Opinion: Most commented: The path to American prosperity, according to enraged readers

The question is what kind of society we are going to be, and whether government has any responsibility for the commonwealth. Early capitalism saw no responsibility, until enough people went into the streets, and took down whole governments in the early and middle parts of the 20th century. To put the fear of god (or commies or fascists or anarchists) into those who had the most to lose -- the corporate/wealth class. It is ironic that Ryan et al. are trying to pull this off when any sober analysis of Tunisia, Egypt, even Libya and Iran points to the consistent cause -- lack of opportunity for ‘normal’ people. I.e., ‘It’s the economy (in terms of jobs), stupid!.’ The deficit, in this case is a bogeyman. And Paul’s budget ends up with virtually the same deficit (although somewhat lower debt) than if we did nothing. Another flimflam man spouting the faith-based dogma of Grover Norquist. --wllmburden3

Before you opine on benefits for the poor. Do you work with the poor? […] I work in adult ed. and part of our funding is from the dept. of Labor’s Workforce Investment Act (WIA). We are specifically told to get people off public assistance and into the work force. Do you know how difficult that is? You provide people with education, you show them the path to employment (nurse’s assistant, manufacturing, computer repair). They smile, nod then have another baby. Worse, their babies are raised to believe this is a good way of life so they get pregnant (often times in their teens) and go straight to the welfare office. If you tell them it’s wrong, they look at you cross-eyed like you just said it’s wrong to love your mother. I don’t agree with everything in Ryan’s plan (taxes should go up on the rich) but I do agree with this. Also, there should be more oversight. Medi-cal doesn’t check residency or anything. I’ve met people who have gotten full cancer treatment without papers. --teacherinLA

Ryan’s proposal is just the Republicans trying to destroy Medicare and eventually Social Security. These evil conspirators have hated all programs that benefit ordinary people instead of their masters among the wealthy elite and the big corporations. They have been trying to destroy both for as long as they have existed, and the liars and cheats want to use the excuse of ‘deficit reduction’ to justify doing it now. They are nothing but tools of the elite. Social Security is not even a part of the budget, except that Congress has been stealing our Trust Fund for decades to fund its pork. Even if nothing is done to SS, it will be able to pay full benefits until 2037 and 75-80% of full benefits afterwards. Medicare’s problem is that Congress has hamstrung it so it can’t use its power to negotiate lower prices from drug companies and other providers. If Ryan really were serious about deficit reduction, he could start with the military-industrial complex and the Bush tax cuts. Reduce defense spending, and bring our troops home from the Middle East (put them on the border to stop the flood of illegal aliens!) Throw out the Bush tax cuts and raise taxes, especially on the wealthiest. Let them pay their fair share for a change. Ryan is a fool if he thinks the people of this country will sit idly by while he snatches the bread from their mouths. His voters should kick him out. --chakotay2

Neither Paul Ryan nor the Los Angeles Times address the underlying causes of our soaring healthcare costs. First of all, corporations are dumping toxic substances into our air and water supply, like mercury. This will create a sicker population. We give generous subsidies to the producers of red meat -- pork and beef, which are loaded with cholesterol and carcinogens. Non-unionized workers are frequently subjected to dangerous working conditions, creating more workplace injuries and chronic illnesses. Finally, there’s the insurance industry itself. Ryan proposes to abolish Obamacare which stipulated that 80% of an insurance company’s revenue go to healthcare. Insurance premiums will sky-rocket simply because insurance companies are bankrolling the careers of GOP politicians like Paul Ryan. By the way, just because you pay health insurance premiums is no guarantee you will get healthcare. Under Ryan’s plan, insurance companies can dump senior citizens whenever their illnesses become too expensive to cover. Basically, Ryan’s schemes are a way to redistribute the wealth from working Americans to the idle rich. --mnyegele

If the GOP are preaching fiscal responsibility (something they forgot to talk about during the 8 years Bush was in office or when they controlled the house) why, oh, why do they refuse to touch the massive budget of the military? Why, oh, why, do they continue to push to spend billions on ‘border control.’ Why don’t they offer to reduce their own very generous health benefits, pensions or take a salary pay cut. Why? --gomarj

Even handed? Are these people insane? We are broke, busted, that’s it. Game over. Start slashing the budget, everything... --yokohama1985