House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan unveils a package he says will balance the budget by 2023, in part by cutting spending by $4.6 trillion over the next decade.
The Janesville Republican’s proposal is similar to his earlier budget plan adopted by Mitt Romney’s Presidential Campaign last year when Ryan served as running mate. Although the American people reelected Barack Obama, Ryan says that doesn’t mean Republicans should abandon their principles.
“Look, whether the country intended it or not, we have divided government,” Ryan says. “We have the second largest House majority we’ve ever had since World War II.”
The budget will likely be approved by the GOP-controlled House but won’t go far in the Democrat-controlled Senate.
The proposal repeals Obamacare, a law Ryan says “will do great damage to families and the health care system of America.” The Ryan budget would eventually give seniors money to buy their own health coverage in an effort to control ballooning Medicare costs.
Democrats are blasting the Ryan budget. The White House says “this budget would turn Medicare into a voucher program-undercutting the guaranteed benefits that seniors have earned and forcing them to pay thousands more out of their own pockets.”
AUDIO: Brian Moon reports (1:00)