The Flimflam Man
One depressing aspect of American politics is the susceptibility of the political and media establishment to charlatans. You might have thought, given past experience, that D.C. insiders would be on their guard against conservatives with grandiose plans. But no: as long as someone on the right claims to have bold new proposals, he’s hailed as an innovative thinker. And nobody checks his arithmetic.
Which brings me to the innovative thinker du jour: Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin.
Mr. Ryan has become the Republican Party’s poster child for new ideas thanks to his “Roadmap for America’s Future,” a plan for a major overhaul of federal spending and taxes. News media coverage has been overwhelmingly favorable; on Monday, The Washington Post put a glowing profile of Mr. Ryan on its front page, portraying him as the G.O.P.’s fiscal conscience. He’s often described with phrases like “intellectually audacious.”
But it’s the audacity of dopes. Mr. Ryan isn’t offering fresh food for thought; he’s serving up leftovers from the 1990s, drenched in flimflam sauce.
Mr. Ryan’s plan calls for steep cuts in both spending and taxes. He’d have you believe that the combined effect would be much lower budget deficits, and, according to that Washington Post report, he speaks about deficits “in apocalyptic terms.” And The Post also tells us that his plan would, indeed, sharply reduce the flow of red ink: “The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan would cut the budget deficit in half by 2020.”
But the budget office has done no such thing. At Mr. Ryan’s request, it produced an estimate of the budget effects of his proposed spending cuts — period. It didn’t address the revenue losses from his tax cuts.
The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has, however, stepped into the breach. Its numbers indicate that the Ryan plan would reduce revenue by almost $4 trillion over the next decade. If you add these revenue losses to the numbers The Post cites, you get a much larger deficit in 2020, roughly $1.3 trillion.
And that’s about the same as the budget office’s estimate of the 2020 deficit under the Obama administration’s plans. That is, Mr. Ryan may speak about the deficit in apocalyptic terms, but even if you believe that his proposed spending cuts are feasible — which you shouldn’t — the Roadmap wouldn’t reduce the deficit. All it would do is cut benefits for the middle class while slashing taxes on the rich.
And I do mean slash. The Tax Policy Center finds that the Ryan plan would cut taxes on the richest 1 percent of the population in half, giving them 117 percent of the plan’s total tax cuts. That’s not a misprint. Even as it slashed taxes at the top, the plan would raise taxes for 95 percent of the population.
Finally, let’s talk about those spending cuts. In its first decade, most of the alleged savings in the Ryan plan come from assuming zero dollar growth in domestic discretionary spending, which includes everything from energy policy to education to the court system. This would amount to a 25 percent cut once you adjust for inflation and population growth. How would such a severe cut be achieved? What specific programs would be slashed? Mr. Ryan doesn’t say.
After 2020, the main alleged saving would come from sharp cuts in Medicare, achieved by dismantling Medicare as we know it, and instead giving seniors vouchers and telling them to buy their own insurance. Does this sound familiar? It should. It’s the same plan Newt Gingrich tried to sell in 1995.
And we already know, from experience with the Medicare Advantage program, that a voucher system would have higher, not lower, costs than our current system. The only way the Ryan plan could save money would be by making those vouchers too small to pay for adequate coverage. Wealthy older Americans would be able to supplement their vouchers, and get the care they need; everyone else would be out in the cold.
In practice, that probably wouldn’t happen: older Americans would be outraged — and they vote. But this means that the supposed budget savings from the Ryan plan are a sham.
So why have so many in Washington, especially in the news media, been taken in by this flimflam? It’s not just inability to do the math, although that’s part of it. There’s also the unwillingness of self-styled centrists to face up to the realities of the modern Republican Party; they want to pretend, in the teeth of overwhelming evidence, that there are still people in the G.O.P. making sense. And last but not least, there’s deference to power — the G.O.P. is a resurgent political force, so one mustn’t point out that its intellectual heroes have no clothes.
But they don’t. The Ryan plan is a fraud that makes no useful contribution to the debate over America’s fiscal future.
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- Don't bother to read the seed... or anything else,
- Reply in any manner you please, regardless of cogency or pertinence.
Let's see who can be the worst a$$hole among among some very serious a$$holes...
The original Flimflam man.
Ryan can't hold a candle to him.
