MARK LEVIN TO PAUL RYAN: BUDGET DEAL IS 'MICKEY MOUSE'

MARK LEVIN TO PAUL RYAN: BUDGET DEAL IS 'MICKEY MOUSE'

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by JOEL B. POLLAK 10 Dec 2013 901POST A COMMENT

Talk show host Mark Levin told House Budget Committee Chair Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) that the budget deal announced today with Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) was a "Mickey Mouse" deal, tinkering at the margins of the federal budget, undoing the sequester and exchanging immediate spending increases for future spending cuts.

Ryan countered that "elections have consequences," and that many members of the Republican caucus were worried that the next tranche of sequester cuts would hit the military exclusively. He explained that there would be a net savings of $23 billion after $62 billion in new spending was offset by $85 billion in long-term cuts.

He added that the $85 billion would be a change in mandatory spending, as opposed to discretionary spending, noting that many of the savings would come from federal employees contributing more towards their pensions. Levin countered that even changes in "mandatory" spending could be undone easily by a future Congress.

The Budget Control Act that put the sequester in place, Levin argued, had also been touted as a "permanent" deal. Ryan disagreed, while agreeing that the new deal would not solve the government's overall fiscal problems. It would be impossible to do more, he said, while Obama was president: "Elections have consequences."

Ryan also hinted at the political motivation for the deal: the GOP did not have the stomach to endure another government shutdown, and would prefer to focus on Obamacare instead. Levin responded that it was possible to focus on both spending and Obamacare, and that "nothing" was being done about Obamacare anyway.

Levin noted that the Democrats' main goal had been to undo the sequester--the Republicans' main point of leverage in budget talks--and that the deal increased overall spending in the short term. Ryan explained that parts of the sequester would remain, and pointed out that Democrats had dropped a demand for higher taxes.

The interview was cordial throughout, with Levin expressing respect for Ryan's efforts in the face of an "impossible" set of circumstances, if also showing some degree of exasperation with his answers. Ryan fought hard to defend the agreement, though acknowledged that he had a tendency to become "weedy" with the details.

Business leaders welcomed the deal, which came ahead of a December 13 deadline and before Congress's annual recess. The National Retail Federation said in a statement: "This is an early and much needed holiday present for consumers and the businesses that employ and serve them every day in communities across the country."

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Governm...s-Mickey-Mouse

Boehner slams conservative groups that oppose budget deal

11:08 AM 12/11/2013


Alex Pappas
Political Reporter

Househttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday took a swipe at the conservative groups that have made clear they oppose the new budget deal co-authored by Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan that blows through mandated spending caps.

Asked during a press conferencehttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png on Wednesday about conservative groups that oppose the deal, Boehner shot back: “You mean the groups that came out and opposed it before they ever saw it?”

“They’re using our members, and they’re using the American people for their own goals,” Boehner continued. “This is ridiculous. Listen, if you’re for more deficit reduction, you’re for this agreement.”

Ryan on Tuesday evening announced a budgethttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png deal with Democratic Sen. Patty Murray that stops the government from shutting down. While sequestration — the across-the-board spending cuts to government agencies — capped 2014 spending levels at $967 billion, the Ryan-Murray deal raises that spending level to $1.012 trillion.

Details of that proposal had leaked out before the formal unveiling of the deal. On Monday and Tuesday before the announcement, conservative groups including Heritage Action, FreedomWorks and Americans for Prosperity all made clear they opposed any deal where discretionary spending exceeded the $967 billion number.

On Wednesday — after the deal had been formally announced — the Club for Growth also came out against the plan. “This proposal swaps debthttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png reduction today and next year, for the dubious promise of debt reduction a decade from now,” Club for Growth president Chris Chocola said.

During the Capitol press conference on Wednesday, Boehner, the GOP leadership and Ryan all praised the plan as a small step to reduce the debt over time with out raising taxeshttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png. (RELATED: Tom Coburn ‘real disappointed’ with Ryan-Murray budget deal)
But conservatives point out that the plan includes revenue raisers — such as increasing fees when purchasing airlinehttp://images.intellitxt.com/ast/adTypes/icon1.png tickets — and the plan does away with billions in mandated budget cuts for next year.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/12/11/bo...#ixzz2nBTLqKL1