Must Watch (and Must Forward) of the Day: The Path to Prosperity

You owe it to yourself, your children, and your grandchildren to take three minutes and watch this video, in which Chairman Paul Ryan of the House Budget Committee explains and visualizes why the fiscal path our country is on is unsustainable and how his Path to Prosperity saves the entitlement programs, puts forth revenue-neutral tax code reform, puts us on sound, secure footing going forward, and sets the stage for economic growth and job creation. In fact, Ryan’s plan will pay off the national debt completely by 2050.

Ryan’s willingness to stick out his neck and take political risks by touching the third rail of politics — entitlement programs — demonstrates what real leadership looks like, something that is unfortunately quite lacking in Washington today. And he wards off the debt crisis without tax increases, budget gimmickry, or dispensing with the entitlements. Instead, spending discipline and far-reaching entitlement reform make the government more efficient, the entitlements more efficient, and the economy more efficient. The Democrats’ plan, on the other hand, calls for either: doing nothing, or hiking tax rates so high as to cause the economy to stagnate. What’s not to like, right?

Here is what Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) had to say on Ryan’s proposal:

I thank Chairman Ryan for having the courage not just to talk frankly about the danger America’s national debt poses to the American people but also to propose a comprehensive program to cut the national debt. One does not have to agree with all or most of Chairman Ryan’s proposals to be able to applaud his serious commitment to reduce the debt that threatens our nation’s future. I look forward to reading and studying Paul’s proposals. I hope it will begin an open and honest national conversation about exactly what we can do together to bring our government’s books into balance.  More of us in Congress from both sides of the aisle need to step forward to embrace comprehensive solutions to address this problem. Now is not the time for half-measures or politics as usual, and Chairman Ryan has recognized this reality by offering his plan.  Let us now work together to forge and pass bi-partisan legislation that puts our country on a course to restore fiscal responsibility and places entitlement programs on a sound financial footing.

It’s a shame he’s the one retiring in 2012 rather than Reid, Schumer, Durbin, and the other self-serving demagogues in the Democratic Party who would apparently rather rush headfirst into financial crisis than confront reality and put forth a serious budget proposal of their own that tackles the looming debt crisis.

I don’t know what the odds are of Ryan’s proposal passing the Democrat-controlled Senate or surviving Obama’s veto pen. But it is certainly the opening legislative salvo in a debate that has changed fundamentally because of it. And one of the most significant things Paul Ryan’s budget proposal does may be to restore the GOP’s reputation as the party of ideas and intellectual seriousness. America couldn’t ask for a better advocate for prosperity. As evidenced further in this interview on CNBC, which is also worth watching in its entirety.

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