Republican’s Propose To Knock $4 Trillion Off National Debt

The Republican Party has announced a proposed 2012 budget that would put in place a plan to knock off nearly $4 trillion from the current national debt. Thus begins the budget wars.

You might have thought the budget wars in this country have begun this year. The Republicans want to knock of $100 billion in the annual budget while Dems want something a bit lower. Such an “argument” is ludicrous and small minded when you consider the annual debt is a staggering $1.6 trillion this year.

For 2012, the Republicans are offering something much more aggressive. The plan would move to attack Medicare and lower other spending. It isn’t entirely clear what is being proposed yet, but the plan appears to be based on a proposal Representative Paul Ryan has been offering up for years. The basic idea is to move spending for Medicare to the states. The Feds would give each state a block of money and essentially let the states do whatever they like with it. On top of this, the plan would force wealth seniors to shoulder more of the burden of their medical costs, a step most have expected for a very long time.

The plan, oddly, tries to stick with the old Republican stalwart position of lower taxes and no defense spending cuts. Neither is realistic in light of the debt burden we face. The simple fact is there will never be a solution that is all cost cutting or all tax increases. Politically, it would never fly.

So, what are we to make of the proposed plan? We should cheer it even if there are parts we don’t really like. Why? This is the first plan offered up that has some vital, real options for dealing with our debt instead of the usual nonsense blather from duplicitous morons like Harry Reid and John Boehner.

The simple fact is there is no good answer to the debt problem that will make everyone happy. The true answer will probably make nobody happy because it will involve cuts to beloved spending programs and tax increases.

The bill has come due. It is time to deal with the pain. Let the negotiating begin.

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