Paul Ryan’s Slick “Average Guy” Act Falls Away with Refusal to Tax Incomes over $10 Million. Standing up for Little Guy?

Thanks to Media Matters, which featured Rep. Paul Ryan's open admission he wants to protect the wealthy, we can fully explain the truth behind Ryan's lies and double speak. If this slip doesn't sink this snake, nothing will.

House Democrats aren't interested in hearing Republican input on health care reform or the budget, U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe." Ryan said he would not consider raising taxes for those who make $10 million or more per year.

Carlos Watson: "We saw in Britain recently, they dealt with their deficit. They raised rates on their upper echelon. Would you consider raising rates even for a short period of time on those super rich, if you will - not even the top two percent, but above that - those making north of $10 million dollars in income."

Rep. Ryan: "The answer is no. You gotta remember - more than half of the folks filing at these tax rates are small businesses." [MSNBC, 4/28/09; emphasis added]

Again, a small business owners take home pay would be $10 million bucks, not counting the total business income. That's a "small" business?

Only 1.9 Percent Of Small Businesses Fall Into Top Two Tax Brackets, Much Less Earn $10 Million Per Year. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: "Only 1.9 percent of taxpayers with small business income face either of the top two income tax rates. Ryan’s plan again ignores the hard middle class worker and small business owner while benefiting the non-working wealthy investor.

Many "Small Business Owners" With Income Over $1 Million Are Actually Passive Investors, Not Employers. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: "...many of the roughly 650,000 filers with small-business income who face one of the top two tax rates are merely passive investors who have nothing to do with running the business. This is because of the Treasury Department's relatively broad definition of 'small business. For example, the $84 of income President Bush received in 2001 from a passive investment in an oil and gas company made him a 'small-business owner.' About 35 percent of 'small-business owners' with incomes above $200,000, and about 58 percent of 'small-business owners' with incomes over $1 million, received some or all of their business income in the form of passive investments. The Treasury definition also counts as 'small-business income' the fees that CEOs are paid for sitting on corporate boards." [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2/2/09]