NEWPORT BEACH -- Rep. Paul Ryan, one of Republican's brightest stars on Capitol Hill, dropped into Orange County on Thursday to lay out his vision how lawmakers can roll back the "big government" reforms of President Barack Obama.
While one local congressman, Democrat Alan Lowenthal, took advantage of the congressional recess to hold a roundtable discussion of the repercussions if sequestration cuts are allowed to go into effect on March 1, Ryan spoke only in broad terms about the budget and the GOP approach.
"We are going to do everything we can to get our spending and our debt under control to prevent a debt crisis," said Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, 2012 vice presidential candidate, and possible 2016 presidential contestant.
Click here to listen to Ryan's entire speech.
Ryan gave a 10-minute speech at a Hyatt Regency Newport Beach luncheon hosted by Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton. Ryan told the crowd of about 260 that voters would back Republican initiatives once they saw Obama's reforms in action.
"The results of big government, in practice -- the fiscal recklessness, the debt that it grows, the lack of freedom of choice in health care and all these other sectors of our economy -- that will all happen in reality now," Ryan said.
"So our vision of showing the country -- here's how to balance the budget, here's how to reform the tax code, here's how you grow the economy, here's how you fix the immigration laws, here's how you fix health care -- we now get to showcase these ideas in contrast to big government policies that have proven, wherever tested, not to work."
Earlier in the day, freshman Rep. Lowenthal hosted an event at his Long Beach office that focused exclusively on the sequestration cuts -- a sharp contrast to Ryan's message of the need to shrink government.
Lowenthal, whose district extends from Long Beach to Garden Grove and Westminster, brought in education, airport, mental health and small business representatives to outline the across-the-board cuts called for by sequestration. Among the predictions: cuts in school programs for the disabled and vocational education; longer lines and fewer flights at the airport; and fewer crucial loans to small businesses.
"This is going to have a devastating impact on our economic recovery," Lowenthal said. "It will especially impact the people who are the most vulnerable."
Ryan has predicted that Congress will allow sequestration cuts to kick in. Lowenthal doubts there is time to finalize a comprehensive alternative, but thinks Congress will find a way to again postpone the cuts originally scheduled to become effective Jan. 1.
"I think that's a terrible way to go, but it's better than the sequester," he said. "No matter what we do by March 1, it won't be the grand bargain we eventually need."
Ryan may have best summed up the situation during his Newport Beach stop.
"Winston Churchill was right when he said that the Americans can be counted on to do the right thing," Ryan said. "But only after they've exhausted all the other possibilities."
Contact the writer: mwisckol@ocregister.com or 714-796-6753
Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50899304/ns/local_news-orange_county_ca/
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