Democratic members of the House Budget Committee have gone even further, asserting that the Ryan budget "abandons investments in research and innovation".
In the Commons, an election was called in a hurry, and the April budget was abandoned in favour of a "ways and means" budget, agreed by both parties, that merely allowed the government to continue to collect taxes until the formation of the next government – which was where Thatcher came in.
The budget, which abandoned many of last year's cuts and delivered $5bn in small business tax breaks, has delivered a quick boost in both consumer confidence and the Coalition's standing in the opinion polls.
Some economists worry that Mr Hockey's second budget has abandoned the government's earlier commitment to a robust fiscal plan, presumably in hopes of restoring its political fortunes before an election due next year.
The result of this shrinkage, also called "ungrowth" and "right sizing," has been compressed tax bases, increased crime and unemployment, tight municipal budgets and abandoned neighborhoods.
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso was under great pressure to cut the budget by abandoning the AIDS program.
With the money drying up and Democrats and Republicans facing painful choices between cutting the budget and abandoning any pretense of fiscal responsibility, the political and economic considerations are complex.
That commitment should be renewed, he will say, a sign that ministers do not intend to use the budget to abandon the pledge to halve child poverty by 2010-11.
The government booked almost $1bn in savings in the 2015 budget from abandoning the $11,500 – now offered under the national paid parental leave scheme to women earning up to $150,000 a year – for those mothers who already receive that amount, or more, from their employers.
The hospitals and health care unions, the Democrats' traditional allies in the annual budget fight, had abandoned them.
