When Mitt Romney chose famous budget-slasher Paul Ryan for his vice presidential candidate, he was widely perceived as embracing Republican austerity measures. But then the Romney campaign basically kept Ryan from talking about his agendas—cutting government programs, slashing taxes, “fixing” Social Security—while campaigning. Now the Washington Post says Ryan is preparing an anti-poverty plan for next year:
Advisers say Ryan’s immediate goal is to become chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee when Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) steps down in 2015. That would give him an ideal perch to advance an expanded agenda that combines an overhaul of the tax code and federal health and retirement programs with kinder, gentler policies to encourage work and upward mobility.
As I’ve noted, we live in Paul Ryan’s America already; his plans for reducing government three years ago have basically become a reality, and it’s been terrible for the middle class. Now that he’s preparing to go directly after the very poor, expect the already-tattered social safety net to resemble nothing so much as a ruined cobweb floating in the breeze.