Monday, April 11, 2011

Ryan's Con Job: Bad news for everyone but the rich and corporate.

Keep this mind: the wealthy pay the most in taxes because they make the most money. Republicans seem to think this means the wealthy should get a cut. If that's true, start with their incomes.

Ryan has also successfully managed to steer the conversation away from even the thought of raising taxes on the wealthy, like a millionaire tax bracket and one for billionaires. I blame the democrats for that. If they would include a wealth tax bracket in their own economic plans, Republicans would have to spend time and energy fighting that increase, and arguing against the best interests of the country.

MSNBC's Cenk Uygur is dissecting the Ryan plan better than any person in the media, beside Paul Krugman and Ezra Klein, and puts it all together here:



If you don't have the 5 minutes to watch the video, I've put the MSNBC graphics together that tell the whole story. Click on the image for a larger view:
Here’s how the Ryan remake of Medicare looks to the CBO: 
Fox News: The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says the typical beneficiary would be expected to pay more than two-thirds of his or her medical costs by the year 2030. The Congressional Budget Office analysis suggested the new system would start running into problems right away. 
Buying the Medicare benefit package from a private insurer would turn out to be significantly more expensive. Medicare typically pays hospitals and doctors less than private insurance. Without some kind of effort to control private health care costs, the government contribution toward premiums wouldn't go very far. "I don't believe you can pursue this approach for Medicare and not at the same time address the problem of cost growth in the private health care sector," said economist Robert Reischauer, a former budget office director. "To do so would result in a two-tier health care system."   
Ryan form(ed) … his proposal jointly with a prominent Democratic economist, Alice Rivlin, a former vice chair of the Federal Reserve. Although Ryan publicly cited her in unveiling his plan, Rivlin said she doesn't support this version … The government health care payment in the GOP budget would quickly fall behind medical inflation, Rivlin said. "Ryan has lowered the growth rate so that it's really punitive," she added. Rivlin also says seniors should be given a choice between staying in traditional Medicare and a voucher system … She also differs with Ryan on raising taxes. "You can't do it all on the spending side, because the cuts required are Draconian," Rivlin said.

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