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For Immediate Release August 11, 2012
Contact: Robert Kraig (414) 322-5324
Ryan pick further proof that Romney would damage freedom, opportunity & security for most Americans to give massive new tax breaks to the rich
Milwaukee: Today GOP Presidential nominee Mitt Romney named Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan as his running mate. Beyond the over-the-top mock-heroic staging of the announcement, the selection of Ryan is further proof that a Mitt Romney presidency would endanger the foundations of freedom and shared prosperity that our nation has built over the last century.
“Paul Ryan is a smooth politician, but beneath the optimistic rhetoric, genial demeanor, and wonky reputation, the substance of his budget proposals would have devastating consequences for the freedom to have a fair shot at the American dream and establish a secure life for our families,” said Robert Kraig, Executive Director of Citizen Action of Wisconsin. “Mitt Romney’s selection of Ryan reveals a reckless disregard for the economic future of the embattled American middle class and all those who are struggling to join the middle class.”
Like Mitt Romney, Congressman Ryan claims that his radical budget proposals are needed to reduce the national debt. Under the guise of the discredited trickle down approach to the economy, Ryan’s budget actually slashes federal revenue by $4.6 trillion in order to give massive new tax breaks to the wealthy. Under Ryan’s budget the average millionaire, who already pays $129,000 less in taxes due to the Bush tax cuts, will get an additional tax break of $265,000.
To pay for these massive new tax breaks to the wealthy few who already claim much more than their share national growth, and pay much less than their fair share in taxes, Ryan proposes unprecedented cuts which would undermine the foundations of opportunity such as student loans, school lunches, research and development, investments in infrastructure, and other commitments to giving everyone a fair shot at the American dream.
In order to pay for massive new tax breaks for the rich, Ryan proposes to turn Medicare into a voucher program that will shift massive new costs onto senior while further enriching the health insurance industry, and slash Medicaid in half which will causes 14 to 27 million moderate income Americans to lose their health care and long term care.
One example of the Romney-Ryan approach that exemplifies a reckless disregard for the economic and health security of most Americans is their proposal to raise the Medicare eligibility age to 67, while also repealing health care reform. “As a country we learned over half a century ago that private for-profit health insurance does not work for seniors, yet Romney and Ryan are determined to repeat the life threatening mistakes of the past,” Kraig continued. “Without the guarantee that people with preexisting conditions can purchase insurance at an affordable cost, 66 and 67 year-olds will be at the mercy of health insurance industry. The result will be millions of seniors in their early retirement years forced to go without coverage when they are likely to need it most, greatly increasing their risk of early death or losing all of their hard earned retirement savings to medical bills. This is much too high a price in freedom and security to pay for unnecessary and undeserved tax cuts for the wealthiest among us,” Kraig concluded.
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