U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan said that his budget is an invitation to President Barack Obama and Senate Democrats to solve the nation’s fiscal crisis.
The House Budget Committee Chairman and Wisconsin Republican unveiled his blueprint to balance the budget in 10 years without raising taxes at a Capitol Hill press conference on Tuesday.
The former vice presidential candidate said he welcomed an alternative proposal from Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, who is scheduled to brief fellow Democratic senators on the proposal during a closed-door lunch that Obama is set to attend.
“I’m very pleased that Sen. Murray will attempt to pass a budget because that’s something we haven’t seen in a very long time,” Ryan said.
Ryan’s budget would slow the rate of spending growth to 3.4 percent as opposed to the current rate of 5 percent, expand American energy production, and reform Medicare, welfare, and the tax code.
The plan perhaps most significantly assumes the repeal of Obama’s $1.8 trillion healthcare law with free market alternatives.
“We will never be able to balance the budget without repealing Obamacare because Obamacare is a fiscal train wreck,” Ryan said. “We believe this law is going to collapse under its own weight.”
The White House immediately shot back at Ryan in a statement.
“While the House Republican budget aims to reduce the deficit, the math just doesn't add up,” the statement read. “Deficit reduction that asks nothing from the wealthiest Americans has serious consequences for the middle class.
“By choosing not to ask for a single dime of deficit reduction from closing tax loopholes for the wealthy and well-connected, this budget identifies deep cuts to investments like education and research – investments critical to creating jobs and growing the middle class.”
Earlier on Tuesday Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell criticized Obama for missing his budget deadline four out of the past five years and Senate Democrats for failing to write a budget in more than 1,400 days.
“There’s simply no excuse,” the Kentucky Republican said on the Senate floor. “Rather than helping lead Congress toward a reasonable outcome, it appears the president is happy to drop a bomb on the congressional budget process instead by releasing his budget plan after the House and Senate have acted — presumably so he can campaign against Republicans if the process fails as he hopes.”
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