Republicans want the middle class to pay for tax cuts for the rich

Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney's real promise is to the richest of the richest. (Darren Hauck/Reuters) It's official: the Mitt Romney-endorsed Paul Ryan budget would put the burden of tax cuts for the rich squarely on the backs of the middle class. A report by Senate Democrats, reviewed by non-partisan Tax Policy Center, concludes that the plan would have to displace the tax burden of huge cuts for the wealthy onto the rest of us.

The plan would change the tax structure to have just two brackets, 25 percent and 10 percent, bringing the top rate down from 35 percent. Because that would mean a loss of $4.5 trillion in revenue over the next decade, Ryan says he'd make this plan revenue neutral. That would have to mean closing loopholes. Loopholes that help middle class tax payers. Like the mortgage interest deduction and the tax exclusion on employer health benefits. It would also probably require taxing 401(k) contributions.

The net result: Married couples in that income range would pay an additional $2,700 annually to the Internal Revenue Service, on top of the tax increases that are scheduled to hit every American household when the George W. Bush-era cuts expire at the end of the year.

Households earning more than $1 million a year, meanwhile, could see a net tax cut of about $300,000 annually.

What's that look like? From the report [pdf]:
Those making under $100,000 a year (or, most of us) would see little, if anything, back in our pockets, while the top of the top 1 percent would make out like bandits.

Remember, this is just the tax side of the Ryan plan. The devastating cuts to everything from Pell Grants to Medicaid and Medicare would put even bigger burdens on low-income and middle-class America.

This is the Republican plan for America, led by Paul Ryan and endorsed by Mitt Romney: protect the rich and screw everyone else.

For more discussion, see eXtina's diary.