Libertarians say Paul Ryan is worse than Bill Clinton

WASHINGTON - In response to House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's new budget proposal, Libertarian Party Chair Mark Hinkle issued the following statement today:

"Americans hoping to get real about our national debt just got sucker-punched by Republican Paul Ryan.

"Republicans want to spend $40 trillion over ten years. That averages a staggering $4 trillion per year. As recently as 2000, federal spending was only about $1.8 trillion.

"They also want to increase the federal debt from $15.0 trillion to $23.1 trillion. I hope our children and grandchildren enjoy paying interest on that extra $8.1 trillion.

"People should not judge the quality of this Republican plan by the standard President Obama has set. Everyone knows Obama is a big spender. Democrats rarely campaign on cutting government. What this budget shows is, Republicans are hypocrites. They have no intention of cutting the federal government down to size. In 2021, Paul Ryan still wants the feds to be spending 19.9% of GDP. That's a higher percentage than during Democrat Bill Clinton's second term. In 1997, federal spending was 19.5% of GDP, and it dropped to 18.2% by 2000. Paul Ryan is worse than Bill Clinton.

"Another unfortunate but predictable thing about Paul Ryan's budget is that it continues to mollycoddle the Pentagon. Paul Ryan is the Military-Industrial Complex's best friend. He apparently can't find one penny to cut from Obama's bloated levels of military spending. Only a big-government Republican could come up with language like 'reinvesting $100 billion in higher military priorities.'

"It's interesting that when the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and the White House from 2001-2006, they did nothing to shrink government, or even slow down government growth. On the contrary, back then, Paul Ryan was busy voting for expensive foreign wars, No Child Left Behind, and the huge 2003 Medicare expansion. More recently he's voted for the TARP bailouts and even ethanol subsidies.

"We Libertarians propose eliminating federal functions that are not authorized in the Constitution. Furthermore, Libertarians propose ending foreign wars and foreign troop deployments, allowing huge cuts in military spending. Libertarians would cut the federal government down to less than 10% of GDP, and we'd keep cutting once we got there."

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party dedicated to free markets and civil liberties. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can make a contribution separate from membership.

Austan Goolsbee: Two Important Reminders

Good afternoon,

If you're like me, you've got taxes on the brain this time of year, so I wanted to remind you of two things.

First, don't forget the tax filing deadline this year is April 18, not April 15.

Second, when you are filing your taxes this year, you will benefit from $160 billion of tax relief for middle-class families that President Obama secured this past December -- in addition to extending unemployment insurance, the 2001 and 2003 middle-class tax cuts and other key provisions. If you are one of the nearly 160 million Americans benefitting from the payroll tax cut, which was in the same package of middle-class tax relief, you are already seeing the additional savings in your paycheck.

We have put together a new tax cut calculator on WhiteHouse.gov that will show you exactly what these tax cuts mean for you and your family. We've also included a link to Recovery Act tax cuts you may be eligible to claim on your 2010 taxes as you file this month. Just answer a few simple questions and our tax cut calculator will demonstrate how President Obama's tax cuts will benefit you, personally, in 2011.

Here are some highlights from the tax cuts and extensions that President Obama got you last year:

-Payroll Tax Cut. President Obama's tax cut included a 2% payroll tax cut -- which amounts to $1,000 for a typical family earning $50,000 a year.

-Child Tax Credit. President Obama cut taxes for 11.8 million families with children.

-Earned Income Tax Credit. President Obama expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit for married couples and families with three or more children. This will help 5.8 million working families and 12.5 million children in 2011.

-American Opportunity Tax Credit. President Obama extended a tax credit of up to $2,500 per student per year (up to four years) to help pay for tuition and other college expenses.

Tax season is never pleasant, but hopefully these cuts will lighten the load for you.

Sincerely,

Austan Goolsbee

Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers

P.S. In other news, mark your calendars. On April 20, President Obama will be attending a special facebook townhall event at the facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, California to talk about the economy. Learn more about the event and RSVP at facebook.com/WhiteHouse.

Murder of Northern Ireland Police Officer

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of StateWashington, DC

The U.S. Government strongly condemns the appalling murder of the police officer in Omagh, Northern Ireland today. The perpetrators of this cowardly act represent the failures of the past, and their actions run counter to the achievements, aspirations, and collective will of the people of Northern Ireland. Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones of this young man who lost his life because of his decision to serve the entire community. We echo the unequivocal condemnations by Northern Ireland's politicians and call on anyone with information to cooperate fully and expediently with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Socialist Health Care, part 2

By Zach Foster
Continued from Part 1

Rather than take socialistic measures, the federal government (if its high-ranking self-appointed messiahs felt they truly needed to get involved) should have taken steps to insure greater competition and quality control in the industry.  This could have been done through monetary incentives, such as handsome tax breaks for those insurance companies who mirror the government’s agenda for health insurance (such as implementing lower prices, raising or abolishing coverage ceilings, taking concrete effective steps to eliminating the “doughnut hole”).  This not only would have done much more to improve the quality of health insurance for consumers, but it also would have encouraged capitalism and the creation of wealth and jobs.  Respected economist Frank Chodorov, in his essay About Socialism and Socialists, completely refutes the socialist (and Marxist) notion that capitalism reaps nothing but longer working lower wages, and worse living conditions: “Capitalism has raised wages, not lowered them, as Marx predicted. So much so, that the worker with a washing machine and an automobile has lost every vestige of ‘working class consciousness.’ He even plays golf.”

