Thread: Ryan: U.S. doesn't have a debt crisis yet

March 17, 2013 12:08 PM PrintText

Ryan: U.S. doesn't have a debt crisis yet

ByLindsey Boerma .

(CBS News) The United States does not have a debt crisis, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said today on "Face the Nation," corroborating what House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama have said as both chambers of Congress scramble to concoct a budget plan to shore up the federal deficit. But, Ryan added, a crisis is "irrefutably" on its way.

"To borrow a phrase from my friend Erskine Bowles" - President Clinton's former chief of staff and Washington's go-to budget guru - "we are the healthiest-looking horse in the glue factory," Ryan said. "That means America is still a step ahead of the European nations who are confronting a debt crisis, of Japan, that's in its second lost decade. It's probably because of our resilient economy, because of our world currency status.

"So we do not have a debt crisis right now," Ryan continued. "But, we see it coming. We know it's irrefutably happening. And the point we're trying to make with our budget is, let's get ahead of this problem."

Called the "Path to Prosperity," Ryan's budget, unveiled last week, is almost identical to several controversial budget plans he's released in previous years, none of which came close to passing the Democrat-controlled Senate. One distinction in this year's blueprint is that it eliminates the budget deficit in 10 years rather than the 25+ proposed in previous plans.

Democrats take particular issue with Ryan's insistence that a balanced budget is unachievable without eliminating President Obama's Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." His plan also suggests transforming the nation's Medicare program into a voucher-like system for Americans younger than 25 - a move Democrats staunchly oppose.

With the Senate now drafting its own budget, Ryan said he's "hopeful" a deal can be reached before the expiration of the continuing resolution - a stopgap funding measure that funds the government through March 27 - threatens to shut down the government. It "was always intended to work this way," Ryan said. "The House passes a budget, the Senate passes a budget; we try to bridge the gap."

"...Each budget reflects our priorities, reflects our principles, reflects our vision," Ryan said. Republicans, he continued, "believe in balancing the budget; we believe in getting government to live within its means; we believe there should be pro-growth economic policies, energy exploration, fixing our entitlements before they go bankrupt. Sure, you can say the Democrats don't like that, but we're not writing a Democratic budget in the House. We're writing a Republican budget."

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, appearing in the next segment, said she "appreciates" Ryan's "dedication to this issue," and said as the Senate moves its budget, "I truly believe" a compromise will be reached next week.

"I think this is an exciting time when we can get a compromise between Democrats and Republicans, and we have to," she said. "Overall, I think this is a great time of opportunity. I would agree with Congressman Ryan: We literally are standing on a precipice here in terms of the opportunities."

Klobuchar conceded there are potential sticking points, including Ryan's proposed $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, saying: "Unless a leprechaun is going to magically jump out and give him a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow today, I don't think we can afford that. (However,) we know there's going to be a compromise."

"I think there's a real urgency in Washington, particularly in the Senate, that I've never seen before," Klobuchar said. "People have been talking for years about this, there's some common ground. But now people want to get this done."

Ryan: U.S. doesn't have a debt crisis yet - CBS News

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

March 17, 2013 12:08 PM PrintText

Ryan: U.S. doesn't have a debt crisis yet

ByLindsey Boerma .

(CBS News) The United States does not have a debt crisis, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said today on "Face the Nation," corroborating what House Speaker John Boehner and President Obama have said as both chambers of Congress scramble to concoct a budget plan to shore up the federal deficit. But, Ryan added, a crisis is "irrefutably" on its way.

"To borrow a phrase from my friend Erskine Bowles" - President Clinton's former chief of staff and Washington's go-to budget guru - "we are the healthiest-looking horse in the glue factory," Ryan said. "That means America is still a step ahead of the European nations who are confronting a debt crisis, of Japan, that's in its second lost decade. It's probably because of our resilient economy, because of our world currency status.

"So we do not have a debt crisis right now," Ryan continued. "But, we see it coming. We know it's irrefutably happening. And the point we're trying to make with our budget is, let's get ahead of this problem."

Called the "Path to Prosperity," Ryan's budget, unveiled last week, is almost identical to several controversial budget plans he's released in previous years, none of which came close to passing the Democrat-controlled Senate. One distinction in this year's blueprint is that it eliminates the budget deficit in 10 years rather than the 25+ proposed in previous plans.

Democrats take particular issue with Ryan's insistence that a balanced budget is unachievable without eliminating President Obama's Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare." His plan also suggests transforming the nation's Medicare program into a voucher-like system for Americans younger than 25 - a move Democrats staunchly oppose.

