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Posted on 06/07/2008 5:54:25 AM PDT by CWWren
Washington - Most lawmakers receive little attention when they introduce bills in Congress. That's especially true for House members in the minority party.
But Republican Rep. Paul Ryan is generating excitement in conservative circles for a bill he introduced Wednesday that would reform Social Security, Medicare, the health care system and the tax code. It's an ambitious plan that even Ryan admits won't go anywhere during this session of Congress.
Still, he and others say the measure is an attempt to influence the debate about some of the country's most pressing problems.
"I call it a road map for America's future," said Ryan, the top Republican on the House Budget Committee. "If we don't start tackling these problems, they're going to tackle us."
Republican insiders also say Ryan's measure represents the kind of fresh thinking the party needs to turn itself around after losing control of Congress. At a time when party leaders are looking for new ideas to convince Americans that they can lead again, Republican strategists say "Most people think the Republican Party's biggest problem is they're out of ideas," said John Feehery, a Republican lobbyist who served as spokesman for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. "If he can be an oasis in the desert of ideas, it will help Republicans."
In an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, Ryan, 38, notes that Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other government spending will consume 40% of the economy by the time his three children - ages 3, 4, and 6 - reach his age. Federal spending is now about 20% of the economy and the three major entitlement programs account for nearly half of that.
"This will require more than doubling the average tax burden of the past 40 years just to keep the government afloat," he wrote. "Continuing down this path will eventually strangle our economy."
His proposal also has gotten the attention of conservative organizations such as the Heritage Foundation and the American Conservative Union, and conservative publications such as National Review Online. Lamenting the lack of fiscal restraint among Republican leaders, columnist Bob Novak gave a nod in his column this week to Ryan's bill.
"If anybody needs a roadmap, it's Ryan's colleagues," he wrote.
Ryan's bill would, among other things:
• Offer tax credits - $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families - to buy health insurance.
• Establish Medicare payments of up to $9,500 to pay for private insurance and create medical savings accounts for out-of-pocket costs.
• Allow workers younger than 55 to invest a third of their Social Security taxes into personal retirement accounts.
• Give taxpayers the choice between using the current income tax code or using a simplified tax system with two rates, 10% on taxable income of up to $100,000 for joint tax filers, 25% for income above that amount.
Despite the praise he's receiving from some conservatives, the Janesville Republican faces an uphill battle in Congress, where plans to reform entitlement programs have failed in recent years. His bill is the latest in a slew of legislative ideas about how to fix the coming spending crisis, largely triggered by the retirement wave of the baby boom generation.
Social Security, created during the Depression, provides retirement and disability benefits to about 50 million Americans. By 2017, the program is expected to start paying out more in benefits than it collects in payroll taxes if Congress does not act.
Medicare, which provides health care for 43 million elderly and disabled people, could face shortfalls even sooner as health care costs grow faster than wages.
Opponents of Ryan's plan say the measure would increase the federal deficit by cutting taxes for the wealthiest Americans and lead to the privatization of Social Security.
"It's really stunning that in a proposal that's supposed to be about realism, compassion, and making hard choices, what he found room for are these massive, costly tax cuts that are geared toward the wealthiest," said Aviva Aron-Dine, policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal research group.
Viewed as rising star Ryan introduced the bill during a week when Republican leaders are talking about how to chart a new set of priorities that can change the party's public image, which has been battered by President Bush's low approval ratings.
Often viewed as a rising Republican star - Ryan has been mentioned as a possible running mate for Arizona Sen. John McCain - the Wisconsin lawmaker has been a vocal voice for returning to the party's conservative principles.
David Keene, chairman of the American Conservative Union, said Ryan represents a younger generation of "bright and thoughtful conservatives" who can help the party reclaim its standing in the future.
"He's trying to take Republican principles, articulate them and apply them to a new age," he said.
I, and probably many on this forum, missed this valuable article while not a panacea at least proves that a brain or two still works in Congress.
The Republicrat Party indeed needs recasted as it's become unrecognizable to many of us as the party in which we matured.
Our sick nation needs many more congressmen that have the ability to think. It's frightening to think that this nation has seen it's best days and that all the people have to look forward to is 'change' and a 'leader' like Braaack!
Makes too much sense; ergo, it doesn’t stand a chance. Unfortunate but true.
But you can see the problem that conservatives have right in this article. Conservatives do have the ability to think, but the majority of the voting public does not. Ryan’s plan sounds complex to the simple people. They do not want complex, they want “hope” and “change”. That they can understand. Medical Savings accounts? What is that? Am I going to lose my medicare? “They” say that the Republicans are going to take my S.S. away. Yada, yada, yada. You see? Conservatives have GOT to learn how to spin their ideas in sound bites. If they don’t we are forever frustrated and out of power.
If so many in congress don't have any ideas, then they have been there tooooooo long and it's time for new blood, like Ryan.
As Rush says and we know Conservatives operate on ideas and Liberals on emotions.
Reagan was sble to negotiate that divide...and create a sea change for the better.
But his main mission was ending the cold war not fixing this country’s failed liberal policies of the past.
Let’s just wait for barack hussein obama’s (PBUH) reparations roadmap.
The Republicans aren't out of ideas, they're out of guts and leadership.
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
This Paul Ryan looks like a future superstar for the conservative movement. Besides having great, common sense ideas, he is also a very appealing speaker.
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Sounds like a good plan, but sadly I don’t see it passing.
Plus, he’s from Wisconsin. We could use some blood from outside the South. The GOP is in danger of becoming a regional party.
I like the flat tax and social security portions of his plan . The rest I don’t like for the same reason . We should not keep using the tax system to influence and control behavior and redistribute wealth . Tax credits are an awkward way to help those with no income .
2008!
Of course, they do. But, first, they've got to have ideas. Good ideas.
This is one.
The next step is to convert it into a campaign issue in 2010.
With a solidly Democrat Congress, no way. Even Ryan admits there is no hope of passage in this Congress. Or, almost certainly, the next one.
However, it's a start to the conversation. It's an idea to build around. Perhaps, it can become a campaign issue in 2010, once the Democrat Congress proves its incompetence once again.
But they are an outstanding way of aiding those with income. Which represents the vast bulk of the U.S. population.
Those who have little or no income are a separate problem and needn't be used as a reason to trash a policy that is good for most people.
Government policies should be guided by what is best for most people, most of the time...
I believe in buying your own goods and services and helping the only the helpless .
And, certainly, there's nothing wrong with that.
But how are American families best served? By purchasing health insurance? Or paying taxes?
C'mon now, give me a straight answer.
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