It has been pretty clear from the beginning that Mitt Romney is the candidate of the 1% of America who are millionaires and billionaires – not of the 99%. We’ve heard a lot of Mitt Romney’s off shore bank accounts and the jobs he’s sent overseas through Bain Capital, the hedge fund he founded.
But now, by picking Paul Ryan as his running mate, Mitt Romney has solidly aligned himself with the extreme right-wing of the Republican Party.
Paul Ryan is the mastermind of The Ryan Budget, which would spell disaster for many Americans. Mitt Romney has publicly supported the Ryan budget, so it’s critical to understand how the budget would affect us.
A cornerstone of Ryan’s plan would be to dismantle Medicare and turn it into a voucher system. Seniors would receive a certain amount of money from the government to purchase health insurance. If they spend more than that amount, they must cover the difference. Many estimate that this new system would cost seniors over $6,000/year more for health care.
The Ryan Budget would also cut federal funding for Medicaid by $800 billion over 10 years. Over two million people in our state are eligible for Medicaid, including low income children and their mothers, the disabled, and seniors in nursing homes. The cuts proposed in the Ryan budget would have a devastating effect to these vulnerable citizens.
Both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have also called to privatize Social Security, which puts retirement security at great risk and at the whim of Wall Street. Both politicians are also opposed to the Affordable Care Act, with Mitt Romney saying he would work to repeal the law should he become president. The ACA has already helped thousands of people in our state receive affordable healthcare coverage, regardless of preexisting conditions, and also provides lifesaving health screenings.
Surely, we’d get a tax break for all these cuts in services right? Wrong. The tax structure under a Romney/Ryan presidency would raise taxes on 95% of Americans, with additional tax cuts to the richest 1% and corporations that ship jobs overseas.
A Romney/Ryan presidency would be bad for Pennsylvania, bad for health care and bad for the middle class.
For more information on these policies, visit the non-partisan Center On Budget And Policy Priorities website.