EXAMINER.COM : The 2012 presidential election is still 17 months away, but the two basic choices for Americans are already fairly clear. - Paul Ryan's plan has become the “de facto” platform for whatever candidate the Republicans nominate

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EXAMINER.COM -
Two basic choices for Americans in 2012 are already clear -
By Ryan Witt -
Political Buzz Examiner -
June 8, 2011


Two basic choices for Americans in 2012 are already clear


Some excerpts :

While we may not know which one of the Republican candidates will win the nomination, we can still be fairly confident about the policies that both Obama and his challenger will run on in the 2012 campaign.

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Whichever Republican wins, their plan is sure to look very much like the plan written by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and voted for by nearly every Republican in the House of Representatives. The Ryan plan would lower taxes on the richest Americans and corporations (from 35% to 25%), dramatically change Medicare (Democrats argue the plan would “kill Medicare”), and dramatically cut all other discretionary spending.

Rep. Ryan has not said whether he will run for President, but his plan has become the “de facto” platform for whatever candidate the Republicans nominate. None of the serious Republican presidential candidates have disavowed the Paul Ryan plan. Newt Gingrich tried to distance himself from the plan, only to be verbally slapped back into compliance by the conservative base of the Republican Party. Now Gingrich is claiming to be a defender of the Ryan plan. The Tim Pawlenty plan is, if anything, a more extreme version of the Ryan plan. Pawlenty cuts taxes more dramatically and more quickly while cutting even more government programs than Ryan. Pawlenty was actually considered something of a moderate, which means conservatives like Michele Bachmann could actually propose a negative tax rate on corporations and the rich (hyperbole of course, but one cannot entirely eliminate the possibility).

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So when Americans go to the ballot box in November 2012, it will decide not only our next President, but also the long-term budget plan of the country for the next 10, or even 30 years. With his or her veto power, the next President will have the most powerful legislative tool in the budget fight. The President will also have the bully pulpit and a perceived “mandate” from the public. If Obama wins, taxes will almost surely go up on the rich, and good portion of his budget plan will likely be passed. If the Republican wins, taxes are likely to go down for the richest Americans, and ten years down the road Medicare will look more like a voucher program than the guaranteed benefit program that exists today.

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