Novak attempts to point the spot light on an economics reform package pitched by Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) in “Fiscal Medicine Man.” Based on Novak’s description, Ryan’s policies aren’t anything new to the GOP, despite Novak characterizing them as breath of fresh air to the stagnant atmosphere of Republican policy. Novak describes Ryan’s town hall meetings where the congressmen uses standard Republican fear mongering that the government will grow to practically European size proportions if we don’t do anything.
Ryan’s snake oil solution to the problem is a series of policies centered on tax reform. Of course, we’ve seen the same plan pitched by both Reagan and Bush: Cut revenue to shrink government. In both cases, we’ve ended up larger government and larger national debt. Reagan and Bush proved cutting revenue does nothing to stimy government growth; each president oversaw massive governmental growth and swelling debt that weakened the nation’s economy. Only fiscal restraint can decrease the size of government, but that’s too hard an answer for a snake oil salesman to pitch. Instead he travels from town to town, telling the people that his complex formula of opt-out social security and opt-in flat tax will both provide tax relief and protect the economy. In reality, a flat tax will only benefit the wealthiest, and the opt-in part of the plan is just smoke and mirrors designed to hide yet another tax cut for those who are getting by at the expense of a growing debt that hurts those that are already hurting. Like other snake oil, Ryan’s plan sounds too good to be true, because it is.
