By the Numbers

There's been some buzz that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) was a real up-and-comer in the GOP and even got some qualified praise from President Obama for his attempts to reach across the aisle with his budget proposals that would cut the deficit, cut taxes, and bring about economic recovery. It sounded all very nice and bipartisan.

Well, give the guy credit for trying, but according to a non-partisan group that gave his budget plans a thorough going-over, it is fantasy.

According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, "the Ryan plan would result in very large revenue losses relative to current policies."

[The Tax Policy Center] estimates that even with its middle-class tax increases, the plan would reduce federal revenues to 16 percent of GDP in 2014. Because the tax cuts for the wealthy would dwarf the tax increases for the middle class, the Ryan plan would allow the federal debt to continue growing for a number of decades to come, despite its steep cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security.

The result, they conclude, is ballooning, unsustainable deficits--a quirky feature for a plan touted far and wide for its potential to right the country's fiscal course.

But the rich would still get their tax cuts, so it's all good.