CONNECT
NationofChange / Op-Ed
Published: Saturday 26 May 2012
“But let’s not forget Romney’s budget proposal, which mimics Paul Ryan’s.”
Romney’s Regressivism
Fine to nail Romney with Bain Capitalism. But let’s not forget Romney’s budget proposal, which mimics Paul Ryan’s. Take a moment to make yourself aware of both, because they’re eye-opening and scary.
Both would restore the military budget, slash Medicare (turning it into vouchers that shift costs to the elderly) and Medicaid (turning it over to the states but without enough money to keep it going), cut programs for the poor (food stamps, Pell grants, etc), and yet at the same time cut even more taxes on the super rich.
According to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, Romney’s plan would give a $250K tax cut, on average, to everyone now earning over a million dollars a year.
Yet Romney’s plan would also — according to the non-partisan Center for Budget and Policy Priorities — increase the federal budget deficit by more than $3 trillion over the next ten years. (Romney says he’ll close tax loopholes, but he assiduously avoids saying which ones — which means he won’t really close any.)
This is truly nuts, and it represents not conservativism but regressivism — a lurch backward toward the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.
This article was originally posted on Robert Reich's blog.
Get Email Alerts from NationofChange
ABOUT Robert Reich
ROBERT B. REICH, one of the nation’s leading experts on work and the economy, is Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley. He has served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. Time Magazine has named him one of the ten most effective cabinet secretaries of the last century. He has written thirteen books, including his latest best-seller, “Aftershock: The Next Economy and America’s Future;” “The Work of Nations,” which has been translated into 22 languages; and his newest, an e-book, “Beyond Outrage.” His syndicated columns, television appearances, and public radio commentaries reach millions of people each week. He is also a founding editor of the American Prospect magazine, and Chairman of the citizen’s group Common Cause. His widely-read blog can be found at www.robertreich.org.
Top Stories
By Aviva Shen
5 comments on "Romney’s Regressivism"
May 27, 2012 4:31pm
Another prime example of the Conservative, Republican and Tea-Party LIES. According to the non-partisan Tax Policy Center, Romney’s Budget Plan would give a $250K tax cut, on average, to everyone now earning over a million dollars a year. Yet Romney’s plan would also — according to the non-partisan Center for Budget and Policy Priorities — increase the federal budget deficit by more than $3 trillion over the next ten years.” This is EXACTLY what happen each time the Conservative, Republican and Tea-Party have granted Tax Cuts to their "Rich and Powerful friends."
May 26, 2012 6:50pm
We have to vote all Republicans out of Congress, to get our country back. We then need to change the Tax Code back to the way it was in the first 70 years of existence. We have to have a Tax Code that is Progressive. We need to tax the man who makes $200,000/yr at a higher rate than the man who makes $150,000/yr. But we must not stop there. We need 20 tax brackets to $20,Million, and a top marginal rate of 60%. This is the way the leaders of the past balanced the budget. We don't need the rich changing the tax code to fit their income, by putting the pressure on the working man. The rich don't create jobs, the middle class create jobs. The Tea Party was one of the worst things to ever happen to this country. It was bought & paid for by the Koch brothers, to bring down the economy. And By God it Worked. Republicans in Congress are the real Terrorists in this country. God Bless the 99%.
May 26, 2012 4:01pm
I don't expect anything reasonable from GOP's current cadre of "leaders".... Once they stood for hard work and fair government, now they stand for abuse of power, callousness, bigotry, public brigandry, injustice, war, poverty, disease, hunger, mayhem and destruction. Their world is that of snake oil salesmen. I do not know how that happened but they have dumbed down this country so bad that it feels like the planet of the apes... I suppose the mental illness of W, his Dick and Co. has to do a lot with this situation...
May 26, 2012 2:45pm
If Romney is elected we will hear Cheney's refrain that, "Deficits don't matter."
May 26, 2012 2:10pm
Budget deficits are still too high and the National Debt is 1% of GNP, between Japan’s, 2.2 % and Canada, 0.8%. For the first time in the history of nations a politician came out with the brainstorm of cutting taxes while fighting two expensive wars maxing out the nation’s credit cards in the process. His debt-induced hangover lingers in the form of record budget deficits and mounting Debt. Obama is paying off the bills and pulling us out of the hole while Romney wants to repeat the mistakes of history and go back to Bushanomics: Deep tax cuts to the rich that will add another 20 trillion to the Debt and throw the Recovery under the bus.