  Why the Budget Is the Wrong Thing to Fight About  Friday, 10
June 2011 06:14 By Ian Fletcher, Free Trade Doesn't Work | Op-Ed
• Print   • Email  The country is consumed right now with the
fight over the Federal budget, specifically the plan of Rep.
Ryan (R-Wisconsin) to balance it by (mostly) radically cutting
spending on medical programs, especially Medicare.  The recent
Republican loss in New York's 26th district's special
election—which had more to do with my friend Jack Davis running
on a third-party ticket—has been interpreted as a referendum
against the Ryan plan.  And the states are, of course, tied up
in budget battles of their own, most visibly the aggressive push
to cut the cost of public employees by curtailing their unions.
Unfortunately, while all these fights are, of course, important,
they are still, fundamentally, the wrong economic issue for
America to be fighting over right now. Because despite Rep. Ryan
entitling his plan "The Path to Prosperity," none of these
controversies touch upon