Republicans hate tax increases... unless they're part of Paul Ryan's budget plan. The adoption of $600 billion in new revenue, fought for by President Obama and opposed by Congressional Republicans, is just one of the many surprises in Paul Ryan's new GOP budget. According to Republican Representative Jason Chaffetz, new revenue generated from ending the Bush tax cuts for the very wealthy is included in the GOP plan because Republicans lost on the tax issue. Despite their doomsday predictions that Obama's tax plan would crush so-called job-creators and harm the economy, Republicans are now happy to make them part of the Paul Ryan budget.
When Democrats projected $600 billion in savings from decreased war spending, Paul Ryan dismissed the idea as “phantom savings” - yet now he has those very same projections as part of his own budget proposal. Despite incorporating multiple Obama policies in their budget, don't think Republicans are giving up on their austerity measures just yet. In typical GOP fashion, Ryan's budget calls for huge cuts to vital social service programs, like food stamps, job training, Medicare, and Medicaid.
And just in case those cuts wouldn't be painful enough, Ryan's entire budget hinges on the repeal of Obamacare. Without defunding healthcare for millions of Americans, his numbers don't add up. Considering the fact that Obama has repeatedly said he would veto any attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and Democrats in the Senate would block any such legislation, we can only conclude that Paul Ryan knows his budget is doomed to fail.
It's clear that Republicans have no intention of working with the President to negotiate an honest, realistic budget plan. Ryan's budget is a farce, aimed at scoring political points with the tea party base, rather than helping the American people.
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