Sometimes it's Good to be the Underdog

When you're the underdog the pressure is off: the expectations are low, and in the off-chance you do win a handful of people stand to win big in their NCAA Basketball Tournament office pools.

The same principle works for the minority party in Congress. The expectations of you actually passing your legislation is low, so you may as well shoot for the stars. Both parties do this when they find themselves in the minority and the House Republicans are no exception. They unveiled a revised budget proposal, that, unlike their last alternative to the Obama budget, is heavy on details. And, in the off-chance these underdogs win, a handful of people do stand to win big, but at a greater cost to the losers than $10 and the shame of watching Louisville lose in the Elite Eight.

From the Washington Post:

House Republicans Unveil Revised Budget Proposal

By Lori Montgomery

Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, April 2, 2009; Page A06

After getting blasted last week for presenting a budget plan light on details, House Republicans yesterday unveiled a more complete proposal that would cut taxes for businesses and the wealthy, freeze most government spending for five years, halt spending approved in the economic stimulus package and slash federal health programs for the poor and elderly.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), the senior Republican on the House Budget Committee, said the plan would stabilize the rising national debt by requiring the nation to borrow about $6 trillion over the next 10 years, $3.3 trillion less than would be required under the budget request submitted by President Obama.

Annual deficits also would be slightly lower than under the revised budget plans that emerged last week from the House and Senate budget committees. The revised Democratic proposals would require the nation to borrow about $4 trillion over the next five years, compared with $3.1 trillion in new borrowing under the GOP alternative.

Still, the national debt would continue to climb under the GOP plan, topping out at around 75 percent of the economy, Ryan said -- an improvement over Obama's proposal but a good deal higher than the 40 percent debt the nation was running before the recession began.

The proposal comes as the House and Senate debate Obama's $3.5 trillion spending plan for the fiscal year that begins in October. Leaders in both chambers expect the Obama plan to pass easily when final votes are held by the end of the week.

While the minority party in Congress typically offers an alternative budget plan that is widely ignored, this year's proposal has drawn fresh attention thanks to the scathing GOP criticism of Obama's budget plans and the president's challenge to the GOP to offer a constructive alternative.

Republicans cast their budget plan as just that, with Ryan saying it offers "lower spending, lower deficits, lower debt and more jobs." Democrats argued that the GOP proposal relies on massive cuts to social programs, measures that even many Republicans would resist.

"It's hard to believe you can get to where they say they're going to get to without doing some things the American people would reject," said House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.).