What Is the Democrat Budget Alternative?
You have probably seen the news that Sen. Reid announced yesterday that he plans to submit the House Republican budget to a vote on the Senate floor. Senator Reid also said that he views that same budget as “one of the worst things to happen to this country” – meaning the Majority Leader is apparently willing to take the risk of enacting what he views as horrific policy in order to make a political point.
It’s worth examining the budget alternatives that Democrats have put forward to date:
- President Obama put out a press release: “After [House Budget Committee Chairman Paul] Ryan asked the White House budget office for more details, he was pointed to a news release.”
- House progressives put forward a budget that relies almost exclusively on trillions of dollars in tax increases to reduce the deficit.
- Senator Reid has not yet given his thoughts about the composition of a long-term budget blueprint – but we do know he wants to maintain funding for cowboy poetry.
The nation faces an imminent entitlement crisis – Medicare is already running tens of billions of dollars of deficits annually, and will be insolvent entirely within nine short years. Given the paucity of credible deficit reduction plans put forward by Democrats, some would argue that the American people would be better served for the majority to put forward solutions, rather than just engaging in more political games.