Paul Ryan's budget document is a propaganda piece for the right-wing.Read it; pay attention to the biased language, to the warmed over Bush proposals, and to the usualpromisese oftrickle down.Look at E. J. Dionne's"War on Moderation".And read Joseph Steiglitz, "Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%"in Vanity Fair...Vanity FairUPDATE: In Friday's Times, David Brooks applauds Paul Ryan's courage. But when he gets down to brass tacks, Brooks seems to understand it is foolhardy."Because he had the courage to take the initiative, Paul Ryans budget plan will be the starting point for future discussions, at least as long as Republicans control at least one house of Congress. But it should be acknowledged that the Ryan plan has several grave weaknesses."As presently configured, it is unacceptable to moderate voters and stands no chance of passage. Substantively, it does not address the structural problems plaguing the American economy: wage stagnation, inequality, declining growth rates. It doesnt have an answer to rising health care costs. Nor does it leave room for future policy creativity; theres no money to allow future generations to rise to unforeseen challenges. So, while acknowledging that Ryan has done the nation a great service by providing a starting point, we should expect his budget to evolve as the debate goes forward." HereOn the shutdown: We keeping hearing that riders removing funding from Planned Parenthood and the EPA are part of the hold up on a deal, but the OMB Watch (sorry can't get the link to work.The chart was four pages long and contains a good deal more than the media has highlighted.

Margaret O’Brien Steinfels is a former editor of Commonweal. 

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