GOP Weekly Address: Rep. Paul Ryan on Balancing the Budget
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Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — In this week’s Republican address, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R- Wis., details the GOP plan for balancing the federal budget in 10 years, and asserts that plan would mean more economic security for workers, more secure retirement for the elderly and more opportunities for younger Americans.
“How do we do it?” Ryan asks, referring to the Republican plan to be put to a House vote next week. “Well, it’s pretty simple: we stop spending money we don’t have.”
“Our plan lets Washington spend only what it takes in. This is how every family tries to live, in good times and in bad. Your government should do the same,” he says.
Insisting the budget is a “means to an end,” a way to “improve people’s lives,” Rep. Ryan says the GOP budget plan “protects [Americans] from tax hikes and calls for Congress to fix the tax code by lowering rates and closing loopholes.”
“For Americans trying to keep up with the cost of health care, our plan repeals the president’s health-care law and clears the way for patient-centered reforms,” he adds in the address. “For younger workers hoping for a secure retirement, we will protect and strengthen Medicare so that it’s there for them — just like it’s there for my mom today.”
“And for taxpayers fed up with the status quo, we will cut wasteful spending. We will rein in red tape, and we will give states flexibility on how to implement their federal welfare programs,” Ryan continues, explaining the plan.
With these steps, the congressman says the economy will grow, but leadership is needed in Washington first.
“We owe the American people a responsible, balanced budget. It’s not fair to take more from families just to spend more in Washington,” he says, inviting President Obama to “do what President Clinton did” and “work with Republicans in Congress to balance the budget.”
“He can join in the effort, or he can choose the status quo. But he must choose,” he says.
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