BREAKING: Rep Ryan Answers Obama, “Here’s My Plan”

You absolutely HAVE to see Rep. Paul Ryan’s press conference video below. (The articulate Wisconsinite is the Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee.) The first video will whet your appetite, but critically (!) lets you preview BO’s oppo “meme”: They’re going to try to “Hoover” this alternate budget into the floorboards. HA!!! Doubtless, Chris Tingle aka “Tingle Leg Matthews” received the White House’s talking points before his appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

MUST-SEE + MUST-READS BELOW, from Rep. Ryan’s op-ed, press conference and budget plan (now here’s some future presidential timber):

From the conclusion of Rep. Ryan’s WSJ op-ed:

We hope the administration and Democratic leaders in Congress do not distort and preach fear about our Republican plan. Some may be tempted to appeal to the darker emotions of envy and insecurity that surely run high in times like these. Yet we know Americans are stronger, smarter and prouder than this ploy assumes.

In the recent past, the Republican Party failed to offer the nation an inspiring vision and a concrete plan to tackle our problems with innovative and principled solutions. We do not intend to repeat that mistake. America is not the greatest nation on earth by chance. We earned this greatness by rewarding individual achievement, by advancing and protecting natural rights, and by embracing freedom. We intend to continue this uniquely American tradition. [MORE from Rep. Ryan's WSJ op-ed BELOW]

FROM his House Web site:

04/01/09 – Congressman Paul Ryan, Ranking Member of the House Budget Committee, unveiled the Republican Budget Alternative, which seeks to restore economic growth and sustained job creation, and lift the crushing burden of debt and taxes from future generations. This fiscally responsible ten-year budget, along with a long-term vision, preserves the unique American tradition of leaving the next generation with a stronger, safer, and more prosperous nation. Ryan’s alternative stands in stark contrast to the Majority’s gusher of new spending, new taxes, and mountain of debt. (READ MORE)

HERE’s PAUL RYAN’S PRESS CONFERENCE:

HERE’s ANOTHER QUOTE from REP. RYAN’S OP-ED published in today’s Wall Street Journal:

The GOP’s Alternative Budget
President Obama offers us the option of European big government.

[...]

House Republicans will offer an alternative plan. This too is no ordinary budget. As the opposition party, we believe this moment must be met by offering the American people a different way forward — one based on our belief that America is an exceptional nation, and we want to keep it that way. Our budget applies our country’s enduring first principles to the problems of our day. Rather than attempting to equalize the results of peoples’ lives and micromanaging their affairs, we seek to preserve our system of protecting our natural rights and equalizing opportunity for all. The plan works to accomplish four main goals: 1) fulfill the mission of health and retirement security; 2) control our nation’s debts; 3) put the economy on a path of growth and leadership in the global economy; and 4) preserve the American legacy of leaving the next generation better off.

Under the president’s plan, spending will top $4 trillion this year alone, and consume 28.5% of our nation’s economy. [...]

Instead of doubling the debt in five years, and tripling it in 10, the Republican budget curbs the explosion in spending called for by the president and his party. Our plan halts the borrow-and-spend philosophy that brought about today’s economic problems, and puts a stop to heaping ever-growing debt on future generations — and it does so by controlling spending, not by raising taxes. The greatest difference lies in the size of government our budgets achieve over time (see nearby chart). …