Lost in all the in depth pundit discussion of body language and water consumption is the fact that Paul Ryan made some very interesting statements last night.
1. About those tax loopholes Romney will close…
MS. RADDATZ: Can you declare anything off-limits—MS. RADDATZ: Can you declare anything off limits? Home mortgages deductions—
REP. RYAN: Yeah. We’re saying close loopholes on high-interest people—MS. RADDATZ: Home mortgage deductions—REP. RYAN:—for higher-income people. Here—VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Can you guarantee that no one—
REP. RYAN: This taxes—VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN:—making less than $100,000 will have a mortgage—
REP. RYAN: This—VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN:—their mortgage deduction impacted? Guarantee?
REP. RYAN: This taxes a million small businesses.
He keeps trying to make you think that it’s just some movie star or hedge fund guy or an actor—
Um, okay. So… Ryan won’t take the mortgage deduction for those making less $100,000 off the table? Because… it’s on the table? That’s news.
2. How about Social Security
MS. RADDATZ: You were one of the few lawmakers to stand with President Bush when he was seeking to partially privatize Social Security.
REP. RYAN: For younger people. What we said then and what I’ve always agreed is let younger Americans have a voluntary choice of making their money work faster for them within the Social Security system.
VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: You saw how well that worked.
REP. RYAN: That’s not what Mitt Romney’s proposing. What we’re saying is no changes for anybody 55 and above.
VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: What Mitt Romney is proposing—REP. RYAN: And then the kinds of the changes we’re talking about for younger people like myself is don’t increase the benefits for wealthy people as fast as everybody else—VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha—REP. RYAN:—slowly raise the retirement age over time.
VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Martha—REP. RYAN: It wouldn’t get to the age of 70 until the year 2103, according to the actuaries.
Now, here’s the issue.
MS. RADDATZ: Quickly, Vice President.
VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN: Quickly, the bottom line here is that all the studies show that if we went with Social Security proposal made by Mitt Romney, if you’re 40—in your 40s now, you will pay $2,600 a year—you get $2,600 a year less in Social Security. If you’re in your 20s now, you get $4,700 a year less. The idea of changing—and change being, in this case, to cut the benefits for people without taking other action you could do to make it work—is absolutely the wrong way.
Really? We’re back to privatizing Social Security. That’s news.
3. And given all the Romney abortion flip-flopping/lying of this week, Paul Ryan tells us…
MS. RADDATZ: I want to go back to the abortion question here. If the Romney-Ryan ticket is elected, should those who believe that abortion should remain legal be worried?
REP. RYAN: We don’t think that unelected judges should make this decision; that people, through their elected representatives and reaching a consensus in society through the democratic process, should make this determination.
Bye bye, Roe v Wade. Wanna bet if Team Romney gets the chance to appoint Supreme Court Justices that they’ll suddenly be fine with unelected judges making this decision. Ryan was, and unlike his running mate has always been, very clear on the abortion issue, and since I haven’t heard the Romney campaign quietly walk this back (as is their habit once the TV cameras go off), then I’ll assume this is where they stand – overturning Roe v Wade. That’s news.
So once the press moves beyond the chuckling and water drinking, perhaps they could discuss these BFD statements.