According to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), House Republicans will oppose Obama’s payroll tax cuts for both employers and employees, saying that the policy had already failed to boost the economy. “It hasn’t worked,” Ryan said, saying the current temporary tax cut should be allowed to expire. When it does expire the temporary tax cut will amount to a 50 percent hike on workers making less than $106,000 per year.
He also said he opposes the president’s proposal to require millionaires to pay the same tax rate as the middle class, known as the Buffett plan. “Class warfare might make for good politics, but it makes for rotten economics,” Ryan said.
Oh the irony.
As chairman of the House Budget Committee, Ryan authored a long-term plan that would radically alter Medicare and slash tax rates for the wealthy while cutting social spending for the middle class and poor.
GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain also let his opposition to the tax on millionaires be known. He is also against the payroll tax cut extensions.
“It’s too little, too late,” said Cain.
Ryan, while backing a payroll tax hike, nevertheless said that tax hikes cannot be part of the deficit-cutting proposal that the super committee comes up with.
As part of his explanation, Ryan made it clear that he sees no difference between raising taxes proactively and allowing tax breaks to expire. “You already have a $1.5 trillion tax increase coming in 2013,” he said, referring to the expiration of the Bush tax cuts that were extended by President Obama for two years. Ryan’s reference to the expiration as an “increase” shows his willingness to let tax cuts for the middle class expire.
Because of the looming Bush tax cut expiration, said Ryan, the super committee should avoid tax hikes. “Why on earth would we go with that, especially when the problem is spending?” he said.
“Clearly, Democrats could work with us” and get $1.5 trillion in spending cuts with no additional revenue, Ryan said. “That shouldn’t be that tough.”
As for the budgetary woes outside Washington, Ryan said, “We just don’t think we should be bailing out state governments.” He added, “That’s the constitutional responsibility of state governments, not federal governments.”
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The Devout Infidel 
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