Congresswoman Kristi Noem’s support of the GOP’s 2012 budget could raise taxes on 90% of Americans in order to finance additional tax cuts for the wealthy.

“As thousands of South Dakotans file their taxes today, Noem has voted to increase taxes on the middle class to finance larger tax cuts for millionaires,” Ben Nesselhuf, Chairman of the South Dakota Democratic Party said. “The numbers included in the GOP’s 2012 budget just don’t add up without higher taxes on the middle class.”

On Friday, April 15, 2011, Noem voted to dismantle Medicare, shift the federal cost of Medicaid to the states, and potentially raise taxes on most Americans as part of the GOP’s 2012 budget.

At issue is whether overall tax revenues can stay the same while the highest marginal tax rates on individuals and corporations are dramatically decreased.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin), who drafted the GOP’s 2012 budget, required the Congressional Budget Office to assume stable revenues in spite of large new tax cuts. He claims stable revenues will result from a more efficient tax code with a broader tax base – though he does not provide any specific means to do so.

Analysis of Ryan’s prototype budget proposal, the “Roadmap for America’s Future,” shows 90% of Americans would pay higher taxes if his plan were enacted. In South Dakota, all families earning under $84,000 would pay approximately $1700 more in taxes under this proposal.

Noem supported Ryan’s “Roadmap for America’s Future” during her campaign for Congress.

“Congresswoman Noem voted on Friday to sacrifice the healthcare of future seniors and South Dakotan’s with disabilities in order to bankroll new tax cuts for the wealthy,” Nesselhuf said. “Noem’s allegiance to Washington’s Republican elite means higher taxes for families across South Dakota.”

Higher taxes on the middle-class would further burden future seniors, whom the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office says will pay more than double – or $12,500 out of pocket – what they do today for Medicare equivalent health coverage. That would be more than half their entire income.

If you would like more information on why Democrats support Medicare, please contact Chairman Ben Nesselhuf at 605-271-5405 or ben@sddp.org.

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Background:

Noem Votes for 2012 Budget

Representative Kristi Noem voted to end Medicare by supporting the Republican budget. [H Con. Res. 34, Vote #277, 4/15/11]

End Medicare

“The plan would essentially end Medicare, which now pays most of the health-care bills for 48 million elderly and disabled Americans, as a program that directly pays those bills.” [Wall Street Journal, 4/4/11]

Tax Reform Hurts Middle Class:

“Rep. Ryan’s budget simply doesn’t describe exactly how his tax plan would work, instead resorting to broad bullet points that conveniently skip over important details… Both the Tax Policy Center and the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy produced their own estimates of Ryan’s “Roadmap” and found that, far from holding revenue steady, his proposals would result in far less revenue overall while simultaneously raising taxes for 90 percent of Americans. [Center for American Progress, 4/5/11]

$1,700 in Higher Taxes

Under Rep. Paul Ryan’s Roadmap, “The bottom 80 percent of taxpayers would pay about $1,700 more, on average, than they would if President Obama’s proposals were enacted.” [Citizens for Tax Justice, (PDF) 3/9/10]

Seniors’ Healthcare Costs Would Rise

“Under the proposal, most elderly people who would be entitled to premium support payments would pay more for their health care than they would pay under the current Medicare system. For a typical 65-year-old with average health spending enrolled in a plan with benefits similar to those currently provided by Medicare, CBO estimated the beneficiary’s spending on premiums and out-of-pocket expenditures as a share of a benchmark amount: what total health care spending would be if a private insurer covered the beneficiary. By 2030, the beneficiary’s share would be 68 percent of that benchmark under the proposal, 25 percent under the extended-baseline scenario, and 30 percent under the alternative fiscal scenario.” [Congressional Budget Office, 4/5/11]

GOP Budget Would Almost Double Healthcare Costs For Seniors

“The Republican congressman’s proposal to privatize Medicare would mean a dramatic hike in U.S. healthcare costs for the elderly, an independent analysis finds. Seniors would pay almost double — more than $12,510 a year.” [Los Angeles Times, 4/7/11]

Cutting healthcare for Cutting Taxes

“Representative Paul Ryan’s proposal to lower the top individual and corporate tax rates to 25 percent would require Congress to eliminate more than $2.9 trillion worth of tax breaks over the next decade, according to a new analysis. [Bloomberg via Tax Policy Center, 4/7/11]

Kristi Noem Supported the Ryan Budget

In May 2010, when asked if she supported the Republican budget proposed by Paul Ryan, Noem said, “it is a great place to start and the right direction for this country to go.” [Rapid City Journal, 5/11/10]