On Sunday’s Up w/ Chris Hayes, we’ll discuss the various budget proposals released by Republicans and Democrats in Congress this week. Rep. Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, offered a budget proposal this week that was no less than a conservative wish list. His plan would repeal the Affordable Care Act, convert Medicare into a voucher program and revamp Medicaid into a block grant program.
Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Patty Murray, proposed a more cautious budget with a one-to-one ratio of spending cuts and new tax revenue. That plan was framed by the media as the “Democratic alternative” to the Ryan plan. But there was a third proposal put forward this week, a much stronger liberal counterweight to the unbridled conservatism of the Ryan budget. The plan, proposed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, would add $2 trillion in new spending to create jobs that would be paid for by increasing taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
Then we’ll turn to the ten-year anniversary of the war in Iraq. We’ll reflect on what, exactly, has been left behind there after the war: a sovereign country but with an unstable democracy, bitter animosity and deadly violence. We’ll examine the state of Iraq along with Americans’ seeming reluctance to acknowledge the stark contrast between the Iraq many envisioned the U.S. would leave behind, and the Iraq that exists today.
Zainab al Suwaij, co-founder and executive director of the American Islamic Congress.
Stuart Bowen, Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction.
Democratic Representative Kyrsten Sinema (@RepSinema) is serving her first term representing Arizona’s Ninth Congressional District.
Basma Zaiber, Iraqi caseload coordinator and director of development and research for The List Project to Resettle Iraqi Allies.
Koby Langley (@warrioradvocate), Iraq War veteran who served in the 82nd Airborne Division and current senior advisor to Americor for Veteran Initiatives.
Raed Jarrar (@raedjarrar), communications director for American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, former Iraq specialist to the American Friends Service Committee.
Democratic Representative Jerrold Nadler.
Sam Seder (@SamSeder), host of The Majority Report, co-host of Ring of Fire.
Heidi Moore, economics and finance editor for The Guardian newspaper.
Katherine Guthrie