Sen. Toomey, at Penn State, Calls Ryan’s Budget ‘a Terrific Blueprint’

U.S. House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan’s budget plan carries a comprehensive approach — and ‘a terrific blueprint’ — for controlling government spending, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey said Friday at Penn State.

‘Guys like me are saying, ‘No — we just can’t keep kicking this can down the road,” Toomey told reporters in the Business Building, underscoring his support for a balanced-budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. And he said Ryan’s plan — a ‘courageous’ and ‘serious’ proposal — has seen no viable budget alternatives from President Barack Obama.

In fact, Toomey said, Ryan — a Wisconsin Republican — suffered a ‘personal insult’ this week when Obama insinuated that his budget plan was neither courageous nor serious.

The Ryan plan, passed Friday afternoon by a divided House, would cut federal spending by $6.2 trillion more than President Obama’s plan would over the next 10 years, ABC News reported.

Meanwhile, Toomey was at University Park on Friday largely to speak with Smeal College of Business MBA students about the economy, the federal budget and the business climate in Washington, D.C. After talking with them, he spoke briefly with local reporters, emphasizing his support for federal debt limits and for the legislative process in building a federal budget.

In his chat with reporters, Toomey hit a few other primary arguments:

• Passage of a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution is key to getting the government back on a sustainable fiscal plan, he said.

• Shifting more responsibility for Medicaid programs to the state level would give Americans greater direct input and influence over Medicaid’s future, he said.

• Oil prices are much higher than they ought to be, and that’s partially a result of the Federal Reserve’s having flooded the world with U.S. dollars, he said.

• The U.S. should continue to pursue — aggressively — the domestic production of energy and lessen its dependence on foreign oil, he said. ‘We are the most energy-rich country in the world.’

Earlier coverage

• Toomey, at Penn State, Says ‘Misguided Policies’ Inhibit Economic Recovery (Oct. 27, 2010)