Ryan's New Debt Plan; Nothing New

“Authored by Rep. Paul Ryan, proposal combines cuts to safety net programs with sharply lower tax rates in a manifesto painting clear differences with President Obama.” GOP budget plan cuts deeply into domestic programs, reshapes Medicare, Medicaid, , Washington Post, March 20, 2012

Paul Ryan is naive or he thinks the American people are naive. Either way, his proposal shows everyone how disharmonious the Republican Party is with the citizens of this country. The Republicans drank too much tea.

Mr. Ryan is right to want to find a solution to our debt problems sooner than later. I further agree that we must find savings in entitlement programs. However, it is not reasonable or fair not to raise taxes on the wealthy and correct the problems with our economic system that is broken. Our Free Markets are not working and it is the super wealthy that have benefited the most from the free markets destruction.

The modern day politician, Democrats and Republicans alike, do not understand the meaning of a free market. A free market to them is simply a market that is free of all government regulation. To them it is not relevant if only a few corporations control an industry. It is ok that four major companies including ATT, Verizon, T-Mobil and Sprint control the mobile phone industry. It is ok that ESPN owns ABC and ABC owns Disney. Our politicians see nothing wrong with Comcast buying NBC. The above are examples of industries and markets controlled by a small number of companies that have the ability to set prices and control wages.

Our leaders ignore the fact that the creation of capitalism was to meet the needs of society. Society does not exist to meet the needs of capitalism. Government’s role in free markets is to guarantee that all companies play by the rules and do not dominate markets.

Wealth is concentrated when power is consolidated. Wealth then buys politicians. These large, industry-controlling oligopolies have greater power to raise prices and hold down the cost of labor. Both the consumer and worker are squeezed because they have few alternatives. The oligopoly is less concerned about the needs of the consumer and focused on consolidating power further.

The same elected officials see nothing wrong with the five largest banks in the country controlling over 60% of the consumer deposits in the country and it is ok that they are too big to fail. Instead, our Washington representatives are upset that the banks are choking on excessive regulations.

In the summer of 2011, Obama was ready to make cuts in entitlement programs; however, the Republicans refused to go along with any tax increases on the wealthy. The Republican current proposal is no different. Therefore, Obama made the decision to wait for the 2012 elections. After seeing this new proposal, who can blame him? For several months, I have been complaining about Obama not addressing the debt issue. I was wrong. Ryan’s current proposal shows the Republicans are not ready to negotiate in good faith. Their no new tax pledge to Grover Norquist is greater than their responsibility to the American people.

One thing that Republicans often say is that the private sector does not like uncertainty and the uncertainty concerning solving our debt problems are holding businesses back from creating jobs. This is correct; however, what is worse is if the decision related to solving the debt crisis is wrong and this causes the economy to weaken further. The solution to our debt problems must include increasing taxes on the wealthy and fixing our free market system. Anything less and Mr. Ryan is just blowing in the wind singing Puff the Magic Dragon.