Mitt Romney has associated himself with Ryan and Ryan's plan. This needs to be tied to Romney in the strongest possible way. And now we have some information on what Ryan's plan would actually do.
Paul Ryan has been deliberately vague on sharing the details of the House Republican budget and tax reform plan. All we know is that it would chop the present 6 rates to 2, lowering the highest present rate of 35% to 25% and add one other rate of 10%.
Ryan and GOP representatives have made vague noises about cutting deductions to make up the difference and 'expanding the base', one of their pet phrases, which is apparently code for getting the poor and middle class to pick up the burden of providing the Treasury with revenue.
Paul Krugman has called it a 'fraud' with a giant magic asterisk where a plan should be
"The plan's a fraud," he said on Sunday. "The plan is a big bunch of tax cuts, some specified spending cuts, basically for poor people, and then a huge magic asterisk which is supposed to turn into a deficit reduction plan, but, in fact, if you look what's actually in it, it's a deficit-increasing plan."
Now a new report sheds some much needed light on this 'plan', and concludes that the tax burden would be disproportionately shifted to the middle class. This has been largely assumed and speculated but now the Tax Policy Center has put some numbers to it. The Washington Post reports that the middle class would face higher taxes on this plan. The conclusion?
The House GOP tax plan would cut taxes sharply for the wealthy and shift more of the burden to the middle class.
(The report was prepared by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center but the Post takes pains to inform us that Democrats are responsible for soliciting it).
The report, prepared by Senate Democrats and reviewed by nonpartisan tax experts, marks the first attempt to quantify the trade-offs inherent in the GOP tax package, which would replace the current tax structure with two brackets — 25 percent and 10 percent — and cut the top rate from 35 percent.
Those changes would benefit virtually every taxpayer, but they also would reduce federal tax collections by about $4.5 trillion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. To avoid increasing the national debt by that amount, GOP leaders such as House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.) have pledged to get rid of all the special-interest loopholes and tax shelters that litter the code
The net result of eliminating popular loopholes would hit earners between $100,000 and $200,000 annual income while providing a huge break to those making over a million dollars annually.
The net result: Married couples in that income range would pay an additional $2,700 annually to the Internal Revenue Service. Households earning more than $1 million a year, meanwhile, could see a net tax cut of about $300,000 annually.
Sens. Robert Casey and Chuck Schumer, who were both instrumental in having the report prepared weighed in
According to this report, while millionaires will receive a huge tax break, earners making under $200,000 will see their taxes rise significantly,” said Sen. Robert P. Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), who chairs the Joint Economic Committee.
“Ryan seems to want to have his cake and eat it, too, and this report shows that you can’t,” added Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), who requested the analysis. “If you want to cut taxes on the rich and not raise the deficit, you’re going to have to basically clobber the middle class.”
Republicans of course, objected to the report being premature and unfair. (They were hoping to keep it as vague as possible but the report starts to shed some sunlight on it).
House Republicans called the report premature and unfair. For example, it assumes that Republicans would maintain lower rates for capital gains and dividends — which disproportionately benefit the very wealthy — a long-standing part of GOP tax orthodoxy.
Ryan spokesman Conor Sweeney has said they'd be open to such changes as higher rates on capital gains and dividends.
Uh. Sure, Repbulicans, that'll happen. And they have their knickers in a twist because the report writers are making assumptions that 'actual tax writers' would not. A fellow at the Tax Policy Center responded:
Roberton Williams, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center, reviewed the Joint Economic Committee report. Although the numbers are rough, he said, the conclusions are largely accurate.
“Even with eliminating fairly major tax preferences, the Ryan tax plan remains regressive. That’s the bottom line,” he said. “Unless you go after the tax preferences that benefit the wealthy” — capital gains, dividends, tax-free interest on municipal bonds — “it’s really hard to undo the regressivity of the rate changes. You’ll be shifting the burden of the tax code toward the middle class.”
Mitt Romney has
praised Paul Ryan's plan, and has been seen palling around with him.
Paul Ryan's new budget plan drew praise from GOP presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, and an attack from President Obama's reelection campaign Tuesday
The Obama Administration has the
comparison on its website:
Mitt Romney praised House GOP Budget Chairman Paul Ryan for the GOP’s new budget plan, calling it “a bold step” towards “fiscal sanity.” But America’s middle class and seniors should take note because, as Romney has said, he and Ryan are “on the same page” when it comes who they prioritize and who pays the price.
Ryan’s new plan is in lockstep with Romney’s radical budget plan. Here’s a look at how both Ryan and Romney pursue the same policies that endanger the security of seniors and middle-class families in order to make sure millionaires and billionaires get tax cuts.
Thanks are due to Senate Democrats for starting to shed light on this plan. Middle class voters must know that their choice this November could not be clearer.
Let's tie this tax plan around Mitt Romney's neck like an anchor.
6:56 AM PT: Rec List thank you - This is very important for middle class families and this year's election.