The newly selected Republican vice presidential nominee has just a 16% lifetime voting record on working family issues in his 12 years in Congress. Here are some things you need to know about Paul Ryan.
- Ryan’s Budget Plan Ends Medicare. Medicare would be replaced with an underfunded, privatized voucher program. This system would double costs for seniors and raise the retirement age. Tens of millions of American would lose their health insurance or become underinsured. [Economic Policy Institute, 4/7/11; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 4/5/11, 3/21/12; Center for American Progress, 4/12/11]
- Ryan’s Budget Does More Than End Medicare. Ryan budget’s cuts would result In 4.1 million jobs lost through 2014. Medicaid would be gutting and block granted, and investments in education and infrastructure would be slashed. [Economic Policy Institute, 3/21/12; Sun-Sentinel, 4/16/11; Center for American Progress, Issues, 3/20/12]
- Ryan Would Raise Taxes on the Poor While Cutting Taxes for the Wealthy. “While the Ryan budget makes permanent all of the Bush tax cuts for high-income households that are slated to expire at the end of 2012, it would not extend the tax cuts for working-poor households that were enacted under President Obama and also are scheduled to expire at the end of this year.” [Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 3/27/12]
- Ryan Will Join Romney in Fighting Workers and their Unions. Ryan opposed the Employee Free Choice Act in Congress and voted for a two month waiting period for a unionization vote after a petition is filed to allow for management intimidation. He also opposed collective bargaining rights for TSOs. [Roll Call 118, H 800, 03/01/2007; Roll Call 869, H 3094, 11/30/2011; H.R. 2017, Vote 403, 6/2/11]
- Ryan Said The Federal Workforce Had Gotten “Too Large” And “Sluggish.” Ryan said, ‘We agree the federal workforce has gotten far too large and sluggish. We don’t have the incentives to get productivity and efficiency. I think we need to trim back our workforce.’ [Newsmax, 3/4/11]
- Ryan Supports Job-Killing Free Trade Agreements. Ryan voted for CAFTA, saying the pact was a ‘no-brainer for manufacturing and agriculture.’ He said that CAFTA would actually level the playing field for American workers. He also voted for the South Korea, Panama, and Colombia Free Trade Agreements. [Roll Call 443, H 3045, 07/28/2005; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 5/8/05; Capital Times, 6/16/05; H.R. 3080, Vote 24, 10/12/11; H.R. 3079, Vote 23, 10/12/11; H.R. 3078, Vote 22, 10/12/11
- Paul Ryan Doesn’t Support Project Labor Agreements. When Rep. Guinta offered an amendment to ban PLAs, Paul Ryan said he mistakenly voted to protect PLAs. According to the Washington Times, “He said he would vote to ban PLAs the next time the subject came up.” [The Washington Times, 3/6/11]
- Paul Ryan Doesn’t Stand Up For Women. Ryan voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to prevent wage discrimination. And he voted for the Republican bill to reauthorize the 1994 Violence Against Women Act that weakens many current protections in the law. [Roll Call 37, S 181, 01/27/2009; H.R. 4970, Vote 258, 5/16/12]
- Ryan Strongly Supports Repealing the Affordable Care Act. Ryan voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would allow insurance companies to resume denying coverage, limiting care and spending premiums on larger CEO salaries and profits. It would cost 1.2 million young adults their coverage through their parents’ health plan. It would mean higher drug prices for 2.7 million seniors, would eliminate free preventive services for 44 million seniors, [H.R. 2, Vote 14, 1/19/11]
- Paul Ryan Is A Disaster For Education.Ryan’s budget makes deep cuts in public education and would the interest rate on student loans. Ryan supports vouchers and for-profit colleges. He also voted against the Recovery Act, which included billions of dollars to help prevent teacher layoffs. [The Washington Post, 8/11/12; Sun Chronicle (Attleboro, MA), 4/9/12]