The
budget
unveiled by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI)
this morning includes
substantial
changes to the American tax code, both for corporations
and individuals. Ryan’s tax plan shrinks the number of income
tax brackets from six to two, with marginal tax rates set at
10 percent and 25 percent. He repeals the Alternative Minimum
Tax (AMT), slices the top corporate tax rate to 25 percent,
and repeals all of the health care taxes contained in the
Affordable Care Act. It also repeals the repatriation tax on
profits corporations earn overseas then bring back to the
United States.
In all, those tax breaks amount to a $3
trillion giveaway to the richest Americans and
corporations, according to the Tax Policy Center. Repealing
the repatriation tax would add roughly $130 billion to that.
This morning on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Ryan insisted that the
plan would generate the same amount of revenue as the
government currently receives. In true Ryan form, though, he
wouldn’t say how:
RYAN: We’re taking the tax system and reforming it along
the way this new bipartisan compromise and consensus is
showing. Get rid of the special interest
loopholes, special deductions, lower everybody’s tax
rates, bring in at least as much revenue to the
government but grow the economy and create jobs,
and get spending under control so we can pay off this
debt.
SCARBOROUGH: So you say that you want to bring as much
revenue into the government even with lower tax rates.
There are obviously only a few ways to do that as far as
eliminating tax loopholes, whether you’re talking about
the home mortgage loophole, the health care loophole, or
the charitable interest deductions. Which one of those do
you eliminate?
RYAN: We want to do this in the light of day and
in front of everybody. So the Ways and Means
Committee, which is in charge of the tax system, sent us
the plan here, which is a 10 and 25 percent bracket for
individuals and small businesses, and then they want to
have hearings and, in light of day, show how they would go
about doing this.
The taxes Ryan wants to repeal all primarily impact the
richest Americans and corporations. Repealing the
repatriation tax, as Republicans have attempted multiple
times since taking control of the House in 2011, amounts to
a huge
giveaway to corporations. And ending the AMT and
investment taxes from the ACA while dropping the top income
tax rate would give massive tax breaks to the rich. That
isn’t surprising — it’s virtually
identical to what Ryan attempted in last year’s
budget, which he called the “Path to Prosperity.”
Ryan’s plan for income taxes, meanwhile, is similar to GOP
presidential candidate Rick Santorum’s, and the Tax Policy
Center found that his plan would reduce total federal
revenues by $900
billion a year. Though Ryan offered no specifics, it’s
clear that to avoid blowing a hole in the federal budget,
the GOP will have to make up lost revenue by raising taxes
on the poor and middle class (or by ending tax breaks that
primarily benefit them) or by taking the axe to vital
safety
net programs
that the poorest Americans — including women,
infants, and children — depend on the most. Again,
that shouldn’t be surprising — this edition of Ryan’s plan
is simply a worse version of last year’s “Path
to the Poorhouse.”
