GOP budget: major tax cuts for the rich

07 April 2011 |permalink | email article

Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan takes no prisoners in terms of his 2012 budget proposal. His plan overturns the new health care law and proposes Draconian reforms to Medicare and Medicaid – a risky strategy which could seriously damage Republican prospects in Campaign 2012, notably with millions of elderly and poor voters regardless of party. Unfazed, Ryan replies, “This isn’t a budget. This is a cause.”

House Republicans called the just released budget blueprint a “path to prosperity” but it’s not hard to figure out who loses and who wins. Certainly not millions slipping into the ranks of the uninsured, higher costs for seniors and going back on promises to keep poor children fed.

Ryan’s “real prosperity” means lower taxes for the wealthy, more than President Bush dreamed of: a permanent extension of his tax cuts, a new business tax cut and a lower top income tax rate for the wealthiest tax payers. As the New York Times noted spending on government programs would be cut by $4.3 trillion over ten years while tax revenues would go down by $4.2 trillion – again in large part to permit more tax cuts.

Gnomes of Temple Street

Austin Beutner, a former successful investment banker who took a major administration post with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, claims success in luring businesses to Los Angeles. Now he’s taken a major step to run for mayor in 2013, retaining veteran San Francisco Democratic consultant Ace Smith, well acquainted with the mores of L.A. politics. Several others are weighing their prospects. One announced candidate is Kevin James, 47, an entertainment lawyer best known as a late night talk show host. A right-wing conservative he’s running as a populist outsider in a very liberal city – not a recipe for success. 

Overheard

“If gov’t shuts down, we won’t. I believe those who choose to come into work fall under my Constitutional arm. Accountability must continue.” – Unabashed California Republican Darrell Issa, tweeting he will use his congressional prerogative to keep the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee staff at work during a possible government shutdown.

“If in the next year America sees a strong president firmly leading the country to solve the big problems and “winning the future,” it won’t matter who the Republican opponent is, (Obama) will win. And if they don’t see that, a billion dollars or more won’t stop the tide.” – Democratic strategist Mark Penn, describing the differences between Bill Clinton’s second campaign and the challenges facing Obama now. “Clinton was a president first, a candidate second, if at all.”

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