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Rep. Paul D. Ryan says he is determined to make sure the Republican Party is viewed as "the alternative party, not the opposition party." That is a goal President Obama embraced when he visited House Republicans at their policy retreat in Baltimore last week, and he singled out Ryan as someone he would like to work with -- even mentioning budget legislation the Wisconsin Republican co-wrote. Released two days before the unusual back-and-forth session between Obama and the GOP, the bill sponsored by Ryan and five other House members would seek to reduce the deficit and spur economic growth by cutting the tax rate on corporations, shifting future Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries to private insurance plans, and both raising the retirement age gradually to 70 and reducing the growth of benefits to make Social Security solvent. Even Democrats have acknowledged that it is one of the few plans offered by a member of either party that would lower the long-term budget deficit. ...In a statement, Orszag called Ryan "a smart and engaging leader. . . . I always enjoy debating and talking with him." But the budget director expressed disagreement with Ryan's legislation, which includes a provision that Democrats have long opposed, such as allowing people to invest money they would pay in payroll taxes for Social Security into personal accounts and keeping tax cuts in place for people who earn more than $250,000 a year. Orszag made that criticism public in hearings on Obama's budget plan. Other Democrats expressed similar concerns. "House Republicans are again trying to turn back the clock to the failed policies of President [George W.] Bush," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen (Md.), head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Rep. Allyson Y. Schwartz (D-Pa.) said the Republican plan would "end Medicare as we know it."
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Topic: Paul Ryan! (Read 519 times)
