A gift for prophecy: Romney running mate predicted U.S. bankruptcy four years ago

By Catholic Online (NEWS CONSORTIUM)
8/13/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Rep. Paul Ryan's 2008 prediction has since seen the debt of the federal government grow by $6.35 trillion

Picked by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney as his Vice President, Rep. Paul Ryan made a startling prediction in 2008 that has largely come true. Ryan told CNSNews.com in August 2008 that the U.S. was heading toward bankruptcy. Ryan said that the fiscal path the U.S. was then following would be "mind-boggling." Under Obama's health-care plan, the problem will only grow far worse, he warned.

Ryan warns that if the U.S. pursues this current financial path, America would be bankrupted and the children and grandchildren of his generation would be forced into a lower standard of living than Americans have enjoyed in the past.

Facebook Delicous MySpace

Twitter Stumble Digg

More Destinations

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - "If our country, if the federal government of the United States, stays on the fiscal path it is currently following, is the government going to go bankrupt down the road?" CNSNews.com queried Ryan four years ago.

"Yes. We know that for a fact," Ryan said. "All the actuaries, all the objective score-keepers of the federal government are predicting this. So, this much we know. What we know is our government is growing at an unsustainable pace and it will overwhelm our economy's ability to pay the bills."

Since Ryan made that prediction on August 4, 2008, the debt of the federal government has grown by $6.35 trillion, rising 66 percent, from $9,565,042,361,845.53 then to $15,915,814,457,919.46 now.

Ryan pointed out that the U.S. government already faced $53 trillion in unfunded liability to pay the promises it had made through entitlement programs, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. The U.S. government continues to sidestep these problems, Ryan said, and as a result the unfunded liabilities would increase by $3 trillion. Ryan explained that in order to accomplish this, massive tax increases on future generations of Americans would be required.

Ryan said he had asked the Congressional Budget Office to calculate what the tax rates would need to be on Americans of his children's' generation to pay for the entitlement promises the government had already made.

"Well, what they told me was really startling," Ryan said. "They said that the current low rate, the 10 percent bracket for low-income Americans, would have to go up to 25 percent. The middle-income tax rates for middle-income Americans would have to go up to 66 percent. And the top rate, which is what small businesses pay, would have to go up to 88 percent.

"Those would be the tax rates you would have to if you wanted to tax your way out of this problem. And if you did that, all experts conclude you would literally crash the American economy."

Ryan warns that if the U.S. pursues this current financial path, America would be bankrupted and the children and grandchildren of his generation would be forced into a lower standard of living than Americans have enjoyed in the past.

"What is happening is that these three entitlement programs--Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security-are going to basically to crowd out the rest of the federal budget," Ryan said. "In about 30 years, they consume 100 percent of the budget. Right now, entitlements are about 60 percent of the federal budget. In about 20 to 30 years, the estimates are that they crowd out 100 percent of the federal budget.

"And we all know that we are going to have an army, we are going to have a navy, we are going to do these other things that the federal government does," said Ryan. "So, that piles on top of it.

� 2012, Catholic Online. Distributed by NEWS CONSORTIUM.

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: Paul Ryan, bankruptcy, entitlement programs

NEWSLETTERS »

Rate This Article

Was this helpful to you? Very Helpful Somewhat Helpful Not Helpful at All

Would you be interested in more articles like this? Yes, I am Interested No, I am not Interested

Rate Article

1 - 10 of 11 Comments

Judy Claar
9 months ago
To All My Brothers and Sisters Who Like To Disagree with Ryan: Gee, has there ever been in any one in the whole world you have not found fault with?
Are you finding fault because you are an Obama supporter? and so therefore would find fault anyway?
You seem not one bit bothered by the Monopoly Money, over 6 TRILLION BORROWED, his borrowing money from SS and Medicare, until it can no longer exist! ext.
I think it is Time for someone else to have a turn...Not 4 more years of Obama! Blessings...
debbie
9 months ago
I agree with you John. I was shocked to see so many radical right wing ideas being put on this website. I thought I was on a Glenn Beck website or something. I think people should be open and read stuff from neutral places like PBS and C-span or even CNN and CS Monitor. NY Times is also good. There is so much garbage out there on the Internet. Folks, please read from reliable sources - not ones that have an agenda.
John Lopes
9 months ago
Catholic Online sounds politically motivated with right wing ideology. It's a sad day when I have to read Catholic online supporting Republican agendas. Slash entitlements to the poor and elder, increase taxes on the middle, and lower taxes on the rich. Who in their right mind would even bring garbage ideas like that to the house? Paul Ryan is no saint and is not a catholic we should be proud of. Look at his voting record.
debbie
9 months ago
What I am saying is that by 2008 many folks knew we were going to have problems based on the near Depression we faced. So to put Ryan on a pedestal is wrong. It was an obvious prediction given that many more people were out of work, the economy nosedived, there would not only be increased need to pay people unemployment benefits, food stamps, etc and also would have much less revenue coming in. So it is not Rocket Science that there would be huge strain on the fiscal matters. And don't forget, much of the deficit is due to Bush's 2 unfunded wars, one of which is still going on. And more debt was added early in 2008 because of the need to keep the banks from failing - which otherwise would have sent us into a Depression. No one ever thinks about that. Things could have been much worse!
DarthJ
9 months ago
He also voted for TARP and other government spending programs that have only prolonged the suffering. Ron Paul predicted all of this mess before Ryan was even born. Ron Paul alone has been consistently pointing out the dangers that have resulted in Federal stupidity. It is a shame that Romney is cheating by having Paul's delegates removed and replaced with his own, otherwise we might actually get a president that's worth something ( I wonder if this comment will be posted? Mine, for some reason, usually are not...).