If it bleeds, it leads.
I am amazed that you would use Krugman as a reliable source of information. And no, I didn't read the article since it appears to be anti-GOP opinionated fiction, and I prefer unbiased facts.
How about citing the sources of those unbiased facts, humor is always appreciated.
Ryan is a follower of Ayn Rand, enough said.
Krugman is not, enough said.
Paul Krugeman is a Nobel Prize Winning Economist. Paul Ryan is a successful retiring snake oil salesman...
That is not true. Krugeman is a respected economist unlike Alt-right numb nuts flat earth math denier...
"Economics is just math" - Bill Clinton. In case you missed it we're back to trillion dollar deficients again.
Paul Krugman's Claim To Be "Right About Everything"
Sounds like an apt description of trump except for the respected award.
He is making a mess of biblical proportion, he had nothing to unravel and his greatest noteworthy accomplishment should he succeed will be to escape serving time and that is looking less plausible with every passing day.
Yeah a Nobel Prize winner who made this fine economic prediction on election 2016:
"It really does now look like President Donald J. Trump. And markets are plunging. When might we expect them to recover? A first-pass answer is never."
Genius right?
Krugman is obviously too partisan to be a good economist. And any truly "good" economist doesn't let such folly affect their economic analyses.
The second place finisher for the most respected man and woman in the world was Barack and Michelle Obama, Bill Gates came in first. Guess where trump came in?
You are so right. Obama left him with this mess. You know, Trump, isn't the only who sported an ego. Obama's was different. He had to be liked no matter the consequences.
If one never makes mistakes, then, that person is not doing their job.
Stormy's butthole?
Definite possibility.
Ahh yes but then your team will yet again proclaim that the great Donald has garnered respect that was lost under Obama and the world is gushing over his awesomeness, although unanimously the world has found something that never disappoints to laugh at and it is tied directly to us. Interesting that private citizen is perceived so different from other ex-president and candidates that are also private citizens but do not seem to enjoy that lack of proximity to their prior employment and notoriety. If I were to look for a consistent application of critique the regressives would not be a place to look as it only presents when to their advantage. If we were to look more toward what was once the conservative party then it would be different but they seem to be in hiding at least until shit for brains and his Koch planted vice accomplice are constrained in appropriate living arrangements.
Trump does make mistakes by the boatload and he still is not doing his job, what is the vacation day count, the cost to taxpayers, how about his modified workday which from reports has deteriorated even more now that his lawyer is screwed. I always believed that people that claim not to make mistakes don't do anything, it should be changed to not accomplishing anything and still making massive mistakes.
In the old days of NV, I remember so well the ridicule and non support Obama received from many Republicans.
I would ask......why would you want him to fail 'cause, then, our Country fails.
I am asking the same question of liberals. But, from the moment this man became POTUS he has been plagued by some to fail. So sad.
Sometimes, I cringe at his tweets, but I am with him all the way. He is our President and he has some heavy shit on his plate.
BTW......President Trump is not going to change his lifestyle for me, for you, for anyone.
The only other U.S. president to forego their salary was President Kennedy.
I would hope to think that giving up his salary might offset some of his expenses as president. Maybe not...I don't know.
I think many of us, myself included, felt like Dave Chappelle when he voiced on SNL just days after the election, "So, in that spirit, I’m wishing Donald Trump luck. And I’m going to give him a chance". Even though he had already said so many idiotic disgusting things during the campaign, there were many who were willing to give him a chance. Sadly, since then, Trump has doubled down on his rhetoric, he's constantly lied about everything, from crowd sizes, being the highest taxed society on the planet, claiming millions of illegals voted, his handling of the disasters, to the size of trade deficits. Over 2000 lies in his first year on the job. Whatever hope some had of him being able to become Presidential and have a stable Presidency has gone out the window. He has created uncertainty in the world markets, lied about Democrats and Obamas record trying to blame anything that goes wrong on others, refused to take responsibility for his own actions, never admitted any missteps, rejected all attempts to stabilize his administration by firing anyone who might suggest he change his tactics. Instead of draining the swamp he just filled it with worse vermin than ever before who have abused their positions by overspending on travel and lavish furnishings and vacations, while refusing to do the jobs they were selected to do.
