Fox News: The Republican chairman of the House Budget Committee said his party's budget proposal for 2012 would cut deficits by more than $4 trillion over the next decade, vowing to tackle costly entitlements like Medicare and Medicaid.While these numbers are more in line with what needs to be done to save our financial house, I don't think Republicans have done their homework on educating the public on how dire our financial picture is. Recent Gallup polls on spending cuts shows that the public is still in denial about what needs to be done. Furthermore, I think Republicans may have shot themselves in the foot by playing political parlor games when it came to cuts in the Continuing Resolution (CR).
The proposal, set to be unveiled Tuesday, would serve as the Republicans' official response to President Obama's proposed $3.7 trillion budget for 2012. The White House claims its plan would cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over a decade.
But Ryan, R-Wis., in an interview with "Fox News Sunday," accused Obama of "punting" and said Republicans' plan would exceed the fiscal goals set by the president's fiscal commission -- which issued a report calling for $4 trillion in cuts. That report never made it out of committee.
"We can't keep kicking this can down the road," Ryan said. "The president has punted. We're not going to follow suit."
How do you go to the public and say we need to make these big cuts and reforms after offering up puny cuts of $2 billion, $4 billion and $61 billion? Democrats are already trying to makes these puny numbers sound "extreme" and draconian. I think the Republican leadership has given up much of the fire they rode in on in 2010. I pray I am wrong.
Here is Paul Ryan explaining the plan in with a little more detail
Via: Memeorandum
Via: Fox News
Via: Gallup
Video h/t: Maggie's Notebook