you failed to mention that in order to reach his unrealistic goals -- which would entail cutting 6.3 trillion in tax deductions and loopholes over ten years -- Ryan imposes draconian cuts on the elderly and the poor while the wealthy get a huge tax break. Once agian the GOP sacrifices the poor to the rich. That's you whole party's problem.

John, You drone on and on so much that your work is very hard to read. You need to improve on that, because that makes people read it more carefully, allowing them to discern that once again, you have shown yourself to have very little New Hampshire statesman in you, and are nothing but a shill for any national politician that you think will give you a job. If you understood New Hampshire even a tiny bit, you would not be an ex-senator. The only way you will get anyone to listen to your drivel is to write for media in outlets where they don't know you any better.

Salemreader, unable to refute what John says, resorts to personal attacks. At least bumpy attempts an argument. But by large, this is one of John's best columns. His overall point is more about how the White House and the Senate will respond, than about the specifics in the budget. The Demagoguery around his bill has been, will continue to be laughable. But a gullible public can easily be fooled, and that is the scary part. One can only hope that the Democrats will negotiate in good faith, and work to simplify the tax code, and save Medicare, without putting us further into bankruptcy.

One has to enjoy John's use of the English language. The use of the word "restore" regarding Medicare and Social Security in place of the words, "replace" or "end". The ending of "tax deductions" without specificity such as ending the "homeowners deduction" or taxing "health care benefits" these for the middle class are considered "subsidies" to the person they will be "tax increases". Of course there is always the ever present allusion to the "job creators" as opposed to the "rich". I suppose to Mr. Ryan the middle class and the poor and of course the rich are only getting what they deserve. Getting what the Republican's believe America is all about, It's every man for himself, women and children you better hope you know a powerful man.

The problem with Mr. Sununu's praise of Paul Ryan's budget is that is insulting to one's intelligence. It also shows callous disregard for those who struggle to make ends meet. All individuals engaged in increasing wealth in a society must be aware of how it is sustained and to value its participants. It can not result in such extraction of the medium of exchange that the country suffers. There are voices who think that the 99% are also guilty of extracting these funds from the 1%. Nothing could be further from the truth. Unless one believes in slavery or near slavery there is legitimacy for responsible negotiation for wages. This should be reflected in the tax code. Quite frankly if those who have the reins of determining who gets hired and for how much would ensure a salary that allows a decent lifestyle free of worry if one gets sick or injured, there would be little need for government intervention. Thomas Paine in "Common Sense" noted that government's purpose is to deal with our "wickedness" and becomes a necessary evil. However society's purpose is to satisfy our "wants and needs." When these get at cross purposes is when our problems arise. When individuals or groups try to use government for societal purposes or vice versa it is a scenario to divide us against each other.

This plan differs little from the first time it was presented. It has been said this way: ""Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." -Albert Einstein This is a quote from the Brookings institute: "The Roadmap's tax provisions would be highly regressive compared with the current tax system. Relative to current law—and assuming that taxpayers choose their preferred tax system—the Roadmap would reduce taxes for most people, but the largest reductions would go to those with the highest incomes." http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/UploadedPDF/412046_ryan_taxplan.pdf Every vote for any Republican candidate is another nail in the coffin of the middle class.

As always your opinions could only resonate with the extreme base of your republican base, where the idea of a "blessed budget" is one that funds trillions of dollars in tax cuts for the wealthy, corporations and defense spending while eliminating programs that help Americans, leaving 19 million without care, cutting plans that provide health-care insurance to about 33 million, a budget where again financial and environmental regulations are weakened. Yes, I would say that his budget is really far from "perfect" rather close to "dishonest".

The Budget provides a serious start for negotiations. It was brave of Ryan to throw it out there with cuts to SS and medicare included. Where the Republicans need to get serious is thinking defense isnt going to take a substantial hit as well. All of these areas need to be revamped and our spending as a whole cut. Im all for taxing the wealthy but that alone simply wont even put us in the ball park.

dems have no leg to stand on since they have not produced a budget in over three years

Lcurry---its fantastic you dont like Republicans, however, these programs are not even closed to being funded. Taxing the wealthy, cutting defense and increasing taxes on corporations still wont pay for the promises made. Its not fair for the younger generation to pay for the boomers to retire well and not ask them to share in the burden of fixing the mess that they created.

Interesting analogy to the Bill Murray movie. Of course, Mr. Sununu seems to miss the point that the main character finally develops self-awareness and appreciation for the circumstances he is in, finally enabling him to change his attitudes and behavior and break out of the repetitive cycle. Ryan, Sununu and the Republican party have shown no signs of such awareness and behavioral adaptability. Instead, they trot out the same old attitudes and arguements aimed at securing and enhancing the power of the economically advantaged.

Rapple--I guess I missed it when the Democrats realized that our current system of entitlement from tne cradle to the grave is unsustainable? Maybe we could look at some of their ideas for fixing the problem? Oh wait, they have none.

Ryan said yesterday on Face the Nation, that we (elected officials) have to start treating the public as adults, rather than pandering to them as children. How refreshing! Obamapologists will take to the pandering, thank you. Entitlements driving force of debt crisis? No problem. Don't talk about entitlements, but offer a new entitlement on top of them: Obamacare (already tipping the scales at twice the cost estimates of just 2 years ago). Amazing. Don't forget a slew of new ads to come in the form of a variation of Ryan pushing a wheelchair bound old lady off a cliff. More pandering, and the kids will love the ads too. No mention from the Dems of the new Medicare College of Cardinals/IPAB board, who'll determine reasonable costs and ultimately, denial of care. Unelected and unaccountable. That's the child like fantasy of the statist. Damn that Ryan for treating us as adults to stop the debt crisis from swallowing this nation whole. How dare he contradict our child-like fantasies!

First, we need to eliminate the cap on social security taxes, that would generate enough income to solve the future shortages predicted. The tax would remain at the same rate. If it works on the medicare portion, why cap it on the social security. These funds could only be used for social security payouts and no other government programs. It's simple mathematics. Second, all government and municipal workers need to move into the social security system. This is a government run program, why are government workers exempt? We need a larger work base to strengthen the system. The current government pension programs are not sustainable and will never be fully funded even using imaginary rates of returns. Once these steps are taken we can look to raise the social security payouts to increase the quality of life for retirees. Isn't that the goal.

Since when has a Republican president been concerned with red ink? Reagan? Bush1?......Clinton-232billion surplus given to W. W? Gave 90% of surplus to top 2% Lowered tax rates twice for high income people,and then started a very expensive war on a Bank of China credit card. Also passed a Medicare drug bill(Socialism!!)without any revenues to pay for it. Left the economy in shamples,and nearly sank us into a depression. Billions of dollars in red ink. Now the right wing is licking its chops to dismantle Social Security, Medicare,and reduce education Now Ryan wants to finish the deal with taxes.Anyone who is middle class and votes Republican is a fool ,

One thing about Republican vs Democrat red ink. If you have to have trillions of dollars in red ink, would you not expect strong GDP growth and low unemployment, a la Reagan? With the Obamacrats we have the worst of all worlds: ridiculous debt and deficits, low GDP growth, high unemployment and a dead @ss economy. Couldn't have pulled that off without Obama, Pelosi and Reid and the do-nothing Senate Dems.