CNN published an opinion piece by Professor Rick McGahey in which he criticizes the Republican designed budget entitled The Path To 
Prosperity, recently passed by the House. The main architect of the budget is Congressman Paul Ryan who represents Wisconsin’s 1st District and is the current Chairman of the House Budget Committee. McGahey calls the budget a mere strategic move by Ryan which attempts to appeal to hard core Republican fiscal values in a ploy to position himself for the 2016 presidential election. The article speaks to the broader, more troublesome reality that Washington will likely be dragged back into budget wars fueled by ideological battles that most Americans reject. The battle lines are drawn along dividing issues such as military spending, tax cuts, and social welfare programs like Medicaid, Obamacare and Social Security.
The budget proposes an increase in military spending while implementing tax cuts for the wealthy and slashing funding for welfare programs. McGahey takes issue with Ryan’s claim that the budget is a balanced one that will lead Americans down that path to prosperity. In the article McGahey asks “How can Ryan claim that his budget is balanced? By invoking what used to be called “voodoo economics” — assuming budget cuts and unfair tax cuts will unleash economic growth and generate adequate tax revenue”. He goes on to compare the math used in Republican budgets to the movie “Dumb and Dumber” or “Phony and Phonier” and laments that “sanity once again is playing second fiddle to intra-party Republican battles”.
