The GOP's Flim Flam Man

Love it when Paul Krugman gets shrill. He nails Paul Ryan's deceptive and idiotic “Roadmap for America’s Future” even while the Very Serious People are all gushing over the "intellectual adaucity" of the GOP's newest "idea man."

Mr. Ryan’s plan calls for steep cuts in both spending and taxes. He’d have you believe that the combined effect would be much lower budget deficits, and, according to that Washington Post report, he speaks about deficits “in apocalyptic terms.” And The Post also tells us that his plan would, indeed, sharply reduce the flow of red ink: “The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that Rep. Paul Ryan’s plan would cut the budget deficit in half by 2020.”

But the budget office has done no such thing. At Mr. Ryan’s request, it produced an estimate of the budget effects of his proposed spending cuts — period. It didn’t address the revenue losses from his tax cuts.

Of course, a closer look at Ryan's "new" plan shows it is the same old GOP ploy only this time with bigger tax cuts for the wealthy and a greater shafting of the working class. Also health care rationing for the elderly via vouchers.

Seriously one of Krugman's very best columns and be sure to read the companion piece, How to Read a CBO Report.