So while some anarchists who wanted to destroy our 240 year experiment with a constitutional republic are happy because he's made a mockery of the Presidency, those of us who hoped he would prove us wrong and be a competent President are done giving him the benefit of the doubt. He's proved who he is and how worthless his abilities are, even his own cabinet members were calling him an "Idiot" and an "F'ing Moron" to which I agree, you don't get more ignorant and incompetent than this failure of a human being who managed to bamboozle 62 million Americans into supporting him. He doesn't enjoy that kind of support anymore barely getting over 40% approval with over 52% disapproval ratings.
I understand.
My family came here....fought in all the wars.....signed the Declaration of Independence as well as our Constitution. I have a stake in all of this as well as any and every citizen who voted, fought in wars and contributed in anyway to the success of the USA.
I will NOT give away my Country to those who see failure rather than success.
We have known strife before and we overcame all obstacles.
Nothing will deter our Country from its greatness.
Anyone take notice that much like G. W. Bush in the military almost no one remembered him and that Donald J. Trump son of a very wealthy real estate con artist racist and Nazi sympathizer is equally so unremarkable even to the gold digger trollops no one remembers him in college. Then again when you have that kind of money and it seems it was a somewhat common theme that one could pay someone to attend classes as a surrogate. Do we really wonder why a college grad has trouble even reading.
Congratulations, people!
More than thirty Replies, and not a single one is pertinent!
Keep up the good work...
You're welcome!
Most of the stuff posted here is variations on the same simple themes, which tend to get old, state, or boring after a very short time. That's why I spend very little time here...it's just not all that interesting.
You just got tired of being outwitted.
BS......what do u want for your two cents?
And....what do u want 4 YOUR 2 cents?
Respectl
Want Some? Give Some...
When you start showing it to others, then perhaps you will be given some in return. Until then......well.....as they say, "what goes around comes around". You will only get back as good as you give to others.
Jeez, people!
I'm disappointed.
I was hoping that you'd reach fifty Replies without a singe pertinent one. You stopped at forty-six. Very disappointing.
Well... maybe today...
Reading this seeds comment threads leads one to suspect the word went out to troll it...
It is plain to see some tried to participate but nobody wants to mess with all this trolling.
It is a shame really that TPTB are unwilling to protect membership from that kind of shit.
It isn't like those who are here to disrupt aren't known. I guess TPTB feel NT needs them.
That is like a mostly deserted bar thinking they need the business of stinking olde bums...
Sorry for going off topic but I was replying to you, the seeder, so I think it should be OK.
Oh!! D'ya think??
You're right, of course. It's blatant. It's obvious. It happens to most of my "Politics" seeds. One might almost think that there are some members who are trying to eliminate opinions other than their own, by simply shouting them down, by burying them under the kind of Reply we see here.
Management has made it very clear that this kind of trolling vandalism is permitted on NewsTalkers.
Damn ...... get your passive aggressive on there Bob.
Not at all...
I find this rather funny. If all the visitors here wanted to demonstrate how not to behave in order to have a coherent conversation, this would be the result. You can read back through the Replies and see who are the outright vandals, and who are their oblivious accomplices.
The thing that saddens me is that, apparently, this kind of "conversation" is perfectly fine with NT management. Clicks are important, content is not.
Well you seeded an eight year old blue meat opinion piece what did you expect.
It can be a little like watching a grade schoolyard shoving match but such is the blog world.
I will say this ..... this place is like a Trappist Monastery when compared to places like NV. Unfortunately i'm seeing more and more familiar faces here, who were problems there.
Ah, Dean...
You do me good! You help me measure my progress in anger management.
You're pretending that what you post or seed here is valid, truthful, relevant, or interesting, content.
True!
Valid? It's an opinion piece, so everyone is entitled to their opinion. Since it has been decreed by Tribe Red Authorities that nothing Krugman says is valid, the answer here is tribal rather than thought-out.
Truthful? If you see a factual error, you could... you know... point it out. Of course, you'd have to actually read the seed...
Relevant? The day after Ryan throws in the towel? Yes. Very relevant.
Interesting? I think so, therefore I seeded it.
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You know... if you don't think my seeds are worth your time, you could simply stay away. I consider the sempiternal "Why libs are such-and-such" tripe that some NT members seed day after day after day after day after day to be a total waste of time... so I just don't go there.