Asked about White House budget forecasts of 3 percent growth, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan took the last refuge of a panicked lawmaker. Even though Ryan is plugging Trump’s budget proposal, he told reporters that he hasn’t read the document.
“I haven’t seen the details yet,” Ryan dodged during a Tuesday press conference, pivoting quickly to the fact that it’s helpful to finally have a president focused on “faster economic growth.” But the Wisconsin budget whiz knows better. Everyone does.
The White House projection of 3 percent annual growth by 2021 is optimism bordering on absurdity. While hacking red tape, slashing taxes, and cutting spending will definitely help the economy rebound, that cocktail isn’t a magical elixir for the kind of growth Trump demands.
According to the Congressional Budget Office, growth is likely to settle around 2 percent. And a dour Jim Nussle, President Bush’s former director of the Office of Management and Budget, said on CNBC that “1.9 percent as opposed to 3 is probably more realistic.”
It’s not like the CBO or Nussle are looking at data that Ryan can’t access. As speaker, he properly has a better understanding of the White House’s budget strategy than any other member of Congress. And as a former Budget Committee chairman, Ryan definitely has a better economic understanding.
Instead of managing expectations, Ryan started dodging. Though happy to cheerlead, the speaker wouldn’t offer analysis because he “hadn’t seen the details yet,” because he “didn’t want to get ahead of [OMB Director] Mulvaney,” and because he has not “seen those numbers yet.”
Re-watching the press conference, two things are clear. First, that Ryan is pleading ignorance of details in order to avoid confronting inflated numbers coming out of the White House. And second, that Ryan is plugging a budget plan that lawmakers will soon take a weed-whacker to.
“Clearly congress will take that budget and then work on our own budget which is the case every single year,” Ryan admitted. “But at least we now have common objectives: grow the economy and balance the budget.”
Just like every citizen wants their leaders to succeed regardless of party, consumers should want this budget plan to revive the economy. Still, it seems a bit disingenuous for Ryan to bill this shot in the arm as a wonder drug if he hasn’t even read the budget proposal.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
