Rep Paul Ryan and the U.S. Budget

By Charles Tolleson
April 5, 2011

Republican Congressman, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, wants to change the U.S. government’s role in Medicare and Medicaid, two unconstitutional programs. I agree that something has to be done and this is a good start. Vouchers will go a long way towards making the program more competitive and reducing fraud and corruption. The Medicare Agency simply cannot manage one billion claims per year efficiently. There is no way the Medicare program can sustain an additional 70 million new retires in the next 25 years as baby boomers reach age 65. Even with deaths the system will be overburdened because of new expensive medical procedures and the increase in longevity.

Paul Ryan proposes giving future seniors vouchers to buy health insurance. This is not a function allowed under the U.S. Constitution for the Federal Government. It is something the states are allowed to do. Still, it is better than the current program.

By giving vouchers to potential customers of insurance companies the federal government remains a third party payer. The means the insurance will cost more than in a free market. The insurance lobby will always be lobbying congress to increase the amount of the vouchers.

Paul Ryan, the war lover, leaves out one government agency, the Defense (Offense) Department, which spends 25% of the U.S. government’s money. It costs more fuel to fly a military F-15 fighter for one hour than it costs for the average American to fuel their car for more than a year.

To reduce the budget and the power of the Federal Government we should end the wars in foreign countries. If not, then we should have an assessment on each citizen to pay for the wars instead of borrowing money that future generations will have to pay back to sustain the Military Industrial Nation. An assessment on each citizen would make them realize the wars are not worth paying for.

The Department of Education should be eliminated. There is no reason for the federal government to be involved in teaching your children how to read and write.

To reduce the U.S. government debt, all other federal departments should be required to reduce their budgets by 5% per year until the budget is balanced.