There ain’t no right way to do the wrong thing

By Suzia van Swol, University of New Mexico-Talk Radio News Service

President Obama has stated he wants to cut the deficit, which
President Bush left behind at 12.3% of GDP, to 3.1% by 2013. In a
committee hearing on the budget, Chairman John Spratt (R-S.C.) stated
that, “It is almost impossible to balance the budget when the economy
is in recession , even harder when we do what we must to make the
economy better because it frequently makes the deficit worst, at least
for the short run.”

Ranking member Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said that, “The facts surrounding
this budget are disturbing. It proposes to bring the size of our
government to its largest level ever since WWII. It doubles the
national debt in eight years. During a recession, it seeks to impose
$1.4 trillion tax on our economy; on work, on savings, investment,
energy, on manufacturing. Even with the rosiest of economic
assumptions, this budget never even comes close to achieving a
balanced budget.” Ryan went on to say that, “Republicans, we don’t
have the votes to really do anything about this. So I guess the
question will become, this year, will all democrats march in lockstep
with this vision, with this type of transformation.” Ryan says that
the job of the minority republicans is to give the American people the
facts, the truth, and civilized debate over this budget, and to offer
them a real choice in alternative.

Peter R. Orszag, Director of the Office of Management and Budget, said
that the deficit happened in large part due to the collapse of credit
and capital markets, itself fueled by inadequate oversight,
insufficient disclosure, distorted incentives, and excessive conflicts
of interest.

The alternative budget proposal includes a market friendly
cap-and-trade program on green house gas emissions, invests
substantial resources in early education, works to make college more
accessible, and lastly healthcare, which Orszag says is the key to our
fiscal future. “Some say that health reform is a luxury we can’t
afford now. As I’ve been saying for a long time, I say that reducing
costs and improving quality in healthcare is a necessity that we need
to act upon this year.”

Orszag concluded with the statement that none of this is going to be easy, and he quoted the country music singer Toby Keith, “There ain’t no right way to
do the wrong thing.”