Friday, March 22, 2013

Rand Paul > Paul Ryan

Rand Paul just released his 2014 Budget Plan and it really is nice to see a budget that you can be proud of.  It makes Paul Ryan look completely overrated and boring (though honestly I have thought that for a while).  Paul Ryan's budget doesn't touch Medicare until it is about to go bankrupt in 2024, doesn't touch Social Security at all and doesn't balance for 10 years (you think we can continue adding to our massive $16 trillion deficit pile for 10 years without a crisis?).  It's no wonder that FreedomWorks gave it a B-.  Conversely, Rand Paul's does a lot of things right (which is why it got an A+ from FreedomWorks):

1.  Achieves a $17 billion surplus in FY2018
2.  Remains in surplus after initial balance, pays off $1.8 trillion of our national debt in 10 yr. window
3.  Includes entitlement reform for Medicare and Social Security
4.  Block-grants Medicaid, SCHIP, foods stamps, and child nutrition
5.  Proposes Social Security reforms to fix trust fund
6. Preserves Medicare by giving all seniors the same health care plan as Members of Congress, starting in 2015
7.  Reduces most discretionary spending to FY2008 levels
8.  Defense: replenishes $126 billion over sequester levels
9.  Freezes foreign aid spending at $5 billion per year (buh-bye aid to Egypt!)
10.  Defunds duplicative or wasteful agencies and programs
11.  Sells off excess federal properties and land
12.  Eliminates the Davis-Bacon prevailing wages provisions
13.  Liquidates government ownership of "bailout" companies
14.  Eliminates the Department of Commerce
15.  Eliminates the Department of Education (preserves Pell grants)
16.  Eliminates the Department of Housing and Urban Development
17.  Eliminates the Department of Energy (transfers nuclear research and weapons to re-established Atomic Energy Commission)
18.  Privatizes the TSA

Obviously there is no chance of this being passed but it's nice to see someone who actually provides a blueprint of how things SHOULD be working.

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