In Josh VillaâÄôs April 11 column in the Minnesota Daily, “Path to prosperity is for protection,” he wonders why Democrats call Rep. Paul RyanâÄôs, R-Wis., budget “radical” even though it only reduces spending to 2008 levels. In reality, itâÄôs the scope of the cuts, not the magnitude, that many Democrats take issue with.

They have trouble understanding why GOP politicians continue to preserve tax cuts for the rich while pushing to cut spending on entitlement programs in the face of growing wealth inequality.

Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that real wages have been declining for the past 30 years despite gains in real gross domestic product. The increases in GDP have been disproportionate to those in the top 1 percent of earners.

Democrats also wonder why cuts to military spending are absent from RyanâÄôs plan. The U.S. military budget is more than 10 times larger than that of the next closest country. Despite this, Villa claims that cuts to Medicare benefits are to “prevent them from elimination,” while our exorbitant military budget isnâÄôt even being considered for cuts.

As long as GOP budget proposals ignore out-of-control military spending and economic inequality, Democrats will not be able to view them as legitimate cost-cutting measures. Instead, these measures appear to be yet more pandering to the interests of the rich at the expense of the rest of the country.