What Is the Ryan Plan?

Mitt Romney’s selection of Paul Ryan as his running mate should help to focus attention on the federal budget, a critical issue that by rights is an easy winner for Republicans. (There is a reason why the Democrats have refused to adopt any budget at all for more than three years.) By now, news accounts have made it clear that Ryan has some sort of plan to deal with the government’s fiscal crisis, but if you didn’t already know, you probably would have a hard time figuring out what it is. Our reporters and editors are in no hurry to lay it out in a straightforward fashion.

Fortunately, you don’t have to rely on newspapers or TV networks to explain Ryan’s approach to the federal budget. He did it himself, in a series of videos released one year ago and titled “The Path to Prosperity.” Here they are; if you haven’t already seen them, they are well worth your while. This is the introduction:

Episide 2 deals with saving Medicare; note that Romney’s approach to Medicare is not identical to Ryan’s. Still, there will be lots of talk about Ryan’s (and the House of Representatives’) Medicare plan, so here it is:

Episode 3 advocates pro-growth tax reform:

There you have it: Paul Ryan, uncensored, unedited, in his own words. It is rather pathetic to compare Ryan to the demagogic, irresponsible, math-challenged Barack Obama–a man whose own budgets are so extreme that they have failed to garner a single vote in either the House or the Senate, from either Democrats or Republicans.

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