SgtMeowenstein
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- Feb 2, 2011
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Even Paul Ryan's own constituents don't buy his BS. Of course, this is not surprising given the fact that a majority of Americans, including Republicans, oppose the GOP's proposed tax cuts for the rich and their plan to privatize Medicare.
ThinkProgress » VIDEO: Paul Ryan Booed At Town Hall For Defending Tax Breaks For The Wealthy
Earlier this week, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) embarked on a series of town halls across his southern Wisconsin congressional district. Ryan has gained notoriety in recent weeks as the architect of the Republican budget which extends tax breaks for the wealthy and phases out Medicare. House Republicans voted 235-4 in favor of the plan.
During a town hall meeting in Milton, a constituent who described himself as a lifelong conservative asked Ryan about the effects of growing income inequality in our nation. The constituent noted that huge income disparities contributed to the Great Depression and the Great Recession, and thus wanted to know why the congressman was fighting to not let the tax breaks for the wealthy expire.
Ryan argued against redistribut[ing] in this manner. After the constituent noted that theres nothing wrong with taxing the top because it does not trickle down, Ryan argued that we do tax the top. This response earned a chorus of boos from constituents:
CONSTITUENT: The middle class is disappearing right now. During this time of prosperity, the top 1 percent was taking about 10 percent of the total annual income, but yet today we are fighting to not let the tax breaks for the wealthy expire? And were fighting to not raise the Social Security cap from $87,000? I think were wrong.
RYAN: A couple things. I dont disagree with the premise of what youre saying. The question is whats the best way to do this. Is it to redistribute (Crosstalk)
CONSTITUENT: You have to lower spending. But its a matter of theres nothing wrong with taxing the top because it does not trickle down.
RYAN: We do tax the top. (Audience boos). Lets remember, most of our jobs come from successful small businesses. Two-thirds of our jobs do. You got to remember, businesses pay taxes individually. So when you raise their tax rates to 44.8 percent, which is what the president is proposing, I would just fundamentally disagree. That is going to hurt job creation.