Paul Ryan: Democratic budget 'blowing smoke'

(CNN) -- Three days after he unveiled the GOP budget, Rep. Paul Ryan stayed focused on the country's fiscal problems during his address to the Conservative Political Action Conference and took a dig at the Democrats' own budget proposal in the Senate.

"You know, this has been a really big week. We got white smoke from the Vatican and we got a budget from the Senate," he said to applause. "But when you read it, you find that the Vatican's not the only place blowing smoke this week."

Unlike Ryan's plan, the Democratic proposal doesn't claim to balance the budget in 10 years. It also includes new sources of revenue from taxes and doesn't touch entitlement reform as much as Republicans would like.

"By living beyond our means, the government is sending us a message," Ryan said. "It is saying if you plan ahead, if you make sacrifices for your kids, if you save, you're a sucker. It is brazenly stealing from our children and from young adults and it has to stop."

Ryan's budget, meanwhile, has no new taxes, big changes to Medicare, a repeal of President Obama's health care reform, and support for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.

The 2012 Republican vice presidential nominee, who's considered a potential 2016 presidential candidate, also chided the recent pattern in Congress of lawmakers waiting until the 11th hour to reach a deal.

"When politicians budget by crisis, what happens? They make deals in the dead of night far away from public view, lobbyists sneak in their pet projects and government grows. Cronyism spreads. It crowds out our communities and as it lurches from crisis to crisis, it freezes people in fear. In effect, we levy an uncertainty tax on everyone in the nation."