Paul Ryan: 60 Percent Of Americans Are 'Takers,' Not 'Makers' [View all]

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/05/paul-ryan-60-percent-of-a_n_1943073.html

Paul Ryan: 60 Percent Of Americans Are 'Takers,' Not 'Makers'

Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said in 2010 that 60 percent of Americans receive more financial benefits from the government than they pay in taxes, making them "takers," rather than "makers," according to a 2010 video of Ryan speaking with Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.).

"Right now about 60 percent of the American people get more benefits in dollar value from the federal government than they pay back in taxes," Ryan said. "So we're going to a majority of takers versus makers in America and that will be tough to come back from that. They'll be dependent on the government for their livelihoods [rather] than themselves."

Ryan has been making similar statements for years. His 60 percent comment to Jones was not a one-time gaffe, but an iteration of a point Ryan has repeatedly made while arguing for his plan to replace Medicare with a voucher system.

"Do you want the American idea of an opportunity society with a safety net where you can take a risk, start a business, make a difference, succeed and be honored for being successful?," Ryan said at a June 15, 2012 fundraiser. "Or do we go down the path the president is proposing -- a social welfare state, a cradle-to-the-grave society where we have more takers than makers." ...