Ryan Deletes Tweet Celebrating School Secretary’s ‘$1.50 A Week’ Paycheck Increase

on January 18, 2018 in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) answers questions on the possibility of a government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on January 18, 2018 in Washington, DC. Ryan said he was confident ... WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI) answers questions on the possibility of a government shutdown at the U.S. Capitol on January 18, 2018 in Washington, DC. Ryan said he was confident the House could pass legislation averting a shutdown but indicated the Senate may have problems doing so. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Update: Shortly after this post was published, Speaker Ryan deleted the tweet in question, shown in text-only format below. 

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) on Saturday celebrated a public school secretary who said her paycheck had grown $1.50 per week larger as a result of Republicans’ tax bill.

The take home pay increase, reported by the Associated Press in an article Ryan published on his Twitter account, stems from new withholding guidelines from the IRS, the result of Republicans’ tax overhaul.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said in January that the Treasury Department estimated 90 percent of wage earners would see an increase in take home pay as a result of the withholding changes, the report noted.

But the top Democrats on both the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee — Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), respectively — wrote to the Government Accountability Office three days prior to that announcement to request an analysis of the new guidelines, saying the change could cost Americans in the long run.

“I look forward to GAO’s independent review of these tables, which will expose whether the Trump administration is tampering with Americans’ paychecks, resulting in a whopping tax bill next year,” Wyden said, as quoted by CNN.

Ryan also posted a quote from a man the AP said “got an extra $200 in his paycheck last week, which he said will help offset a $300 increase in the cost of his health insurance.”

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Notable Replies

  1. We have fixed inequality in the United States! Hurrah!

  2. A secretary at a public high school in Lancaster, PA, said she was pleasantly surprised her pay went up $1.50 a week … she said [that] will more than cover her Costco membership for the year.

    Ryan’s a numbskull.

  3. Avatar for pshah pshah says:

    I hope I’m not being an “elitist” by suggesting $1.50/week raise is something I wouldn’t brag about if I was a teenager with a paper route. Still peanuts even at that tender age.

    How can Ryan be this tone deaf? How can he possibly think this is a good deal for the common person while billionaires walk away with literally millions. The ads just write themselves.

  4. Avatar for dont dont says:

    Another middle class get rich quick scheme.

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