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Paul Ryan: 'I don't have the time' to explain tax plan

On Fox News Sunday, Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan said he didn’t have time to explain his vague—and by many accounts mathematically impossible—tax

On Fox News Sunday, Vice Presidential Nominee Paul Ryan said he didn’t have time to explain his vague—and by many accounts mathematically impossible—tax plan.  Ryan insisted to host Chris Wallace that the GOP plan is "revenue neutral." But Wallace persisted, saying he was asking only about the tax cuts, not about the unspecified tax deductions and loopholes that Romney-Ryan have said they want to eliminate.

Ultimately, Ryan threw up his hands. “I don’t have the time. It would take me too long to go through all of the math,” he said.


“This isn’t a pop quiz, this is a presidential election,” Politics Nation host Rev. Al Sharpton said.

Today, Ryan radio host Charlie Sykes he thought Americans didn't want to hear the details. ”I didn’t want to get into all the math of this because everybody would start changing the channel.”  

Here's a portion of the transcript from Wallace's interview.

WALLACE: So how much would it cost?RYAN: It’s revenue neutral…WALLACE: No no, I’m just talking about cuts. We’ll get to the deductions, but the cut in tax rates.RYAN: The cut in tax rates is lowering all Americans’ tax rates by 20 percent.WALLACE: Right, how much does that costRYAN: It’s revenue neutral.[...]WALLACE: But I have to point out, you haven’t given me the math.RYAN: No, but you…well, I don’t have the time. It would take me too long to go through all of the math. But let me say it this way: you can lower tax rates by 20 percent across the board by closing loopholes and still have preferences for the middle class. For things like charitable deductions, for home purchases, for health care. So what we’re saying is, people are going to get lower tax rates.