August 11, 2012
A NYT piece praised Representative Ryan’s willingness to specify the items in the budget that he would cut to meet his deficit targets. (Actually, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s analysis of his proposal it would eliminate just about everything in the federal budget by 2040, except Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Defense Department.) However the piece did not point out that Representative Ryan, like Governor Romney, has refused to identify the tax deductions he would eliminate to make up for his proposed reductions in tax rates.
In order to raise anywhere near the revenue he claims, Representative Ryan would have to eliminate the deductions for mortgage interest, property taxes, state and local income taxes, employer provided health insurance and just about every other deduction that benefits lower and middle income taxpayers. For some reason, both candidates have been unwilling to acknowledge this fact.
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