Republican Congressman Paul Ryan Unveils Exceptionally Conservative Budget

Though persistently of the belief that “compromise is possible,” U.S. President Barack Obama should pay careful attention to the budget proposal Paul Ryan presented on Tuesday. Ryan, the current chairman of the House Budget Committee (which currently has a Republican majority), proposed a Republican plan to balance the federal budget within 10 years by cutting spending by $4.6 trillion over the next decade.

Paul Ryan himself outlined his plan on Fox News on Sunday and in the Wall Street Journal on Monday (two notoriously conservative news sources). According to Ryan, the plan allows for an increase in public spending by 3.4 percent annually, and balances state expenditures and revenues.

One condition of the plan, however, is that the entirety of the health care reform passed in 2010 would be completely overhauled. Regardless of how highly unlikely and representative of a step back this plan is, Ryan claims that the proposal would generate $770 billion dollars in revenue in the next 10 years, which would allegedly naturally be put back into the United States economy and thus would autonomously help Americans get health insurance without ruining them financially. This same proposal has been repeatedly presented by Republicans in the past. It allows them to promise spending cuts without alienating those who benefit from social health programs, including Medicare for the elderly — the demographic that typically leans right.

The rest of the plan follows a predictable path that is extremely conservative: drastic cuts in social programs, education and research, maintaining the defense budget and reducing taxes on corporations and incomes.

This is the third time in three years that Ryan has embarked on the perilous journey of changing the budget, which has always been open to severe criticism. During the presentation of the previous version of the budget last year, the “radical” position was criticized by skeptical economists and policy makers. The budget was described by a columnist for The New York Times as a “fairy tale,” and was criticized by much of the American media for being unrealistic, imprecise and a plan that would focus too much fiscal responsibility on the middle class.

For the first time in four years, Democratic senators will present a counter-proposition to the budget on Wednesday. Though the majority of the House traditionally gets the last say, this gesture shows the extent and severity of the gridlock that has been occurring since last autumn.

Though Barack Obama has recently increased his openness to meet with his political adversaries within the past several days, this clearly has not produced any tangible results.