Flap’s Links and Comments for April 3rd on 05:14

These are my links for April 3rd from 05:14 to 13:43:

• Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget plan to slash deficits by over $4 trillion – – On Medicaid, Ryan will propose to block grant the program to states, which would save money, allow it to grow at a predictable rate, and give governors more flexibility over how it is implemented. This is a popular option among many governors who are struggling with Medicaid costs, and it’s a proposal that has already attracted bipartisan support (at least intellectually speaking), as it was previously co-proposed with Alice Rivlin, the former Clinton budget director.

  When it comes to Medicare, Ryan has previously proposed fundamentally reforming it to give retirees vouchers to purchase private insurance that would vary by income and health status. So, for instance, a poor and very sick beneficiary would receive a lot more than a very rich and healthy beneficiary. However, this reform would not kick in right away, as it only applies to those 55 and under. Thus, it would take time to produce savings and those wouldn’t show up in the CBO’s 10-year budget window.

  Yet he and Rivlin also proposed changes to the formula for cost-sharing on supplemental Medicare insurance policies, which would affect near-term budgets.

  Last November, the Congressional Budget Office did a preliminary analysis of the Ryan-Rivlin plan and found that the Medicaid and Medicare reforms, plus a change in medical malpractice law, would save $350 billion from 2011 through 2021.

  Other possible ways to save money — Ryan has supported the repeal of the national health care law. Were he simply to propose a repeal of the bill’s Medicaid expansion, which would add 18 million to the program’s rolls by 2021, it would save $674 billion from 2012 to 2021, according to CBO.

  The Ryan proposal is also expected to cap discretionary spending as well as cap spending as a percentage of GDP.

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  Eliminate ObamaCare and letting the states handle Medicarid will save tons of debt – just do it.

• Rep. Paul Ryan: GOP Budget Will Surpass Debt Panel Goals – House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) previewed his much-anticipated 2012 budget proposal on Fox New Sunday, telling host Chris Wallace that his plan will “[exceed] the goals that were put out in the president’s deficit commission.” That commission, led by former Clinton chief of staff Erskine Bowles and former senator Alan Simpson (R., Wyo.) put forward recommendations — in the form of spending cuts, entitlement and tax reforms — to reduce the federal deficit by $4 trillion over the next decade.

  “We’re going to put out a budget that gets us on a path to not only balancing the budget, but gets us on a path of paying off the debt,” Ryan said, without going into too much detail. He said his plan will achieve these goals by “cutting spending, reforming entitlements and growing our economy.”

  In addition to spending cuts, Ryan said he plans to offer spending caps (as a percentage of GDP) in order to return federal spending to historic (pre-Obama, pre-stimulus) levels.

  On taxes, Ryan said he will call for “fundamental tax reform” that lowers rates and broadens the base. “We don’t have a tax problem,” he said. “The problem with our deficit is not because Americans are taxed too little. So we’re not going to go down the path of raising taxes on people and raising taxes on the economy.”

  The budget chairman did offer a few specifics about how he intends to deal with entitlement programs: For Medicare, premium support that would allow seniors to choose from a list of private plans that would then be subsidized ; for Medicaid, Ryan will propose a system of block grants to states to allow governors greater flexibility in managing costs.

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  Obama and the Dems have no choice but to go along – or pay a price in 2012.

  As Bill Clinton would say – It is the right thing to do.

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