Taxes, health care, social security will tackle nation if Congress doesn’t act says WI congressman

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U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., of Janesville admits Congress will never pass a sweeping bill he introduced Wednesday to reform taxes and health care.

But he says we’ve got to start tackling these problems, because if we don’t “They’re going to tackle us.”

Ryan calls his bill a roadmap that offers large tax credits to buy health insurance.

It also creates tax-free savings accounts for Medicare supplements, lets young workers put a-third of their Social Security taxes into their own investments, and lets folks choose between the current income tax system and a simplified code.

Some of these ideas were floated and rejected before but Ryan says the problems never went away. He says federal entitlements now account for 10 percent of the U.S. economy.

They’ll eat up 40 percent by the time his three kids become adults. Ryan says taxes will more than double just to keep the government afloat. National conservative leaders praised Ryan for what they called his forward thinking.

Columnist Robert Novak said if anybody needs a roadmap, it’s Ryan’s colleagues.

Opponents say it will raise the federal deficit, cut taxes for the rich and scare seniors by privatizing Social Security.

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