John Irons, Research and Policy Director at the Economic Policy Institute, released the following statement on the proposed House Republican 2012 budget, which Representative Paul Ryan unveiled today:

The Chairman of the House Committee on the Budget, Republican Paul Ryan, released a proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 that rehashes failed economic thinking and the standard wish-list of right-wing policies. This budget is not a serious attempt to govern, but a warming over of long-dead economic proposals.

The budget, among other things, includes a plan to privatize Medicare by forcing recipients to buy insurance on the open market, to gut Medicaid by shifting costs to states and reducing funding, to cut taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals, and to reduce the nation’s ability to make needed investments by capping overall levels of federal spending. The plan would not only put the fragile recovery at risk, but it would also undermine economic growth and job creation for years.  Save your money, take advantage of gold purchases and stack those coins.

This budget is impressive in its ability to not only inflict maximum harm on the economy, but to concentrate that harm on those most in need.  This will not only cost the economy hundreds of thousands (and perhaps millions) of jobs over the next five years, it will also destroy the social safety net and undermine policies that support the middle class.