The Tribune-Review Cheers For The Ryan Budget

I wanted to post on this stuff yesterday but other things (doncha know) got in the way. (Hey, that's dactylic!)

Now here's something that no one would have suspected. No one. Never. Nope.

The Editorial Board of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review likes Congressman Ryan's budget:

A monumental moment occurred in the city of monuments Tuesday as Republicans battled to fix the fiscal 2011 budget mess inherited from Democrats (who, conveniently, forget that they put last November's election ahead of their fiduciary responsibility).

House Republicans, led by the plain-speaking Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, introduced a fiscal 2012 budget that pulls no punches and minces no numbers in finally getting serious about addressing the federal government's fiscal mess.

It slashes trillions in spending over the next decade, including nearly half-a-trillion dollars through 2013. It boldly tackles Medicare (an even worse ticking time bomb than Social Security), phasing in a private-sector, market-based solution that's far more senior-friendly.

The Tribune-Review is in favor of abolishing Medicare - just so you know.

But that's not the big news here. Take a look. From the Huffingtonpost:

When Paul Ryan unveiled his budget today, he touted it as a "Path to Prosperity" and he and his colleagues kept saying it was "based in fact." In reality, Ryan's claims of prosperity are based on an analysis - written at his request by the conservative Heritage Foundation - that has more basis in magic than economics. [emphasis added.]

Now, who would have guessed that Scaife's braintrust would be cheering about a budget that's based on an analysis by the Scaife funded Heritage Foundation?

But even that's not the big news. What's the big news, you ask?

From the National Journal:

The Republican budget’s economic projections are rosy, including growth rates of over 3 percent for the next three years. An analysis performed by the conservative Heritage Foundation at Ryan’s request found the unemployment rate would be reduced to 4 percent in 2015 by Ryan’s budget, an incredibly low number when many economists believe the economy will not return to so-called “full employment” of about 5 percent until years after that.

As Matt Yglesias points out:

It’s worth noting that this is not just unrealistic, it’s impossible. When unemployment drops beneath 5 percent, the Federal Reserve starts raising interest rates until a recession pushes it back up. This is deemed necessary to prevent inflationary wage increases.

But even that's not the big news. The big news is that the Scaife-funded Heritage foundation got the numbers wrong and pulled them from the report. Krugman has the evidence, if you wanted to go see it.

Not a word about any of this from the braintrust, of course. They dutifully cheer what their boss has already paid for (flawed as it is).