New Deal Numerology: Ryan Redux

by Deputy Editor Tim Price, New Deal Blog, Roosevelt Institute

This week’s numbers: $5.3 trillion; $2 trillion; 3.75%; $800 billion; $368 billion

$5.3 trillion …  is a downscaled number. That’s how much less Rep. Paul Ryan has proposed spending compared to President Obama. But some still claim he’s not conservative enough, because he didn’t do it while wearing a Reagan mask.
$2 trillion …  is an undemanding number. That’s how much less revenue Ryan’s plan would raise compared to Obama’s. His mantra: ask not what your country can do for you, and don’t bother asking what you can do for your country, either.
3.75% …  is a cramped number. That’s the proportion of GDP Ryan wants to spend on all non-entitlement programs, down from 12.5 percent currently. That way when conservatives drown government in the bathtub, they won’t need to fill it up all the way.
$800 billion …  is an unhelpful number. That’s how much Ryan wants to cut from income security programs like food stamps. He’s confronting a harsh reality that liberals have ignored for far too long: poor people are hogging all the money.
$368 billion …  is a chilled number. That’s how much Ryan plans to save by cutting government jobs and freezing public sector pay. And once we get rid of all those extraneous government workers, that jobs recovery should really start to kick in.

With permission of the blog, New Deal 2.0