Rep. Paul Ryan's "Path to Prosperity" budget proposal should be passed.

I am looking for a serious, well-informed debate about what is possibly the most important problem our nation currently faces. So if you don't care all that much about the budget issue, please don't accept this debate. The Path to Prosperity is defined as the Fiscal Year 2012 budget resolution: "House Concurrent Resolution 34" (1) I will now begin my affirmative case:CONTENTION 1: THE PRESENT SITUATION IS UNACCEPTABLE AND UNSUSTAINABLE. a. According to the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, if we continue on our current economic path, our debt will equal 900% of our Gross Domestic Product. (2) Think about that. That means that even if we confiscated every single penny earned in the entire nation and spent it all on the debt, we would only have paid off one ninth of the debt. b. Greece's debt is 109% of its GDP. (3) It is considered a financial black hole. Institutions such as pension funds can no longer buy Greek bonds, leaving the country struggling to pay its bills as interest rates on existing debts rise. (4)c. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the cost of entitlement programs alone will exceed the total amount of money collected by the United States government by 2050. (5)d. A U. S. debt crisis would lead to sharp declines in the dollar and in the price of these bonds, causing a deterioration of the balance sheets of large financial institutions. The resulting panic would be orders of magnitude more disruptive than the financial crisis in 2008. (6)e. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the United States will have a deficit of over 61% by 2084. (7) This means we will be spending 61% more than what we take in every year. f. In 16 years, we will be spending twice what we spend on the entire military just to pay off the interest on our debt. (8)g. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there are currently 13.5 million unemployed Americans, or 8.8%. (9) This is not even counting those who have given up looking for work. CONTENTION 2: THE PATH TO PROSPERITY WILL SOLVE THESE PROBLEMS. a. According to the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget, the Path to Prosperity will dramatically reduce the United States' debt and even completely pay it off. (10)b. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the Path to Prosperity would create a budget surplus by 2040. And that's not all. This surplus would continue to consistently grow for years afterward. (11)c. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Path to Prosperity brings federal spending to below 20% of the Gross Domestic Product. (12)d. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Path to Prosperity reduces the deficit by $4.4 trillion. (12)e. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Path to Prosperity will result in 2.5 million additional private-sector jobs over the next ten years, bringing the unemployment rate down to 4% by 2015. (12)f. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Path to Prosperity would cause 1.5 trillion dollars of real GDP growth over ten years, result in $1.1 trillion in higher wages and an average of $1,000 in additional family income each year. (12)g. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Path to Prosperity lowers the top tax rate to 25% for everybody, which has been shown to actually increase tax revenues. (14) However, these tax cuts remain absolutely revenue-neutral by also eliminating the tax deductions and loopholes that allow some corporations to pay less or even no income taxes. (12)h. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Path to Prosperity would cut domestic government spending to below 2008 levels and then freeze it for five years. (12)CONTENTION 3: CLEARING UP SOME COMMON MYTHS AND MISCONCEPTIONS. Myth 1: The Path to Prosperity ends Social Security and Medicare. Fact: The Path to Prosperity saves and strengthens Social Security and Medicare. It makes no changes to these programs for Americans 55 and older. The government guarantee remains in place for both of these programs. It protects both of these programs for those 55 and older and saves them so they can provide benefits to future generations of Americans when they retire. This budget spends more each year on Social Security and Medicare. Additional support would be provided to those with low-incomes and poor health. Failing to act would mean the end of these programs as we know them. Without action, the Social Security Trustees report that beneficiaries will either see a 22 percent benefit cut or a corresponding hike in payroll taxes. Similarly, the Trustees for Medicare say that "Without corrective legislation, therefore, the assets of the trust fund would be exhausted within the next 7 to 19 years" (13)Myth 2: The Path to Prosperity cuts benefits for low-income individuals on Medicaid. Fact: The Path to Prosperity strengthens the Medicaid program by converting the federal share of the Medicaid payment into a block grant just like the government did with welfare in the late 1990s. The initial allotment would be exactly as much as the states are receiving to pay for Medicaid today, and it would grow every year to account for inflation and population. This would allow states to tailor their programs to their low-income populations, allowing states maximum flexibility to focus their benefits on the specific needs of the state. (13)Myth 3: The Path to prosperity cuts taxes for the rich. Fact: The Path to Prosperity reforms the tax code to make it simpler, flatter and fairer. While The Path to Prosperity proposes lower rates to promote growth, it also ends deductions that go overwhelmingly to a relatively small class of mostly higher-income individuals. And it targets the carve-outs and loopholes that have allowed some corporations to avoid paying taxes altogether. This is not a net tax cut-it is a revenue-neutral reform to make our economy more competitive and help spur job creation and economic growth. It gets the government out of the politically-driven business of picking tax winners and losers. And it spares American employers from having to choose between hiring more workers and paying the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. (13)I would like to wish my opponent good luck, and look forward to a good debate. (1) Can be found at . http://budget.house.gov... (2) . http://budget.house.gov... [page 8](3) . http://www.heritage.org... (4) . http://www.cnn.com... [section: What does the credit rating downgrade mean? ](5) . http://budget.house.gov... [page 16; figure 3](6) . http://budget.house.gov... [page 22; section: Financial system breakdown](7) . http://www.heritage.org... (8) . http://budget.house.gov... [page 23; section: The Path to Decline](9) . http://www.bls.gov... [2nd paragraph](10) . http://budget.house.gov... [page 5; section: Debt and Deficits](11) . http://www.cbo.gov... [page 2; paragraph 3](12). http://online.wsj.com... (13) . http://budget.house.gov... (14) . http://www.heritage.org...