Ryan’s ‘Tough Issues’: More Tax Breaks for the Rich, Cuts to Medicare and Social Security for Everyone Else

08/29/2012; Mike Hall

 

Tonight, Paul Ryan painted a picture of his and Mitt Romney’s vision of America. It is a vision, he said, where he and Romney “will not duck the tough issues” and where “Mitt Romney and I have made our” choices.

It is a vision that chooses more tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations—paid for by cuts in Social Security, Medicaid and other programs that poor and working-class families rely upon. It’s paid for with cuts to investments in our future such as education and rebuilding a crumbling infrastructure, both vital to maintaining and growing a middle class.

Ryan appealed to resentment and division, cynically labeling Obama’s cutting of waste from Medicare as a takeaway from seniors. But the reality is that the Affordable Care Act cut overpayments to private insurers who were making billions in profits. That money was invested back into traditional Medicare. Seniors saw improvements, not cuts to their Medicare benefits.

The vision Ryan painted tonight is a vision that is shaded pale and leaves no room for DREAMers.    Continue reading “Ryan’s ‘Tough Issues’: More Tax Breaks for the Rich, Cuts to Medicare and Social Security for Everyone Else”