Alternative Budgets

From the left:

And from the right:

The pro­posal by the Repub­li­can Study Com­mit­tee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jor­dan, R-​​Oh., is broadly sim­i­lar to Ryan’s approach. It would freeze non-​​defense dis­cre­tionary spend­ing at 2008 lev­els, repeal the national health care law, block grant Med­ic­aid to states, and tran­si­tion Medicare into a sys­tem in which seniors would choose among pri­vate plans that would be sub­si­dized by the gov­ern­ment. It would also sim­plify the tax code, elim­i­nat­ing deduc­tions and bring­ing down rates.

But the RSC pro­poses deeper spend­ing cuts and addi­tional enti­tle­ment reforms. Specif­i­cally, it would grad­u­ally increase the retire­ment age for receiv­ing Social Secu­rity and Medicare ben­e­fits, start­ing with those born in 1952 (i.e. aged 59 and 60).

7 April 2011 – 6:25 pm | By Benjamin Daniels | Posted in Economics, Federal Budget | Comments (272)