Obama Rejects Ryan Budget that Achieves Balance Recklessly

"We're not going to balance the budget in 10 years because if you look at what Paul Ryan does to balance the budget it means that you have to voucherize Medicare, you have to slash deeply into programs like Medicaid," Obama said, adding that his goal is not "to chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance."  President Obama, ABC Interview, 03/13/13
Paul Ryan's FY14 House Budget is under fire from all corners including the President as it keeps all the Wealthy Tax Loopholes, big oil/farm subsidies, wants to destroy Obamacare and have seniors pay more for Medicare for starters.  It destroys the safety net while giving big tax breaks to the top 10%.  Republicans didn't learn one lesson from Nov 2012 when they got beat even in the House where they are only in power due to gerrymandering to save their seats.      President Obama weighed in this morning on ABC with this interview which appears on Talking Points Memo:

In an interview that aired Wednesday morning, President Barack Obama rejected the budget proposal put forward by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as one that achieves balance recklessly.
Obama conceded to ABC's George Stephanopoulos that differences with congressional Republicans may be "too wide," admitting that if the GOP will only accept new tax revenues under the condition that deep cuts are applied to Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid "then we're probably not going to be able to get a deal."  

The President argued that Ryan's proposal to balance the budget within 10 years is a punitive approach because it undermines popular government programs. 

"We're not going to balance the budget in 10 years because if you look at what Paul Ryan does to balance the budget it means that you have to voucherize Medicare, you have to slash deeply into programs like Medicaid," Obama said, adding that his goal is not "to chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance." 

Some members of the religious community weighed in on the Ryan budget including two well known Catholic theologians from University of Dayton and Marquette University:

Vincent Miller, the Gudorf chair in Catholic theology and culture at the University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio:

Rep. Paul Ryan returns with yet another hard-hearted and shortsighted budget. This radical rejection of our government’s obligations to the common good denies our young workers Medicare’s guarantee of coverage in old age and sacrifices the most vulnerable to preserve unsustainable tax cuts for the wealthiest few. Rep. Ryan’s libertarian ideology would make Ayn Rand proud, but can never be justified by Catholic teaching or Gospel values.

Rev. Bryan Massingale, professor of theological ethics at Marquette University and a past president of the Catholic Theological Society of America: 

Budget cuts that fall hardest on the working poor are simply irresponsible and immoral. I applaud Rep. Ryan’s interest in Catholic teaching, but it’s impossible to reconcile that concern with his budget proposals that would decimate vital social safety nets that Catholic leaders helped create and defend today. 

(Note:  Marquette University is in Wisconsin, Paul's home state) 

Rep Ryan is Catholic but you would never know it from his actions to destroy the middle class and especially the poor.  He may seem like he would likable but he has a heart of stone.  He is one of the 'do as I say, not as I do' House Members who lives off the Federal Government but wants everyone else to get their Government benefits cut including student aid.   Ryan's Dad died when he was young and even though coming from a fairly well-off family, he received social security survivor benefits which he saved to go to college.  Nothing wrong with that unless you are trying to take away access to student loans when his college was paid for with taxpayer dollars to supplement what his Dad had paid into Social Security. Ryan worked as an aide to legislators Bob Kasten, Sam Brownback, and Jack Kemp, and as a speechwriter before winning election to the U.S. House in 1998. Ryan has been living off the taxpayers for a long time - too long IMHO with his budgets that are pro-wealthy and anti middle class/poor.  BTW, the Ryan Budget is DOA in the Senate once again.  Never forget that the Ryan budget represents the HEART and SOUL of the Republican Party in the House that must be destroyed in 2014 so the Country can move forward at a faster pace. 
When Ryan said, "We Won't Give Up 'Destroying' Health Care for American People," the true agenda for today's Republican Party became front and center.  Congressional Republicans for the most part don't care who they destroy to get their way of protecting their wealthy donors on the backs of the less fortunate.  Yet this group calls themselves Christians and many are members of the religious right?