With the Senate now drafting its own budget, Ryan said he's "hopeful" a deal can be reached before the expiration of the continuing resolution - a stopgap funding measure that funds the government through March 27 - threatens to shut down the government. It "was always intended to work this way," Ryan said. "The House passes a budget, the Senate passes a budget; we try to bridge the gap."

"...Each budget reflects our priorities, reflects our principles, reflects our vision," Ryan said. Republicans, he continued, "believe in balancing the budget; we believe in getting government to live within its means; we believe there should be pro-growth economic policies, energy exploration, fixing our entitlements before they go bankrupt. Sure, you can say the Democrats don't like that, but we're not writing a Democratic budget in the House. We're writing a Republican budget."

Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, appearing in the next segment, said she "appreciates" Ryan's "dedication to this issue," and said as the Senate moves its budget, "I truly believe" a compromise will be reached next week.

"I think this is an exciting time when we can get a compromise between Democrats and Republicans, and we have to," she said. "Overall, I think this is a great time of opportunity. I would agree with Congressman Ryan: We literally are standing on a precipice here in terms of the opportunities."

Klobuchar conceded there are potential sticking points, including Ryan's proposed $4.5 trillion in tax cuts, saying: "Unless a leprechaun is going to magically jump out and give him a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow today, I don't think we can afford that. (However,) we know there's going to be a compromise."

"I think there's a real urgency in Washington, particularly in the Senate, that I've never seen before," Klobuchar said. "People have been talking for years about this, there's some common ground. But now people want to get this done."

Ryan: U.S. doesn't have a debt crisis yet - CBS News

I'm sorry but to claim there is no debt crisis is just ridiculous and pointless. We have $16 trillion in debt with no means to repay it. We have a declining economy, with thousands of jobs moving out every month while thousands of new people are moving in every day looking for jobs. We're in the Perfect Storm of becoming the World's Largest Banana Republic.

What is the purpose of claiming we're not in a crisis yet? To convince people we can raise the debt ceiling some more? My God, people, we're laying off and furloughing federal workers who actually perform important work for "we the people" to free up money to pay welfare for the unemployed, illegal aliens and immigrants.

When the solution from the Clueless in DC is to lay-off or furlough working people to pay the bills for non-working people, we not only have a debt crisis, we have a disaster.

There's no immediate debt crisis, Boehner says, agreeing with Obama

By Christi Parsons
March 17, 2013, 10:46 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The country isn’t facing an immediate debt crisis, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Sunday, but he argued that Congress and the president must reform entitlements to avert one that lies dead ahead.

“We all know that we have one looming,” Boehner said on ABC’s “This Week”. “And we have one looming because we have entitlement programs that are not sustainable in their current form. They’re going to go bankrupt.”

Boehner expressed agreement with Obama's statement in an ABC interview the other day that the debt doesn't present "an immediate crisis."

But Boehner took issue with Obama's assertion that it doesn't make sense to “chase a balanced budget just for the sake of balance.”

The new spending plan from House Republicans would balance the budget in 10 years, a priority Boehner said this morning is important to the economy.

“Balancing the budget will, in fact, help our economy,” Boehner said. “It'll help create jobs in our country, get our economy going again, and put more people back to work.”

“The fact that the government continues to spend more than a trillion dollars every year that it doesn't have scares investors, scares businesspeople, makes them less willing to hire people,” he said.

In a wide-ranging interview, Boehner said the House would “review” any gun control measure that came out of the Senate. He restated his opposition to gay marriage, and said that, unlike his fellow Ohio Republican, Sen. Rob Portman, he can’t imagine a situation in which he would change his mind. Portman said this week that his views had evolved since he found out his son is gay.

Dwelling on budget issues, Boehner said he has a good relationship with Obama and trusts him, and that a lack of good relations is not the problem getting in the way of a sweeping deficit-reduction plan.

The challenge is in overcoming big differences, he said.

“When you get down to bottom line,” he said, “if the president believes that we have to have more taxes from the American people, we're not going to get very far.”

“Washington has responsibility, to our seniors and our near seniors, that we firm up these programs so that they're there for the long term,” Boehner said.

“Because if we don't do it, not only will they not get benefits, we will have a debt crisis right around the corner. We have time to solve our problems. But we need to do it now.”

There's no immediate debt crisis, Boehner says, agreeing with Obama - latimes.com