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Here's an Op Ed from a wealthy person who disagrees with Paul Ryan's approach on taxation (not to mention his spending priorities):

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-millionaire-for-higher-taxes/2012/04/11/gIQA07jLAT_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

Quoting from the link:

....Some critics of the Buffett rule point out that it would raise only an estimated $47 billion over 10 years, which is a sliver of the 2011 deficit of $1.3 trillion, let alone the national debt of $15.6 trillion. They’re right that this, by itself, won’t be enough. But we have to start raising money somewhere, and if it isn’t from people like me, it will have to come from people less fortunate than I am. Think of it this way: Every billion dollars not raised from millionaires is equal to a million average U.S. families each paying an extra $1,000 in taxes. That would be real hardship for a lot of families that, unlike mine, are struggling to make ends meet.

Other critics argue that there’s no need for anyone to pay more taxes, because our government is so ineffective and wasteful that we can generate the savings we need just by running it better. I disagree. While there’s always plenty of room for improvement, our government is actually quite effective and efficient. Our military and judicial systems and national parks are the best in the world. Unlike in countries where government corruption is rampant, I’ve never once been solicited for a bribe. And our police departments generally do a good job protecting citizens. My wife and I walk our dog in Central Park every night after 10 p.m. and have never feared for our safety....

Yep.

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Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Oh oh. A group of "Progressive Catholic leaders" have taken issue with Paul Ryan's claims that his Catholic faith informed his spending priorities in the latest House budget.

Who exactly?

Quoting from this link:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75109.html

The signatories include the leadership team of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas, a women’s Catholic organization, a retired Priest in Ryan’s district, and the former Associate General Secretary of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Politico calls these people "progressive," but it isn't entirely clear that those priests and nuns are anything at all - they just disagree that Ryan's budget resembles anything they would recognize as Catholic. Which means that if he had simply not mentioned his Catholicism, they probably would have held their piece. Oops.

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Here's Paul Ryan's response to the Catholic criticism, as reported by The Hill:

http://thehill.com/video/house/222591-rep-paul-ryan-spars-with-us-bishops-over-budget

Quoting from it:

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) sought to diminish the importance of letters criticizing his budget from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), saying the group doesn’t represent all bishops.

“These are not all the Catholic bishops, and we just respectfully disagree,” Ryan told Fox News on Thursday.

But USCCB spokesman Don Clemmer told The Hill that the letters do represent all Catholic bishops, as they were penned by members of the church that were elected to represent the bishops on policy matters at the national level....

So it continues...

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Thank you, Senator McConnell!

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/04/20/468289/mcconnell-breaks-with-house-gop-agrees-to-uphold-last-years-debt-deal/

Quoting from the link:

House Republican leadership, under pressure from more conservative members of their caucus, last month reneged on the August debt deal and announced that they would cut more spending than was agreed to in the Budget Control Act that raised the debt ceiling. Senate Democrats were incensed, telling the GOP that its plan risked a government shutdown, and President Obama this week warned he wouldn’t sign any new appropriations bills until the House abandoned the lower spending levels.

In his first opportunity to weigh in on the battle, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) yesterday sided with Obama and the Senate Democrats. Led by McConnell, all but two Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to uphold the August debt deal....

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

OK, this is a leftie blog - The Daily Kos - and they are really really far to the left (sorry).

But this blogger is bringing up some alarming statistics:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/04/26/1086714/-At-least-22-million-would-go-hungry-under-Ryan-Romney-budget-

The headline reads:

At least 22 million would go hungry under Ryan/Romney budget

Also the budget allocates extra money to the Pentagon, that the Pentagon says outright that they don't need.

Oh, and Congressman Ryan accused the Pentagon of lying about that...

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Here's a link on a Paul Ryan tax break for businesses who want to relocate their intellectual property, in order to avoid (evade) US corporate taxes:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45755822/vp/47239747#VpFlash

It's called a "Territorial Tax," and it's terrible!

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Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Assured, I don't disagree with your overall premise, but be wary of relying on what David K Johnston says. He's made a good living for himself hawking his book while appearing on news shoes, but he has no qualms about telling half-truths. I bought his book Free Lunch, and while I agreed with many of his points, I came away feeling insulted that he felt he had to make them by leaving out a lot of mitigating facts. I don't think he's so much a liar as he is lazy and sensationalist.

-Dan.

Thanks for the heads-up on Johnston, Iluvatar!

What do you think of the Territorial Tax? It got slipped into the Ryan budget that just passed, and nobody's talking about it. I think that anything that might incentivize more off-shoring is nothing less than assisted suicide for our own economy! I also think that keeping quiet about something that could have such a significant impact is very weird.

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

IOW Iluvatar, why is ONLY David Kay Johnston talking about it?!

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Professor E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post who is also a teacher at Georgetown University, weighs in on Paul Ryan's budget along with Washington Post blogger Father Tom Reese:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/father-tom-reese-vs-paul-ryan-and-stephen-colbert/2012/05/02/gIQAW0ZawT_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

Stephen Cobert interviews Father Reese in the video segment.

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

Here's some info on what severe cuts in government spending can do to an economy when it is in recession:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/europe-finds-austerity-a-tight-fit/2012/05/03/gIQAVIG0zT_story.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

_________________
Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine

Oh what a foretaste of glory divine!

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Blessings,
Randy
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