to provide subsidies for lower- and middle-income Americans buying private insurance. But it also finds a lot of money to pay for those new expenditures—mainly by raising some taxes, mostly on very wealthy people, and then reducing the cost of Medicare, mostly through cuts designed to eliminate corporate welfare or foster more efficient treatment.”

- Jonathan Cohn, Today in Hackery: The Latest Attack on Obamacare

Photo courtesy of Foreign Policy

Moderate Mitt? Mitt Romney’s budget proposal states that the United States should find $500 billion in savings by 2016. “So why don’t people recognize this proposal for the radical idea it is? One reason is that the Romney plan may be less severe than the ones other Republican presidential candidates have put forward. Santorum and Perry, for example, want to cap spending at 18 percent of GDP, while enacting larger tax cuts that and balanced budget requirements that would likely require even more drastic spending cuts.” - Jonathan Cohn, “Moderate Mitt? Have You Looked at His Budget?” Are these proposed cuts to non-defense spending more radical than Mitt Romney would like voters to think?
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Moderate Mitt?

Mitt Romney’s budget proposal states that the United States should find $500 billion in savings by 2016.

“So why don’t people recognize this proposal for the radical idea it is? One reason is that the Romney plan may be less severe than the ones other Republican presidential candidates have put forward. Santorum and Perry, for example, want to cap spending at 18 percent of GDP, while enacting larger tax cuts that and balanced budget requirements that would likely require even more drastic spending cuts.”

- Jonathan Cohn, “Moderate Mitt? Have You Looked at His Budget?”

Are these proposed cuts to non-defense spending more radical than Mitt Romney would like voters to think?

How well do you know your mailman? With the U.S. Postal Service projecting a $9 billion deficit for the fiscal year, the agency is asking Congress to take immediate action so as to prevent it from going into default. Learn more about how much a mail carrier makes per year and what kind of benefits they risk losing if Congress does not act by the end of this week. Last week, Simon van Zuylen-Wood wrote that the two-century-old agency also provides considerable social benefits. In a 2010 study by the Urban Institute, crime rates are higher in areas without post offices.  The study also found that postal workers tend to watch out for suspicious activity and are frequently the ones to dial 911 in an emergency. In fact, out of 1700 missing persons cases tracked by the institute, 179 were solved thanks to a local post office. Let’s hope Congress sees the benefits as clearly as we do. Courtesy of eHow.com
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How well do you know your mailman? With the U.S. Postal Service projecting a $9 billion deficit for the fiscal year, the agency is asking Congress to take immediate action so as to prevent it from going into default. Learn more about how much a mail carrier makes per year and what kind of benefits they risk losing if Congress does not act by the end of this week.

Last week, Simon van Zuylen-Wood wrote that the two-century-old agency also provides considerable social benefits. In a 2010 study by the Urban Institute, crime rates are higher in areas without post offices.  The study also found that postal workers tend to watch out for suspicious activity and are frequently the ones to dial 911 in an emergency. In fact, out of 1700 missing persons cases tracked by the institute, 179 were solved thanks to a local post office. Let’s hope Congress sees the benefits as clearly as we do.

Courtesy of eHow.com

Is it possible there could be a government shutdown fight in the coming weeks despite the fact that Republicans and Democrats recently agreed on a funding figure for the coming fiscal year? GOP leaders say today that House Speaker John Boehner is prepared for another round of brinksmanship and is prepared to renege on the budget deal that the parties struck during the debt limit fight last month. House Republicans confirmed that they had been actively considering a plan to tamper with the August budget agreement by cutting even more from 2012 spending in order to put pressure on Senate Democrats to come to terms faster on domestic bills for the coming fiscal year. Politico reports, “Instead of the agreed-upon appropriations target of $1.043 trillion, a stopgap continuing resolution or CR this week would be calibrated at a lower $1.035 trillion level. The idea — promoted by Speaker John Boehner — was to effectively withhold about $8 billion for the first two months of the fiscal year, with the money becoming available only as Senate Democrats come to terms with the House on the dozen annual spending bills that cover government operations.” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has argued that Congress should appropriate $1.043 trillion for the coming fiscal year, potentially putting him at odds with Speak Boehner. Congress will have to temporarily extend all government funding in the next two weeks, and that temporary funding measure would be the Republicans’ vehicle for sequestering those billions of dollars. For Senate Democrats, tampering with the August budget agreement is seen as a needless provocation. Where this mess could lead is even less certain. Courtesy of Talking Points Memo
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Is it possible there could be a government shutdown fight in the coming weeks despite the fact that Republicans and Democrats recently agreed on a funding figure for the coming fiscal year?

GOP leaders say today that House Speaker John Boehner is prepared for another round of brinksmanship and is prepared to renege on the budget deal that the parties struck during the debt limit fight last month.

House Republicans confirmed that they had been actively considering a plan to tamper with the August budget agreement by cutting even more from 2012 spending in order to put pressure on Senate Democrats to come to terms faster on domestic bills for the coming fiscal year.

Politico reports, “Instead of the agreed-upon appropriations target of $1.043 trillion, a stopgap continuing resolution or CR this week would be calibrated at a lower $1.035 trillion level. The idea — promoted by Speaker John Boehner — was to effectively withhold about $8 billion for the first two months of the fiscal year, with the money becoming available only as Senate Democrats come to terms with the House on the dozen annual spending bills that cover government operations.”

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has argued that Congress should appropriate $1.043 trillion for the coming fiscal year, potentially putting him at odds with Speak Boehner.

Congress will have to temporarily extend all government funding in the next two weeks, and that temporary funding measure would be the Republicans’ vehicle for sequestering those billions of dollars.

For Senate Democrats, tampering with the August budget agreement is seen as a needless provocation. Where this mess could lead is even less certain.

Courtesy of Talking Points Memo