PAUL RYAN, the Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives, is known for his love of detailed policy. Donald Trump, his party’s presumptive nominee for president, does not share this fondness. So it was fitting that on June 7th, while Mr Trump was busy fighting—or basking in—the scandal over his latest remarks on race, Mr Ryan was launching a policy paper. The report, on poverty and welfare, was somewhat overshadowed by the Speaker using the question-and-answer session to wade into the row about Mr Trump’s pronouncements. But there is time for wonkery yet: the paper is the first of six which will form a new agenda for Republicans, dubbed “A Better Way”. The policies are supposed to be implemented if the party takes back the White House, though how much of it Mr Trump supports is anyone’s guess.
The paper has three notable themes. The first is simplification. Mr Ryan sees the welfare system as a sprawling mess. More than 80 federal welfare programmes sit atop one another, with little attention paid to their compatibility, and without government agencies much co-operating in their administration. Each programme—be it food stamps, housing subsidies, or Medicare—has its own eligibility rules. As low-earners’ incomes increase, benefits are withdrawn in a hodgepodge fashion. As a result, the marginal tax rate, including both taxes and...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/1reMRV0
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