House Spending-Cap Bills Would Enact Radical Ryan Budget Into Law
Bills Would Worsen Recessions, Rule Out Balanced Deficit Reduction, and Facilitate Deep Cuts in Social Security and Medicare
End Notes
[1] For a description of the ten bills see Paul Ryan, Repairing the Broken Budget Process, December 11, 2011, http://budget.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=271552 .
[2] Committee on the Budget, U.S. House of Representatives, Report to Accompany H. Con. Res. 34, April 11, 2011.
[3] The description of this bill issued by the House Budget Committee (see footnote 1) says the bill would establish these caps "for the three decades following the [current ten-year] budget window" (rather than for the years 2030, 2040, and 2050), but that is not what the language of the bill does.
[4] Congressional Budget Office, Long-Term Analysis of a Budget Proposal by Chairman Ryan, April 5, 2011, http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/121xx/doc12128/04-05-Ryan_Letter.pdf . CBO estimates that the Ryan policies would result in spending of 20 ¾ percent of GDP in 2030, 18 ¾ percent of GDP in 2040, and 14 ¾ percent of GDP in 2050 (Table 1, p. 3).
[5] Paul N. Van de Water, Converting Medicare to Premium Support Would Likely Lead to Two-Tier Health System, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, September 26, 2011.
[6] CBO, p. 26.
[7] CBO, p. 19.
[8] Robert Greenstein, Chairman Ryan Gets Nearly Two-Thirds of His Huge Budget Cuts from Programs for Lower-Income Americans, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, April 20, 2011.
[9] Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director, Congressional Budget Office, Transcript of Testimony before the Senate Budget Committee, January 27, 2011, Federal News Service.