This article was originally posted at ClassWarfareExists.com.
Paul Ryan likes to present himself as a fiscal hawk, a very serious man who is intent on solving America’s fiscal problems with no B.S. straight talk … just the facts Ma’am. But the real Paul Ryan isn’t that guy – not a chance. If you think it’s serious policy to propose a bill that adds $62 trillion to the deficit until it balances it finally in 2040 by cutting taxes on the rich, cutting services for the poor and privatizing Medicare – well then you will LOVE the Republican party plan.
And remember – not only did Republicans pass this in the House of Representatives TWICE in the past two years … but Mitt Romney has said that his plan is basically identical to the Ryan plan. Here is what the Ryan Plan actually does:
- - Cuts taxes for anyone making $1 million by 12.5% on average
- - Cut spending on transportation by 25%
- - Cut spending on veterans by 13%
- - Cut spending on general science, space, and basic technology by 6%
- - Cut education, training, employment, and social services by 33%
- - Cuts Medicaid and related health programs by $770 billion
- - Cuts Medicare by an additional $200 billion then privatizes it
- - Cuts Food Stamps by $134 billion over 10 years
- - The first Ryan plan privatized Social Security but was taken out when it was considered a political deathwish
Matt Miller owns the Romney/Ryan plan:
I thought we’d reached new heights of chutzpah in 2010 when Paul Ryan claimed to be a “fiscal conservative” — even though his original “Roadmap for America’s Future” added $62 trillion to the national debt before balancing the budget a half century from now.
Then that was topped in 2011 by the GOP’s galling refusal to raise the debt ceiling — despite having passed a Republican House budget that added nearly $6 trillion to the national debt in the next decade. As Bill Clinton might have said, it takes “brass” to stonewall on the debt limit when you’ve just voted to add trillions in fresh debt yourself.
But records are made to be broken. And so Mitt Romney’s fundraiser video riff now takes the chutzpah cake. What else can we say of a man who charges 47 percent of the country with being “dependent” “entitled” “victims,” because they don’t earn enough to pay federal income taxes? When the truth is that low earners were largely dropped from the rolls thanks to (sensible) Republican-supported policy that boosted the earned income tax credit? Which was itself the brainchild of conservative icon Milton Friedman!
Paul Krugman calls the Ryan plan the most fraudulent budget in history.
Here is how the Ryan Plan would work for different income groups … the rich get richer, the poor get poorer:
As we have shared:
Jonathan Bernstein asks 10 questions to help figure out whether or not you might like the Republican plan:
- Do you support eliminating the child tax credit?
- Do you support eliminating the deduction for mortgage interest?
- Do you support eliminating the National Weather Service and all of NOAA?
- Do you support eliminating Pell Grants and student loans?
- Do you support ending all federal spending on highways, air traffic control, and other forms of transportation?
- Do you support shutting down FEMA?
- Do you support shutting down federal prisons, the FBI, and other federal law enforcement agencies?
- Do you support ending all foreign aid — including Israel?
- Do you support eliminating NASA?
- Do you support eliminating the FDA and all food safety inspections?
If you answered Yes – then you’ll LOVE the House Republican plan because “The Path to Prosperity” has ALL of these cuts in them.
