Paul Ryan's 'envy economics' nonsense

[Scuba]

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/paul-ryans-envy-economics-nonsense-b99439356z1-290829311.html

U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan values his reputation as a serious policy analyst and a genial soul. But he's not above name-calling, and he insists that President Obama's budget is the product of "envy economics." Ryan's label invites a comparable description of his own approach, which would slash taxes on the rich while cutting programs for the poor and many middle-income Americans. If Ryan wants to play the branding game, is it unfair to ask him why "greed economics" isn't an appropriate tag for his own approach?

...

Let's first examine Ryan's envy claim. "Look," he said on "Meet the Press" last Sunday, "the president has done two big rounds of tax increases. It's one of the reasons why we have this stagnant economy we do. He's practicing yet again envy economics and it doesn't work. We are an aspirational people. We are an optimistic people and our policies should reflect that in our country, and that is not the kind of economic policy or politics the president practices."

Well. Regiments of Republicans claimed that Obama's policies, and especially Obamacare, would be "job killers." In the face of 58 straight months of private-sector job growth, will they ever admit their claims were absolutely wrong? Will anyone even ask them? And like them or not, aren't Obama's proposals on higher education, child care and pre-kindergarten programs all about aspiration and optimism?

At least some conservatives, such as Michael Strain at the American Enterprise Institute, are coming around to the perfectly sensible view that a few percentage points up or down in the top income tax rate for the rich don't make much difference after all. As Bob Davis reported in The Wall Street Journal, many conservatives, including Strain, are supporting various policies (along the lines of the Earned Income Tax Credit) to lift the incomes of the working poor. Does anyone notice that this is redistribution?

[Octafish]

1. John Kenneth Galbraith explained the Paul Ryan mindset...

[font color="green"]"The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness."[/font color]

[Faux pas]

3. ...

[JaneyVee]

2. Calling it envy economics will surely attract the middle class.

Otoh, he's probably shooting for the rich anyway.

[HughBeaumont]

4. "envy economics" sounds like a Frank Luntz-shat catchphrase.

Wouldn't doubt it is, since Paul90x Ryan couldn't buy an original thought with Mitt Romney's bank account.