Paul Ryan: U.S. on 'Path to Decline'

Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan said on Sunday that the U.S. is “on a path to decline,” criticizing President Obama for the mediocre jobs numbers released on Friday, but continued to remain mute on some important details about his budget plan -- including which tax loopholes he would close.

Ryan told ABC's This Week that under the Republican plan, 12 million jobs would be created during Mitt Romney’s term in office should he win. Although this is half the number of jobs that some economists says are created under a “normal recovery,” host George Stephanopoulos said, Ryan begged to differ, saying those jobs would not be created under the current administration.

Ryan criticized Obama over his tax plan, saying he would raise taxes on small businesses and hurt middle class families. The Republican path, he said, was to go after tax loopholes that the wealthiest Americans use to evade taxes.

“We think the secret to economic growth is lower tax rates for families and successful small businesses by plugging loopholes,” Ryan said. “Now the question is, not necessarily what loopholes go, but who gets them. High income earners use most of the loopholes. That means they can shelter their income from taxation.”

He would not say, however, which specific loopholes he would eliminate. Instead, he said that a Romney administration would pitch certain reforms to Congress.

“So Mitt Romney and I, based on our experience, think the best way to do this is to show the framework, show the outlines of these plans, and then to work with Congress to do this,” he said. “That's how you get things done.”

Obama has criticized Republicans over their tax policy, saying that eliminating tax loopholes will not generate enough revenue.

On foreign policy, Ryan also said the president doesn't “really have a good record to run on,” saying Obama failed with respect to Iran and Afghanistan.

“Where we've taken issue is making sure that the generals on the ground get the resources they need throughout the entire fighting season so that they can keep our soldiers safe and operating counterinsurgency strategy," he said.

When pressed on whether the killing of Osama bin Laden was a positive for the president, Ryan backtracked and said, “Oh, I think that’s a great success.”

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