Many socialists and left-leaning academic pseudo-intellectuals cite the “model” socialist health care in Canada and even communist Cuba.  The fact of the matter is that the socialist health care policy in Canada continues to bankrupt the nation and the quality of health care deteriorates. After all, doctors and other vital health care workers—human beings just like the rest of us—are not making money the way they did under capitalism and they lose the incentive to utilize all those years of school and all those hours of training.  In regard to Cuba being a model of socialist health care, the very idea is nothing but a myth.  Dr. Yuri Maltsev is a professor of economics at Carthage College and a Senior Fellow at the world-renowned Mises Institute of Economics.  Dr. Maltsev was the second highest ranking economist in the Soviet Union and was an advisor to Gorbachev, before defecting to the United States.  Having grown up in complete communism (be reminded that Marxists love to say that socialism and communism are the same thing), Dr. Maltsev knows the horrid inefficiency.  He also used to take his students on week-long field trips to Cuba where they consistently saw the economically damaging effects of socialism on the entire Cuban society, especially health care.  Health care is virtually nonexistent in Cuba, and the “model health care” that ignorant utopian American pseudo-intellectuals cite is simply an illusion for Castro’s propaganda.  The people who get quality health care in Cuba are the Communist Party cadres and visiting westerners whose currency holds much weight in the decrepit society.

Let it also be known that the poor receive better health care under capitalism.  Congressman Ron Paul has been a medical doctor for decades.  He writes: “As a medical doctor, I've seen first-hand how bureaucratic red tape interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and drives costs higher…  We should remember that HMOs did not arise because of free-market demand, but rather because of government mandates…  America had the finest doctors and hospitals, patients enjoyed high-quality, affordable medical care, and thousands of private charities provided health services for the poor. Doctors focused on treating patients, without the red tape and threat of lawsuits that plague the profession today. Most Americans paid cash for basic services, and had insurance only for major illnesses and accidents. This meant both doctors and patients had an incentive to keep costs down…”

Let the Congress take these things into consideration.  Let both capitalists and socialists take the proper steps to fix the health insurance industry!

Libertarians praise Congress on April Fool's Day

WASHINGTON - The Libertarian Party congratulates Congress for passing a budget that makes serious cuts in federal government spending, including the following:

-Eliminating Department of Education programs, saving taxpayers more than $40 billion each year.

-Getting rid of farm subsidies, saving over $20 billion each year.

-Ending the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as many other overseas deployments, saving over $100 billion annually.

-Eliminating programs and subsidies in the Department of Transportation, saving about $80 billion annually.

-Terminating federal housing subsidies, saving about $45 billion each year.

-Giving overpaid federal employees a 10% cut in compensation, saving $30 billion annually.

-Throwing out federal energy subsidies, saving $20 billion annually.

-Reducing and reforming Medicare and Medicaid, saving about $100 billion a year for the next ten years.

-Ending the federal War on Drugs, saving $15 billion annually.

-Phasing out mandatory Social Security, and reducing the rate of benefit growth to save $40 billion a year by 2020.

"April Fool's!" cried Libertarian Party Executive Director Wes Benedict. "Congress hasn't done any of those things. Congress is causing the federal government to keep growing rapidly. And don't be fooled by the recent hype about Republican proposals for 'cuts.' Those 'cuts' are so small and so peripheral, that even if they pass, they won't have any effect on the fiscal catastrophe facing our children and grandchildren. Republicans and Democrats continue to link arms and keep our federal government huge and growing."

Benedict continued, "We got that list of items from a Cato Institute advertisement that ran in several major news outlets today. Of course, we wish Congress would cut all those things, but we know Republicans and Democrats won't do it."

The Libertarian Party platform calls for major reductions in the size and scope of government.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party dedicated to free markets and civil liberties. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can make a contribution separate from membership.

Attack on UN in Afghanistan

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Secretary of State

Washington, DC

April 1, 2011

I am shocked and saddened by the attack today on the compound of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Mazar-e-Sharif. There is no justification for this atrocity and I join President Obama in condemning this violence in the strongest possible terms.

On behalf of the United States, I offer my deepest condolences to the families of the victims, Special Representative Staffan de Mistura, and his UNAMA colleagues. The United Nations staff killed were in Afghanistan to help the Afghan people build a better future.

The United Nations has stood by the Afghan people for more than fifty years. They have saved countless lives and delivered essential food and supplies. They are a force for peace, progress and stability in Afghanistan and throughout the world.

The United States strongly supports UNAMA and its mission and we will continue to stand together for a more peaceful and prosperous Afghanistan.

West Wing Week: "Under the Big Blue Whale"

This week, President Obama focused on the situation in Libya, monitoring conditions on the ground and keeping Congress and the American people informed as the mission transitions from U.S. to NATO command. Education month also continued, with the President making stops at a multicultural high school in Washington, D.C., and dropping in on a science fair in New York City. In the latest installment of Advise the Advisor, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu asks for your feedback on meeting President Obama’s goal of reducing our oil imports by one-third in a little over a decade.

Watch the video at WhiteHouse.gov.