The Policy Effect of Paul Ryan on the Romney-Ryan Ticket

With Mitt Romney having picked Paul Ryan for his vice presidential choice, many Whitefish Bay voters are asking what kind of policies does Ryan bring to the ticket.  And, how will those policies impact Americans for years to come, if Romney and Ryan were to be elected.

This is a quick look at the policies that Ryan has supported and currently favors:

U.S. Budget

Romney loves Ryan’s budget plan and has called it “bold and exciting” and “very much needed.” The budget would trim costs by eliminating Medicare as it is now known and replace it with a voucher system that provides seniors money to be used toward their healthcare, and monies for these costs would be much less than the increases allowed by the current Medicare system.  Ryan also proposes two new individual income tax rates: 10 percent and 25 percent.  The current top rate is 35 percent.  Independent studies show that this would raise the rates on middle-class Americans.

Healthcare

Ryan opposes “Obamacare,” which provides access to healthcare for millions more Americans with more tax monies from those making $200,000 and more, and penaltys against those without insurance, funding this care.  Ryan and Romney want to replace Obamacare but they have not said what would take its place. Romney enacted “Romneycare” in Massachusetts, a similar health program that is often compared to Obamacare.

Equal Rights for Women

Ryan voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, a bill which would help women fight for equal pay for equal work.

Abortion/Women’s Healthcare

Ryan is a co-sponsor of legislation that would give a fetus, legal rights and define them as a person,  Strongly anti-abortion, Ryan has supported bills to create criminal penalties against doctors performing partial-birth abortions, and cut all federal funding of Planned Parenthood.   

Gun Rights

A deer hunter himself, Ryan is a strong supporter of gun rights, and has voted to cut gun-purchase waiting time to one day from its current three days.

Secrecy

Just as Mitt Romney has refused calls from Republican and Democrat leaders to reveal more of his tax returns, Ryan  has already said that he, too, will provide only two years of tax returns.  This is contrary to the past practice of most presidential and vice-presidential candidates providing multiple years of tax returns, and also opposed to what the public wants. The majority (54 percent) of Americans say Romney should release tax returns for more years, and 30 percent of Republicans say the same.   Thirty-seven percent say that more tax returns are not needed, according to the Gallup/USA Today Poll taken last month.