Ryan’s budget: ‘Social Darwinism’?
In the opening salvo of his re-election campaign, Obama called Rep. Paul Ryan's budget proposal “thinly veiled social Darwinism.”
President Obama has finally taken a stand against the GOP’s economic extremism, said Robert Reich in CSMonitor.com. In a fiery opening salvo of his re-election campaign, Obama called the Republican budget proposal crafted by Rep. Paul Ryan “thinly veiled social Darwinism” that’s “antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity.” That regressive plan, hailed as “marvelous” by Mitt Romney, would hand millionaires tax breaks worth at least $150,000 a year, while gutting Medicaid, Medicare, college aid, food stamps, and “almost everything else average and lower-income Americans depend on.” Ryan’s blueprint isn’t just cruel, said Paul Krugman in The New York Times, it’s also a fraud. He’d hand out tax cuts that would cost the federal government $4.6 trillion over a decade—but claims he’d make up for this massive, deficit-expanding loss by closing tax loopholes. “But he has refused to specify a single loophole he would close.” Some “budget.” How can any rational person take this radical flimflam seriously?
Ryan’s proposals are hardly radical, said The Washington Examiner in an editorial. Government spending has risen to 23.4 percent of GDP, far higher than the 19.7 percent it’s averaged since World War II. Ryan’s budget would lower spending to 20 percent of GDP over the next decade. “So that’s what social Darwinism looks like—federal spending higher than Clinton and higher than the historical average.” In contrast, the Obama budget would spend an average of 22.6 percent of GDP over the next decade. “If anybody’s budget is ‘antithetical to our entire history,’ it is Obama’s.” And far from destroying the social safety net, Ryan’s proposals could save it, said Michael Tanner in TheFiscalTimes.com. His idea of replacing guaranteed Medicare with vouchers for private health insurance would cut the program’s unfunded liabilities by trillions of dollars. Obama would leave these ruinous entitlement programs intact, which would put the U.S. on the path to “Greek-style bankruptcy.”
This debate is why I love budget season, said Ezra Klein in WashingtonPost.com. “Budgets are where politicians have to be clear about their visions.” So we now know that Republicans would prioritize tax cuts over deficit reduction and all social programs. Obama, on the other hand, would raise taxes on the wealthy, make big cuts to defense spending, and mostly preserve programs for the poor. Voters now have a clear choice of two very different sets of priorities. That choice is “what the election should be about.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
![https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516-320-80.jpg)
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Paraguay's dangerous dalliance with cryptocurrency
Under The Radar Overheating Paraguayans are pushing back over power outages caused by illegal miners
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK Published
-
The Week contest: Tattoo prediction
Puzzles and Quizzes
By The Week US Published
-
Escape seaside in Newport, Rhode Island
The Week Recommends For the quintessential New England experience, head to the Classic Coast
By Catherine Garcia, The Week US Published
-
How could J.D. Vance impact the special relationship?
Today's Big Question Trump's hawkish pick for VP said UK is the first 'truly Islamist country' with a nuclear weapon
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Biden, Trump urge calm after assassination attempt
Speed Reads A 20-year-old gunman grazed Trump's ear and fatally shot a rally attendee on Saturday
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPB
Speed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published