The Glade 4.0

As a side note, if the president actually does sign on to this plan, it officially makes him the Obamessiah and the best executive the USA has had in decades. (Of course, he won't sign on.)

Right now he's insulated. He doesn't have to sign anything cause reid's senate won't pass it.

I think if it actually got though the Senate he'd be willing to play the "hero who prevented the shutdown" and not veto it.

I think the Dems should take the opposite approach. Ryan has put forward a reasonably honest "vision statement" of how the Republicans want to cut the deficit - big cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, moderately lower taxes on corporations and the wealthy, and slightly higher taxes on the middle class. Dems should respond with an equally straightforward statement of their preferred approach - small cuts to Medicare and no cuts to Medicaid, moderate cuts to the military, much higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy, moderate carbon taxes on everyone, and slightly higher taxes on the middle class. Then, once we have both alternatives openly on the table, we can start actually negotiating a middle ground that's politically feasible and, in all likelihood, actually better policy than either side getting its way entirely.

In comic strips the person on the left always speaks first. - George Carlin

I think the Dems should take the opposite approach. Ryan has put forward a reasonably honest "vision statement" of how the Republicans want to cut the deficit - big cuts to Medicare and Medicaid, moderately lower taxes on corporations and the wealthy, and slightly higher taxes on the middle class. Dems should respond with an equally straightforward statement of their preferred approach - small cuts to Medicare and no cuts to Medicaid, moderate cuts to the military, much higher taxes on corporations and the wealthy, moderate carbon taxes on everyone, and slightly higher taxes on the middle class. Then, once we have both alternatives openly on the table, we can start actually negotiating a middle ground that's politically feasible and, in all likelihood, actually better policy than either side getting its way entirely.

Paul Ryan's Budget Plan: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

From every possible perspective, Obama's budget was and is a disaster waiting to happen, memorable only for reminding all Americans that you can't spell "Winning the Future" without WTF.

Indeed, Obama's plan for 2012 is so awful that it should make us feel lucky that he and the Democrats failed to pass a budget for the current fiscal year (the only time such a thing has happened since 1974). Obama's dream budget would mean a 2021 budget that spends $2 trillion more than we do today, increase debt held by the public from 62 percent to 77 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and maintain massive annual deficits. And that's if things go according to his plan, which they won't (built into his budget are unrealistic assumptions about the rate of economic growth, revenue collection, health care savings, and more).

So compared to such an exercise in recklessness, Ryan's plan is refreshingly engaged with reality. Unfortunately for taxpayers and citizens, Ryan's plan looks better when standing in the shadow of Obama's. Neither budget provides a good way forward for a country still battling the effects of recession and the non-stop, self-inflicted spending binge that began with George W. Bush and has proceeded unabated since then. Ryan's budget is indeed a positive break from past efforts by Republicans and Democrats alike, but it doesn't provide the solutions the American people deserve.

We made the case against Obama's budget here. Now, we discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of Ryan's budget.

Facism is not a school of thought, it is a racial slur.