Paul Ryan Blocks Minimum Wage Hike, but allows Corporate Tax Inversions Overseas.

It’s frustrating for Democrats and real conservative penny pinchers who see an important solution to our ballooning government assistance problem blocked by Paul Ryan; increase the minimum wage.

The minimum wage would not just take more people off assistance and save taxpayer money, but it would increase consumer demand and reduce the corporate use of government programs to supplement their bottom line.

Instead, the GOP’s top snake oil salesman Paul Ryan would much rather ignore reports of job increases due to higher minimum wages, and beat to death the CBO’s admittedly squishy determination that “suggested” a hike would result in a loss of 500,000 jobs. jsonline:

Ryan told a luncheon audience at a joint meeting of the Milwaukee Press Club and the Rotary Club of Milwaukee … A day after Obama appeared in Milwaukee and called on Congress to raise the minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 an hour, (saying) he opposed the measure because it would cost the economy jobs. He cited a Congressional Budget Office study that suggested a minimum wage rise could lead to a loss of 500,000 jobs.

The Policy of Platitudes: Ryan’s detail free talking points are getting old:

"Let's focus on economic growth," he said. "Let's focus on job creation."

In the mean time, Wisconsin media refuses to ask Paul Ryan why his solution, increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit, was the first thing state Republicans cut to balance the budget. The GOP’s reason? The poor didn't earn the money they got back with the tax credit:

Ryan trumpeted the earned income tax credit for low- to moderate-income workers. He said it was "a far smarter way of pulling people into the workforce" than raising the minimum wage.

Ryan is so unwilling to compromise and close corporate loopholes, that he’s willing to permanently lose corporate taxes to inversions to make his point:

Ryan said Congress should not move to block tax inversions, in which U.S. firms purchase smaller foreign corporations and then transfer their headquarters overseas so they can lower tax rates. "Simply putting up a fortress around America with these anti-inversion rules, all that we'll end up doing is accelerate the takeover of U.S. corporations by foreign corporations," he said.

Not able to Lower Corporate Taxes, GOP tantrum seeks to expand off shore tax havens for Business.

At first I thought, “Why would Democrats vote against a tax deduction for corporations who donate food to charities?”

Here’s why: Rep.’s Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Tom Petri, Sean Duffy and Reid Ribble, angry they can’t reduce corporate tax rates, want corporations to reincorporate overseas to avoid paying taxes. You read that right. 

Nice strategy, don’t you think. Of course that only increases our deficit by reducing revenues even at current spending levels. Ever get the feeling the GOP wants to make things worse? Now you know they do. Roll Call:

Corporate Tax Avoidance: The House defeated a bid by Democrats to deny benefits under HR 4719 (Charitable Deductions, National Debt bill) to businesses that reincorporate overseas to avoid U.S. taxation, a process known as “inversion” that is becoming increasingly prevalent.

Voting to discourage corporate tax dodging through “inversion,” were Democrats Mark Pocan, Ron Kind and Gwen Moore.

Voting to allow corporations to off shore their profits to avoid paying their fair share of taxes? Ryan, Sensenbrenner, Petri, Duffy and Ribble. Way to go guys, one way or another you'll bring this country down to its knees. 

Corporate Tax Rate Highest in the World? Big Lie; now just 12.6%, 11th lowest GDP of 27 wealthy country.

This is big news right? The middle class pays more, and will never be able to do what business can do to lower their taxes this much, from 35% to 12.6%?

CNN: Large, profitable U.S. corporations paid an average effective federal tax rate of 12.6% in 2010, the Government Accountability Office said Monday. The federal corporate tax rate stands at 35%, and jumps to 39.2% when state rates are taken into account. But thanks to things like tax credits, exemptions and offshore tax havens, the actual tax burden of American companies is much lower. Even when foreign, state and local taxes were taken into account, the companies paid only 16.9% of their worldwide income in taxes in 2010.

Coburn said in a statement that the report "underscores the need for comprehensive tax reform. It's especially wrong to ask families who are struggling to make ends meet to subsidize special breaks for corporations." The GAO's calculation for effective corporate tax rates is lower than a number of previous estimates. That's in part because the office excluded unprofitable firms, which pay little or no taxes, from its analysis. 

U.S. corporate tax collection totaled 2.6% of GDP in 2011, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. That was the eleventh lowest in a ranking of 27 wealthy nations.