NO DOUBT!!! Ryan has given Obama free rein to grab the upper hand.

[kpete]

Sometimes something is so obvious that it's hard to see. So it is with Ryan's budget proposal. The idea of abolishing Medicare is so absurd that one is tempted to dismiss it without absorbing the implications. For all of the griping about the lousy deal Obama negotiated on the 2011 budget, the shortcomings of Friday night's deal will seem trifling if Obama uses it to gain the upper hand in the national debate over the deficit/debt. And, there is little doubt in my mind that Ryan has given Obama free rein to grab the upper hand.




Obama can propose anything he wants within reason and if it cuts debt by roughly the same amount that Ryan does, he wins the debate. My favorite approach would be repealing tax cuts for the wealthy, go after more taxes from corporations, moderation in defense spending, and get very aggressive on health care cost control (I'd love to see him bring the public option back). But whatever set of policies he wants to propose, as long as it looks like a clear alternative to Ryan and the CBO scores it in the Ryan ballpark, Obama wins the debate. First because the recent budget deal cements the perception of Obama as the most reasonable man in Washington and one who understands the importance of dealing with the deficits/debt. And, second because anything that is seen as the alternative to abolishing Medicare will sound great.


http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2011/04/ryans_gimme.php?ref=fpblg

[yourout]

1. If he cuts debt by roughly the same amount that Ryan does.....we all lose.

[Richardo]

2. He'd *better* start grabbing - he and every Democrat in town.

You can't get a message out (and heard) by appearing on 3 talk shows on Sunday morning. Not when the other message machine is in full gear 24/7 with its volume turned up to 11.

It's past time to hear from everyone, from the President on down, about the atrocity that is the Peter King budget. Loudly and often. Way. Past. Time.

[ProSense]

3. Or he can

reject Ryan's budget as ridiculous.

Kerry called it the Path to Poverty.

[Atman]

4. Cuts as much as Ryan? Pure fantasy unless the 1%, the military and oil co's are on the table

The point you seem to be missing is that Ryan's "budget" is a joke. It's not taken seriously by anyone except billionaires and fellow GOP acolytes.

[wiggs]

5. Dems have had the upper hand in EVERY policy area and on nearly every issue

....the case for progressive solutions and against republican ideas cannot be easier or clearer. Yet since 2000 the dems have not taken advantage (2008 included).

[Drale]

6. You are correct that sometimes

something can be standing right in from of you and you can't see it. I asked my friend yesterday where his girlfriend was, and she was standing right next to me.

[JohnnyRingo]

7. If Obama offers to repeal tax cuts on those earning more than a half mil

to match Paul Ryans budget figure, I would think Ryan would have a hard time finding a line of cheerleaders demanding the cuts to Medicare instead. It shouldn't be a hard sell because Ryan's plan won't see fruition before 2040 and the tax cut repeal would see immediate satisfation.

Of couse these 'baggers are a flighty bunch, and an hour with Rush Limbaugh may give them a host of reasons to think they're the ones who are swimming in dough and need to suffer.

[Scuba]

8. So, what are the odds?

[msongs]

9. "Americans have spent their lives paying into SS and I will not allow them to be cheated by SS cuts"

if only obama was that kind of guy. oh well