PrintApril 13, 2011
Ryan's Sweeping Tax Reform and the Left's Inane Response
Paul Ryan and the House Republicans' 2012 budget cuts 5.8 trillion in government spending over the next decade and reduces the federal debt by 4.4 trillion relative to the CBO baseline. Tax reform is a key element of the Ryan proposal that has already come under attack from the left. Democrats falsely believe that a return to Clinton era taxes, especially on "the rich," is a prerequisite for increasing revenue and bringing down the debt over the coming years. While a "tax the rich more" approach is a useful demagogic tool, the relationship between tax rates and tax revenue is not as simple as it may seem. Furthermore, corruption, inefficiencies, and inequities would likely increase under a strategy that simply raises taxes on the backbone of the existing system. America's tax code is already needlessly complex, full of loopholes for those wealthy enough to take advantage, and wrought with individual and corporate subsidies. It...(Read Full Article)
