Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Ryan Frazier – More Questions than Answers – Day 2

Where Does Ryan Frazier Stand on Issues Important to the 7th CD?

Ryan Frazier says he agrees with his national Republican leaders 80% of the time. So out of the following budget priorities put forth by Republican House leader Rep. Paul Ryan, which ones does Ryan Frazier support?

1. Privatize Social Security? The Republican budget privatization plan would cut guaranteed benefits, risk Social Security in the stock market, and provide up to $940 billion in windfall profits to big Wall Street banks through management fees.

2. Privatize or Cut Medicare Through Vouchers? The Republican budget plan would dismantle Medicare as it is currently known and convert the program into a voucher system, forcing seniors to buy coverage on their own from insurance companies, who stand to earn windfall profits. Worse, the vouchers would decline in value over time meaning many seniors will not get the care they need and Medicare would be cut by 76 percent. This plan has frequently been called the privatization of Medicare.

3. Raising Taxes on Middle Class to Cut Taxes for Wealthy? The Republican budget plan raises taxes on middle class Americans in order to cut taxes for millionaires and billionaires Nearly three quarters of Americans with incomes between $20,000 and $200,000 would see their taxes increase while the top tenth of one percent would receive an average tax cut of $2.1 million a year.

4. Institute a “flat” or “fair” tax with massive tax cuts for Wall Street? This “fair”/“flat(er)” tax or national sales tax, would give huge tax breaks to millionaires on Wall Street and raise taxes on the hardworking people in the middle. Recently, Ryan Frazier told David Sirota he supported a “flatter” tax. What does this mean?

5. Abolish the Children’s Health Insurance Program and Most of Medicaid? The Republican budget plan would abolish the Children’s Health Insurance Program and eliminate almost all of Medicaid. Instead, low-income families with children would receive a small tax credit and some additional low income assistance. Low-income seniors would lose both Medicare and Medicaid and instead receive a voucher and be forced to find coverage from private insurance companies.

The items above are the top Republican budget priorities put forth by Rep. Paul Ryan, the top Republican on the Budget Committee. This is part of his “Roadmap for America’s Future.” The Ryan Frazier and Paul Ryan Republican budget fails to control the deficit primarily because of the budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy. The debt would continue to grow in relation to the size of the economy for decades and soar to 175 percent of GDP in 2050, up from about 94 percent today.