Paul Ryan, the absence of a tax policy debate, and my dental bill

So, Rep. Paul Ryan is chosen as Mitt Romney’s vice presidential running mate.

Predictably, conservative commentators love him – Democratic special interest groups despise every breath he takes.

It would be nice if the US taxpayers sat back and debated the pros and cons of the Republican versus Democratic tax policy issues (or any other issues, around government, for that matter). Unfortunately – many (most?) voters don’t have the time nor the inclination to become more educated on taxes and economics – hence my ‘tax literacy blog.”

Commentators can throw out lines like the ones you see below in bold.  Many people will, with an uncritical eye, accept them as truth (and by the way, Republicans aren’t immune to this, as Sarah Palin’s “death panel” rants pointed out years ago).  So let's look more deeply into some of these claims against Paul Ryan.

“Representative Ryan has made a name for himself in the halls of Congress for tax giveaways for the wealthy and big corporations while proposing to gut vital services like Medicare and education….” – Mary Kay Henry, President of the Service Employees International Union

Really? GIVEAWAYS?  So Ryan is creating tax policy which gives away billions (probably hundreds of billion dollars) to wealthy people and big corporations with absolutely no rationale expectation of any return on those tax breaks – like increased investments, more jobs, productive efficiency gains, etc.?  And he is doing it so that poor old people and young children will suffer?

REALLY?

Who would create a tax policy platform like that?  Why would Ryan do that? Is he mentally ill? On drugs always?  A habitual drunkard?  Is someone (or lots of some “things”) paying him off? Actually to get Ryan (or anybody else) to do that, I suspect corporations would have to pay him at least a few billion… in which case I also have an idea that he would have already converted that to diamonds and gold and fled to a country that doesn’t have a treaty with the US…  and make sure the country has a nice beach too… and certainly not bother running for VP.

“Aligning himself with the poster child for ending Medicare and social security puts to rest any suggestion that Romney has a clue what the middle class needs…” Richard Trumka, President of AFL-CIO

You know, call me a fool – but short of … I don’t know… nuclear war?  I can’t see social security ending… Everyone (Republicans and Democrats) agree it is a program that must be preserved for future generations.  How to get to that point is debatable – but I don’t see Ryan saying “Ah, screw it.  Stop the check printing run for the first of next month to those 50 million old people…”

“By picking Rep Paul Ryan, Governor Romney has doubled down on his plan to gut Social Security and end Medicare as we know it…” – Rep. Harry Reid

Ryan must have a serious dislike of old people…..

You can debate how to fix Medicare – but don’t ignore the actual issue that it needs repair.  Don’t think that you can just raise taxes on every married couple filing joint whose taxable income is greater than $250,000 and generate enough revenue for that and a host of other wants.

Frankly, I like the conceptual idea of vouchers – medical care in some areas needs more competition.

I will give you an example of my dental experience recently.

I needed a bridge put in my mouth.  I got an estimate from a dentist in north Texas - $2900, of which I will pay $2100, insurance pays the rest.  I then went to suburban Detroit, and saw the dentist my dad uses.  He would provide the same services - $2100, of which I pay $1300. 

So even with dental insurance, if I did the work in the suburban Detroit, I save $800.  Since I come home for visits 3-4 times year anyway, I chose my dad’s dentist.

I guess you could wonder why “dental costs” are not universally the same across the US.  I think that might be since General Motors and Chrysler’s bankruptcies, they have cut the dental insurance program for retirees(a lot of whom live in the Detroit area) – hence the demand (and price) of dental work near Detroit is less than it once was.  Of course, that is simply a guess on my part.

Anyway, I liked the idea of being able to compare prices – and chose the one with the lowest fee.  You don’t see that very often in the dental (or medical) business.

I am willing to listen – and not to stopping the check run….