'Alternative Budget' Splits GOP Leaders

...even though 'this may bring my presidency down'

(NEWSER) - We already knew last night's debt talks did not go well —but not only did President Obama leave "abruptly," he really put his foot down, Talking Points Memo reports: "I have reached the point where I say enough," he said, according to those present. "Would Ronald Reagan be sitting here? I've reached my limit. This may bring my presidency down, but I will not yield on this." More of the latest developments:

• Obama reportedly gave both sides a deadline to determine whether they will seek long-term spending cuts or a short-term solution: tomorrow. His reason for leaving last night, at least according to one Democrat? Eric Cantor interrupted his closing remarks to push, for the third time, a short-term extension of the Aug. 2 deadline. Obama's response? "See you guys tomorrow."

Republicans call it a partisan campaign speech

(NEWSER) - A sampling of Republican reaction to President Obama's budget speech today, from USA Today and Politico :

• Paul Ryan: He called it "excessively partisan, dramatically inaccurate, and hopelessly inadequate" in getting the nation's debt under control. It was "a political broadside from our campaigner in chief."
• Jeb Hensarling: "I missed lunch for this?" asked the House GOP conference chairman. The speech was too skimpy on deficit-cutting details and more about "winning the next election" than "winning the future."

Ryan shoots back that Obama is 'disappointing'

(NEWSER) - Barack Obama plans to savage the House GOP budget proposal today, calling it "thinly veiled social Darwinism," according to a draft of the speech he'll deliver. "It’s a Trojan horse," Obama will say. "Disguised as deficit reduction plan, it's really an attempt to impose a radical vision on our country. … It's antithetical to our entire history as a land of opportunity and upward mobility to everyone who's willing to work for it." More»

Paul Krugman: It's history's 'most fraudulent' budget

(NEWSER) - Never mind that it's "inconceivably cruel" to cut taxes for the rich and aid for the poor: Perhaps the biggest problem with Paul Ryan's latest budget is that it's "surely the most fraudulent budget in United States history," writes Paul Krugman in the New York Times . It claims to reduce the deficit by closing tax loopholes to bring in trillions of dollars. But the truth is it doesn't close a single loophole. More»

There would be just two brackets, with the top at 25%

(NEWSER) - House Republicans rolled out a new Paul Ryan-penned budget proposal today that calls for a drastic tax-code overhaul, major changes to Medicare and Medicaid, and deep cuts in domestic spending, all while softening a set of automatic defense spending cuts set to hit in January. The budget would scrap our current six-bracket tax system for a two-tiered one: one at 10% and one at 25%, the Washington Post reports. Half of the spending cuts would come from health care moves, including completely eliminating "Obamacare," turning Medicaid into a block grant, and implementing the Medicare overhaul Ryan devised with Ron Wyden. More»