WASHINGTON, DC—Assistant Democratic Leader James E. Clyburn today released the following statement on the FY 2012 budget proposal released by Budget Chairman Paul Ryan today.

“For the wealthiest, big oil companies, and corporate special interests the Ryan budget is a path to prosperity. But for working families, students and senior citizens, it’s a path to poverty. It ends Medicare as we know it, putting seniors at the mercy of insurance companies and forcing them to shoulder more of the burden of rapidly rising health care costs on their own. It cuts education and makes college more expensive for nearly 10 million students. And it slashes support for seniors in nursing homes. Yet it makes room for billions in tax subsidies for big oil, it gives tax breaks to companies who ship jobs overseas, and makes permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest adding $1 trillion to the deficit.

“A budget is a moral document that outlines values and priorities. This Republican budget is the same as the ones before—putting special interests and the wealthiest among us before the basic needs of Americas seniors, middle class families and job creation.”