Paul Ryan: We Won't Give Up 'Destroying' Health Care For American People

 By Ashley Portero | March 12 2013 4:23 PM

Was it a Freudian slip? Or did he simply misspeak? 

While unveiling his newest budget proposal on Tuesday, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., appeared to “accidentally” say something his critics believe to be fact. 

“This is something we will not give up on because we are not going to give up on destroying the health care system for the American people,” Ryan said. 

The slip of the tongue was pretty egregious, considering the proposals outlined in his budget. The plan aims to reduce the federal budget deficit in the next decade, in part by gutting $1.8 trillion from the Affordable Care Act.

Ryan's comments about 'destroying healthcare' for the American people yesterday was followed by comments from a fellow Budget Committee Member, Cong Tom Price (R-GA) who basically confirmed what Ryan had said - the GOP in the House don't care who gets hurt in their budget as long as it is not the wealthy donors or big oil/farm subsidies.  If you are a small oil producer or farmer trying to make ends meet, you don't count in the world of the selfish House GOP Budget Committee who speaks for the majority of Republicans in the House.

Thanks to Think Progress who picked up on Price's comments from this morning:

GOP Congressman Admits Republicans Don’t Care What Gets Cut In The BudgetBy Adam Peck on Mar 13, 2013 at 9:45 am 

Congressman Tom Price (R-GA) made a startling admission on CNN’s Starting Point on Wednesday morning, telling host Soledad O’Brien that Republicans are not concerned about how they cut spending — or the millions of people who suffer as a result — so long as they achieve a balanced budget. 

O’BREIN: [The President] said he doesn’t want balance for the sake of balance, that actually the wrong kinds of cuts that would be hurtful to people would be a problem. What do make of what he told George Stephanopoulos? 

REP. PRICE: We believe it’s important to balance not the how of ‘how you balance,’ but the ‘why’, why is it important to balance. well it’s important to get our budget in balance, so that means that Washington doesn’t spend more money than it takes in, just like families can’t, just like businesses across this country can’t.

Watch it:

The lack of concern over how Republicans are cutting some $5 trillion in spending is evident in the cuts they are planning to hand down to low-income families, young people, women and seniors, all of whom stand to lose significant protections under the Republicans’ balanced budget. Meanwhile, the Ryan budget likely maintains billions in tax savings for millionaires, Big Oil and financial conglomerates that will benefit from the proposed repeal of regulations imposed on Wall Street. 

The comment provides a sharp contrast to President Obama’s competing vision for the federal budget. During an interview with Geroge Stephanopoulos, Obama argued that rushing to balance the budget during a recovery could undermine growth and significantly hurt the most vulnerable populations,” Obama said. “If we’ve controlled spending and we’ve got a smart entitlement package, then potentially what you have is balance. But it’s not balance on the backs of, you know, the poor, the elderly, students who need student loans, families who’ve got disabled kids. That’s not the right way to balance our budget.”

Not only do Republicans not care about 90% of the American people up from the 47% Romney touted, but they are vocal about their plans which is simply stunning.  They tout their budget favoring the wealthy with all smiles EXCEPT when they start their whining about the President campaigning against them the smiles turn to frowns.  President Obama's plan to take it to the American must be working or we wouldn't be getting the whine with the frowns:

03.13.2013 — 08:57 AM

If The President Would Just Leave Us Alooone 

Paul Ryan not so sure about all this presidential outreach: “The question is, is he going to go out on the campaign trail and start campaigning against us again like he has been since the election?” 

David Kurtz

If I had my way the President would be out campaigning against the Ryan Budget in every nook and cranny of this Country meeting and talking to the American people most affected by the Scrooge mentality of today's Republicans.  Time for all of us to remember that in 2014 we all have to get out in vote to throw out the hard-hearted Republicans from the Congress who put wealthy donors over the other 90% of us.  Time to take action to get involved because your votes are also needed at the local level as well to throw out Koch Brothers ALEC lobbyist from our State Legislatures because they are up to NO good as they only care about getting laws passed that benefit the wealthy Koch Brothers and their allies.