The Path to Prosperity ends at the ruins of the middle class

I was offline most of yesterday and came home to an explosion of news. I've been sifting through the internets trying to make sense of it all but it's one of those times when I have so much to say, I don't where to begin. So I'll start by quoting Steve Benen on Ryan's new Roadmap, cleverly called The Path to Prosperity, which pretty much sums up my initial thoughts:

Except, of course, that's ridiculous given the plan itself. This has nothing to do with fiscal responsibility, and everything to do with an ideological crusade. Ryan and his backers don't want to shrink the deficit; they want to shrink government.

Indeed, yesterday, Ryan declared, "This isn't a budget. This is a cause." It's perhaps the only thing he said yesterday that actually made sense. [...]

The key takeaway, in other words, is understanding exactly what the "cause" is. Ryan wants to "repeal the 20th century," shred the modern social contract, poke gaping holes in the safety net, and change the very nature of how Americans interact with their government -- telling the public, "Good luck, you're on your own."

This, of course, has been the GOPers burning desire for decades. They don't actually want to get rid of government entirely, to the extent that it's been paying them very well, with no penalities for screwing up, and affords them the power to rig the rules in their favor. They simply want to get government oversight out of their way, except as a means to collect the world's entire wealth for themselves. What Ryan doesn't mention is his path to prosperity is paved with the bleached bones of the destroyed middle class.