Politics & Government

Lowey: Ryan's Budget is 'Path to Pain'

Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) sounded off this morning on the nascent budget put forth by Paul Ryan.

As chatter over the federal budget grows more heated, one of the region's ranking local politicians—congresswoman and Democrat Nita Lowey—is adding to the rhetoric.

The politico today assailed the budget proposed by congressman and one-time vice presidential hopeful Paul Ryan, calling the fiscal plan "economically irresponsible."

(To hear Lowey talk Ryan during last year's election, click here.)

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Ryan's plan, dubbed the Path to Prosperity, is a 98-page blueprint that aims to rein in government spending by about $4.6 trillion over the course of a decade.

On the House's budget website, Ryan says both parties are guilty of "empty promises," and rails president Barack Obama for "avoiding the debt-fueled crisis."

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It is a plan, and stance, that Lowey readily attacked.

"It is important to understand real impact of this budget," she said Tuesday. "It takes advantage of loopholes... and it asks seniors, women and the Middle Class to shoulder the tax burden."

"This budget proposal would slow hiring," she added, instead calling the plan a "path to pain."

Lowey added her party and Ryan's are unlikely to reach a compromise.

"The Republican budget is what it is , and the Democrat alternative is what it is," she said.

Rep. Eliot Engel, whose congressional district covers New Rochelle, called the Republic budget plan "tone deaf" and added it will damage the country's future financial health.

Writing on his House Website, he said, “My Republican colleagues have forgotten there was an election a few short months ago where these very policies were soundly rejected by the American people. No matter what kind of dressing they put on it, this budget is just a rehash of those rejected, failed policies. When Newt Gingrich, never before confused as a liberal thinking, went so far as to call this same budget ‘right-wing social engineering,’ it becomes clear this is not about growing our economy."


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