Put Their Mouths Where Their Money Is

by digby

Following up on the post below, I think this is would be a good idea as well:

Rep. Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) “roadmap” budget plan — which calls for balancing the budget in 50 years by effectively privatizing Social Security and Medicare — could become an excellent political tool for the Democrats, says former Clinton adviser Paul Begala.

Begala, in an interview today with TPM, said Democrats should force the GOP to bring their ideas into the public eye.

“Why don’t we put Mr. Ryan’s budget up to a vote?” he said. “Make them vote on it.”

Democrats, he argued, should stop calling Republicans the “party of no.”

“They have ideas, and lots of them. And their ideas ruin the country,” Begala said.

What the Democrats have to do, he said, is make the 2010 elections a choice between Democratic and Republican ideas, instead of a referendum on just the Dems. (A point Chuck Todd made earlier this week.) The way to do it, he said, is to highlight those GOP ideas.

Begala said the White House has already begun to do this, with both President Obama and Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag mentioning Ryan’s budget.

And Congressional Dems have seized on the opportunity to call out the provisions that would privatize Social Security. Reps. Chris Larson and Linda Sanchez have introduced a resolution opposing such privatization, which would force Republican lawmakers to vote on the idea.

The minute I heard they were talking about Republican Paul Ryan’s social security-slashing shock therapy budget I knew they had finally decided to politically confront the conservatives head on. They don’t have much practice at this kind of politics and they are likely to be scolded mercilessly by David Broder, so who knows if they will actually do it. But it’s one of the only ways the Democrats can illustrate the logical consequences of Republican rhetoric. It takes ruthless, political skills that I’m not sure they have, but considering that they are dealing with an insane opposition they’d better get some if they want to keep their majority.

Certainly, if the people of this country are to understand what radical right wing ideology is really all about (and, conversely, what liberal ideology is all about) this dialog needs to take place

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