The real cost of Romney-Ryan policies to Virginians

October 3, 2012

Yesterday, ProgressVA and the Center for American Progress released a report titled 'The True Cost of the Romney-Ryan Plan To Virginians.' According to CAP Action President Tom Perriello, "'Virginians are tired of the ads and hungry for facts, and this report lays out the evidence behind the fact that Gov. Romney's plan would mean higher taxes, tuitions, and health care costs for middle-class families. The report outlines specific proposals that underfund transportation and research, reward outsourcing, and ask struggling families and seniors to pick up the tab. We outline what the Romney-Ryan plan means for Virginia, and the results just aren't pretty.'"

Progressive Point: Virginia voters want leaders who say what they mean, no matter who they are talking to. Mitt Romney says he won't raise taxes on the middle class--but that means he's promising to not follow his own tax plan. The fact is that his plan would make middle-class Virginians pay more while millionaires pay less.

Romney and Paul Ryan's plan would raise taxes on middle-class Virginia families and cut home-front investments in schools, police, and roads in order to pay for even more tax cuts for millionaires. Our families deserve a fair shot at the American Dream, but Romney and Ryan are only interested in making sure their already-rich campaign donors get a return on their investment. Facts matter in elections. The facts are clear that the real cost of Romney-Ryan policies to Virginians is more than we can bear.

Get the Facts: ProgressVA and CAP Action report, "The True Cost of Romney-Ryan to Virginians" shows:

• Middle-class Virginians would pay more in taxes while millionaires would pay less. Millionaires in the state would receive an additional $87,000 in tax breaks under the tax plans of Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan, while middle-class families would pay up to $2,000 more in health care taxes and $1,066 more in taxes on their mortgages.


Jobs would decline across Virginia. Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan plan to provide extra tax incentives for corporations to outsource jobs and are pushing policy proposals to cripple the clean energy industry, jeopardizing 90,000 jobs across the state.


Drastic cuts to federal spending would shrink Virginia's middle class. The state stands to lose more than $46 billion in federal funding from 2013 through 2022--an aver­age of more than $4.6 billion a year--from cuts to schools, law enforcement, transportation, highway repairs, job-training programs, and more. These cuts would fall predominantly on middle-class and low-income families, especially cuts to education programs that would result in nearly $156 million in reduced federal support for education and job training in the state in 2013 and $361 million in 2014 alone.


Seniors in Virginia would lose health care benefits and pay more. Gov. Romney and Rep. Ryan would force seniors in the state to pay at least $639 more for their prescrip­tion drugs each year. At the same time, the Romney-Ryan plan to turn Medicare into a voucher system would cost current seniors at least $11,000 more in out-of-pocket expenses.


Severe cuts in veterans' health services. The Romney-Ryan budget would require cuts that would slash Veterans Affairs discretionary spending by nearly 20 percent. More than 85 percent of Veterans Affairs discretionary spending supports medical care; such a cut could have a significant impact on the 820,000 veterans in Virginia, including the 130,000 veterans who receive care in Virginia's VA Medical Centers each year.

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