An informative feature of the editor's blog for the Independent Voter Network is an interactive graph that compares the Ryan budget plan with Obama’s budget proposal. (The graph was created by Mike Shedlock, an investment adviser who writes a global economics blog.)
The graph charts spending predictions under both plans from 2011 to 2021. It highlights 10 areas or programs that both budgets would affect, from Medicare and Social Security to national security spending and revenue.
Beyond just listing how much money the Ryan and Obama budgets allocate for each program, the graph shows the spending difference between the two plans, which is sometimes drastic. It shows that under Obama’s plan, by 2014 the government would be spending 29.9 percent more on Medicaid than it would under Ryan’s budget plan. It also shows where the spending differences would be negligible: Ryan and Obama allocate almost exactly the same amount for Social Security, for instance.
Most important, this graph breaks it down to the basics, the cold hard numbers. It's easy for readers to compare funding for programs that matter to them.
The Independent Voter Network is a political news website committed to representing the independent voter’s viewpoint. Founded in 2008 as an initiative to cover California issues in a nonpartisan way, it has expanded to cover national issues. IVN uses independent writers and contributors, and discourages partisan reporting.
