Less Social Insurance, More Tax Cuts for the Wealthy

Matthew O'Brien:

Mitt Romney Would Pay 0.82 Percent in Taxes Under Paul Ryan's Plan, by Matthew O'Brien: Under Paul Ryan's plan, Mitt Romney wouldn't pay any taxes for the next ten years -- or any of the years after that. Now, do I know that that's true. Yes, I'm certain.

Well, maybe not quite nothing. In 2010 -- the only year we have seen a full return from him -- Romney would have paid an effective tax rate of around 0.82 percent under the Ryan plan, rather than the 13.9 percent he actually did. How would someone with more than $21 million in taxable income pay so little? Well, the vast majority of Romney's income came from capital gains, interest, and dividends. And Ryan wants to eliminate all taxes on capital gains, interest and dividends.?...

It might seem impossible to fund the government when the super-rich pay no taxes. That is accurate. Ryan would actually raise taxes on the bottom 30 percent of earners, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center,?but that hardly fills the revenue hole he would create. The solution? All but eliminate all government outside of Social Security and defense...

On the "eliminate all government outside of Social Security and defense," Social Security isn't safe either. Remember that "Ryan sponsored a Social Security privatization scheme that went so far the George W. Bush administration rejected it." In any case, Social Security is one of the programs Romney and Ryan would need to cut in order to offset the low tax rates they propose for those at the top.

Posted by Mark Thoma on Sunday, August 12, 2012 at 10:20 AM in Economics, Politics, Taxes?| Permalink? Comments?(14)

Source: http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2012/08/less-social-insurance-more-tax-cuts-for-the-wealthy.html

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