Since Barack Obama became President, Republicans have insisted that government spending is the number one problem. Right? We're taxed enough already! Cutting spending is the Tea Party mantra, but again only since Obama.
That's all I've heard from Rep. Paul Ryan at town hall meetings. In fact his exact words were something like, "government doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem," while stressing the "s" consonant sound in ssspending. Kinda sickeningly predictable in a way. Ryan would also have his PowerPoint presentation of Heritage Foundation charts showing 50 year projections of government spending dressed down in red ink as far as the eye can see and how these trends will force his children to live a standard of life lower than what his parents enjoyed. Ryan has repeated this same narrative at town halls for the past several years. It was alot like brainwashing.
So now, why is VP candidate Ryan focused on jumbling the tax rates around when by his own admission, we don't have a revenue problem? Then insist that his tax proposal or Romney's for that matter, is "revenue neutral." Of course revenue neutral means there is no change in the total amount of revenue collected by the federal government. If they're collecting $3.5T in taxes under Obama right now, we can assume they'll collect $3.5T under Ryan's "revenue neutral" tax proposal. Some people would say that Ryan doesn't even have a solution for a revenue problem - if a revenue problem existed. Because his "solution" is revenue neutral!!
Ryan's proposal is just a scheme involving musical chairs with tax rates in a ploy to eliminate our current progressive tax rate system, but built with a single objective in mind - to lower tax rates for the wealthiest income holders. Because Ryan's or Romney's plan is revenue neutral, someone will have to make up the difference. What he calls the broadened base. Yet he has the gall to say Americans will get to keep more money in their pockets of what they earn. Remember, when the very top pays less tax the revenue neutrality will have to be maintained by the rest. There's no way around it.
Yet at the end of the video below, Ryan implies the top will pay MORE tax by closing their loopholes and because more of their income will be subject to taxation - they can lower tax rates for everyone. Yeah, Romney keeps his money in the Cayman Islands now at 14% because he's waiting for the day he can bring it all home subject to more taxation. That's a bunch of hooey. Again, you'll have to go backwards in the video to Chris Wallace pressing Ryan for the deductions, loopholes, spending cuts and costs necessary to offset lowering taxes to which Ryan answers all with "it's revenue neutral."
Ryan has to go circular in his argument because his revenue neutral tax proposal solves nothing. It doesn't raise revenue to pay down the debt and it has no effect on costs and cuts or any he'll commit to.
Oh wait. It'll grow the economy and create jobs. Rrrighht.
Watch it:
ADDITIONAL:
Washington Post - Cut Taxes First - Balance Budget later
New York Mag - The Paul Ryan Legend Dissipates
Huff Post - Fox News Ratings More Important Than Discussing the Math
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