While the media go on and on about how Paul Ryan's budget is so serious and courageous that the President "must respond" to it (see the clip above where Fox's Stuart Varney employs the 'crisis' budget strategy), a truly progressive proposal has been released.

Unlike Ryan's proposal, which takes us all the way through 2040 before the deficit is eliminated, this budget puts us on solid footing by 2021, with a fully balanced budget by 2014. Here are some specifics:

The CPC proposal (PDF)

• Eliminates the deficits and creates a surplus by 2021

• Puts America back to work with a “Make it in America” jobs program

• Protects the social safety net

• Ends the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

• Is FAIR (Fixing America’s Inequality Responsibly) What the proposal accomplishes: • Primary budget balance by 2014.

• Budget surplus by 2021.

• Reduces public debt as a share of GDP to 64.4% by 2021, down 16.9 percentage points from

a baseline fully adjusted for both the doc fix and the AMT patch.

• Reduces deficits by $5.7 trillion over 2012-21

• Both outlays and revenue equal 22.3% of GDP by 2021

Real courage involves raising taxes and explaining that we can't pay for wars without a cost attached. Real courage involves protecting our most vulnerable and asking those with much to give a fair share.

This budget is a courageous budget. Not Ryan's. Yet, there hasn't been so much as a peep from the mainstream media about this alternatives. Gosh, I wonder why not.