Bring Republican Budget to a Vote in Congress

Conservatives have issued the "Mount Vernon Statement" asserting their strict adherence to "small", "limited" "government".

Paul Ryan (R-WI), the ranking member of the House Budget Committee, has prepared a 10-year budget that, according to the Congressional Budget Office, achieves that goal and wipes out the budget deficits without, of course, raising taxes.

Ryan proposes to save the government money by privatizing social security and by converting Medicare to a voucher program for those currently under 55. The vouchers would be indexed to general inflation, not healthcare inflation, and thus likely to provide less and less coverage with time.

I call on Speaker Pelosi to bring the Ryan budget to the House Floor for a vote.

I call on Senator Reid to do the same in the Senate, with the delicious irony that Republicans have not allowed any bill the Democrats support to come to a vote, and Reid can return the favor by bringing up their own budget. The nation will witness dysfunctionality writ-large as Republicans vote to filibuster their own budget, and voters may begin to understand just why their problems are not be addressed.

Let us see how many conservatives who signed the "Mount Vernon Statement" actually vote for the budget that will achieve their nirvana.

Instead of allowing them to yap incessantly, let us get the Republicans on the record. Voters in November are entitled to know whether handing Congress to the Republicans would mean the end of Social Security and the end of Medicare as they know it.

Let's have at it.