Paul Ryan's Plan, the Coming Shutdown, and What's Really at
Stake

By Robert Reich
RobertReich.org
April 5, 2011 

http://robertreich.org/post/4371884779

I was in Washington in 1995 when the government closed
because of a budget stalemate. I had to tell most of the
Labor Department's 15,600 employees to go home and not return
the next day. I also had to tell them I didn't know when
they'd next get a paycheck.  

There were two shutdowns, actually, rolling across the
government in close succession, like thunder storms.

It's not the way to do the public's business.

Newt Gingrich got blamed largely because his ego was (and is)
so big he couldn't stop blabbing that Clinton should be
blamed. (Gingrich's complaint of a bad seat on Air Force One
didn't help.)

But the larger loss was to the dignity and credibility of the
United States government. When average Americans saw the
Speaker of the House and the President of the United States
behaving like nursery school children unable to get along, it
only added to the prevailing cynicism.

Cynicism about government works to the Republicans' continued
advantage.

Case in point. House Budget Chair Paul Ryan unveiled a plan
today that should make every American cringe. It would turn
Medicare into vouchers whose benefits are funneled into the
pockets of private insurers. It would make Medicaid and Food
Stamps into block grants that allow states to ignore poor
people altogether. It would drastically cut funding for
schools, roads, and much else Americans need. And many of the
plan's savings would go to wealthy Americans who'd pay even
lower taxes than they do today.

To read more, go to  http://robertreich.org/post/4371884779

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