Pax Christi
Kasoy
9 months ago
The basic principle is simple: Live within your means. This applies to individuals as well as governments and corporations. As Catholics, living within one's means is not enough but we should also live simply so we will have the ability give some of our excess to those in need. [This is like producing more to support the non-working members of our family - our children and elderly.] Americans have gotten used to living on credit so has the government. Americans have gotten used to living extravagantly even if it means drowning in debts that we cannot pay. As for the concept of money, it's rationale is simply to make exchanges of goods and services easier. Every dollar should ideally be matched by a good or service. When the fed creates money, it redues the value of every dollar currently in circulation IF the total goods and services remain the same. Value of money remains the same (even after the creation of new money by the feds) IF total goods and services are correspondingly increased. As long as new money is given out to people IN EXCHANGE for goods and services, inflation will not be a problem (there may be a temporary short period of inflation though due to production lag). The problem is when new money is given as DOLE OUT, ie, without requiring the recipient to produce something (either goods or services), then new money becomes inflationary in the longterm simply because there is more money chasing the same amount of goods and services. A contrary problem occurs IF money supply is kept the same even after the total goods and services are increased - this is called deflation because the same money supply is chasing more goods and services, ie, the dollar appreciates or prices go down.
Jason Miller
9 months ago
Why are people here saying that Ryan is wrong when we already know that he is right? The events have already transpired. You can't change history. We also know that Obama wants to expand taxes and that Obamacare represents the single biggest tax increase in history - so it is pretty clear that taxes have already risen substantially and Obama has his eye on our wallets for the future. Stop arguing reality!
debbie
9 months ago
I disagree with this article. It is making him sound like he is some sort of genius when he is not.
RichStine
9 months ago
Ryan. His youthful zeal, approachable public character, and his projected genuineness will do much for Romney.
He would be wise to reconsider the toss of his hat into the Romney-three-ring-circus. He may be mistaken for a clown. A very similar reversal-of-fortune in the credibility department happened to John McCain, when he sidled up with Ms. Palin, who is, of course, a clown. pretty, yes. But dangerously dull and overly eager.
If Ryan has a chance at politics, he should cut and run. Sooner, rather than later.
Ryan was runner-up in Time Magazine's 'Person Of The Year'. The article about him was entitled, "Paul Ryan: The Prophet". It's a rather good article, and is readable, here: http://paulryan.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=272465

It is rather a tell, too. He should have listened to his gut.
Mike Mayen
9 months ago
I plead with everyone reading this that we can not have a serious discussion about National debt and taxes with out understanding how our money works. Please watch this short video on this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3hLKpKv3ME Here is a longer one that explains this in further detail. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/i-want-the-earth-plus-5/

Prev12 Next

Comments submitted must be civil, remain on-topic and not violate any laws including copyright. We reserve the right to delete any comments which are abusive, inappropriate or not constructive to the discussion.

Though we invite robust discussion, we reserve the right to not publish any comment which denigrates the human person, undermines marriage and the family, or advocates for positions which openly oppose the teaching of the Catholic Church.

This is a supervised forum and the Editors of Catholic Online retain the right to direct it.

We also reserve the right to block any commenter for repeated violations. Your email address is required to post, but it will not be published on the site.

We ask that you NOT post your comment more than once. Catholic Online is growing and our ability to review all comments sometimes results in a delay in their publication.

Name *

Email *

Comment *

Send me important information from Catholic Online and it's partners. See Sample

Post Comment