Ryan to Geithner - Why propose a budget you admit is not credible, not sustainable?

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From today's House Ways and Means Committee hearing of President Obama's FY2011 Budget.

Congressman Paul Ryan: I brought up page 146 in your budget which is your S-1 budget totals ((http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2011/assets/budget.pdf). When you take a look at this, I just find this amazing. Youve got budget totals here, which by your own admission, from your own Budget Director, and youre a smart guy, youve got smart economists over there, all of them say, that for the medium and long-run budget deficits have to get below 3% of GDP, yet this budget plan that youre bringing to us doesnt even get close to it.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner: Youre exactly right.

Ryan: Since I have three minutes, you have this warning under here. Its like a warning on a cigarette pack. You have this little magic box underneath your budget totals that says: were going to have a commission do it. Were going to have this partisan commission, with a 2 to 1 ratio of Democrats and Republicans, that will give us a report after the election.

Geithner: Its not a 2 to 1 ratio, thats not fair. And let me say it slightly differently, were going to solve our part of the mess we inherited. We inherited a structural deficit and to bring that down, were going to have to work together.

Ryan: Why dont you solve this problem in your Budget? You run the government, if you are going to solve our fiscal situation, why dont you do that? Why dont you give us a budget that actually gets our deficits to sustainable levels?

Let me read a quote from OMB Director Peter Orszag in the Wall Street Journal: The unusual situation that the government finds itself in with other countries willing to finance U.S. debt at low rates wont last. He added, when it flips, the question is: how do you get ahead of that to avoid the downward spiral of rising interest rates, plunging dollar, a sinking economy.

Geithner: I think its a good quote, too. I agree with that.

Ryan: The vigilantes in the bond market are going to get us and the American people are going to get hurt. And so, why arent you giving us a budget - not punting to a commission - why arent you giving us a budget that using your own standards and definitions actually is sustainable?

Geithner: Congressman, we are proposing a budget that takes the huge mess we inherited and cuts that deficit dramatically.

Ryan: You can blame Bush only so long. You obviously inherited a tough situation, but you are making it worse by your own admission.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Geithner
• paul-ryan
• ways-and-means
• congress
• budget
• wisconsin

[123karismith]

Geithner needs to be flipping burgers...that would get the shizz eating grin off his face.

[ktspy]

I love this. Paul Ryan kicks Geithner's butt.

[MLP88]

Ryan employs far too much Political Animal Speak in this, an intellectual discourse of opposing views. 

[you831able]

@mrbraindump he had 3 minutes in which tax cheat Geithner interupted him! He asked a straight forward question, and TG back peddled in agreement. He stated that the budget totals need to be 3% below the GDP. Paul Ryan just asked why this wasn't in his budget. How was this grand standing? I see a lot of excuse making and no actual solutions. It's a great question to ask, why they're trying to solve over spending with over spending!

[you831able]

@123karismith ???? He just made the treasury secretary look retarded! When faced with facts and obvious answers to solutions the whole Obama crew look like stooges!

[bradlom80]

@182parker He looks like the guy in Billy Madison who wants to take over the Business from Billy Madison. So they have a academic contest to cast the winner!! LMAO!!

[182parker]

just looking at Geithner, without any previous knowledge of who he is, you can tell that he is a snarky, untrustworthy crook. Like the back stabbing schemer in a movie or something

[CatholicGirl5]

Congressman Ryan is NOT a "political grandstander" as another commenter asserts, but he IS a very knowledge member of the House Budget Committee who is passionate about addressing our national financial crisis. If you think he is posturing, consider the fact that the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office issued a warning to Congress and the White House that failure to reform and control spending would have "catastrophic" consequences and "drive America's economy over a cliff." Unfortunately,

[idricool]

Geithner is a total failure.

[Follower172]

we're going to solve "our part" of the mess "we inherited...?" why not solve the whole flippin problem, since it is everyone's problem you idiot! who cares if you inherited a mess, you also made it ten times worse!

[johnnycmajor]

@queenforb who knows why is still there all I see is puss dripping down his lying face. He is straight evil.