Congressman Paul Ryan of Janesville and several GOP lawmakers have rolled out a budget blueprint aimed at counteracting the Obama administration’s policy which “accelerates our descent into a debt crisis.”
Ryan, the House Budget Chairman, agrees with analysts who say such a crisis in a few short years could result in emergency cuts to entitlement programs and massive tax hikes.
While the President is implementing a “$1.5 trillion tax increase on the economy,” the GOP plan includes massive spending cuts says the Wisconsin lawmaker. The Republicans’ option will cut $6.2 trillion in spending in the next decade and attempts to reform Medicaid and Medicare. The two ballooning programs so far have been politically untouchable.
Medicaid dollars would be divvied up into a series of block grants to states which Republicans say would allow more efficiency. Beginning in 2022, Medicare recipients would choose from a list of private insurers that are subsidized rather than the current method of government directly paying the bill.
The White House says the President’s budget does address future debt and is “a responsible approach that puts the nation on a path to live within our means so we can invest in our future.”