Reminding us who they really are

What better topic for tax day than the federal budget!

Paul Ryan, the guy nominated in 2012 to be Vice President, is touting his federal budget again. I think it got an endorsement from the House. It very clearly shows what the GOP will do if given enough power in Washington. Terrence Heath summarizes the major goals. We've seen these before.

* Repeal Obamacare but don't offer anything to replace it.

* Cut welfare. Cut food stamps and convert the rest to block grants to states with emphasis on "flexibility." That means if a state throws enough people off food stamps the state can do what it wants with the "overrun."

* Cut the Home Energy Assistance Program because several states are "abusing" it. They have linked that program to food stamps and food stamp usage has gone up.

* Cut Medicaid by turning it into a block grant (see above) and by indexing it to inflation even though medical expenses rise faster than inflation.

* Cut Medicare by changing it to "premium support" with the same inflation index.

* Cut aid to students and increase interest paid on student debt.

* Cut the budget of the Securities and Exchange Commission, so the financial industry has less regulation. That will invite another financial mess (and we know who ends up profiting from those).

* Increase spending on the military as a patriotic way of sucking money out of the rest of the federal budget.

* All those cuts will result in a much smaller budget. Which means the deficit will be eliminated and the national debt will go down -- just like the GOP is calling for. No. Wait. I'm being silly. All that savings will give the 1% another tax cut to the tune of more than a quarter million dollars each. Deficit? Never heard of it.

This budget isn't going anywhere beyond the House. The Senate will only touch it long enough to toss it out. Even if the GOP takes the Senate in November the Dems will still be able to filibuster it. Besides, this prez. will veto it. Which means this annual exercise is a way for the GOP to remind us who they really are.

But the GOP and their backers are a patient bunch. And in 2017…