Two more Republican candidates are patting Rep. Paul Ryan on the back for his “Roadmap for America’s Future” — even if they’re not embracing it.
Sam Caligiuri, who hopes to represent Connecticut’s fifth congressional district come January, tells National Review Online, “There are a lot of things that Congressman Ryan has been talking about that we’ve been talking about for months.” In particular, Caligiuri favors refundable tax credits for health insurance; a spending cap on the entire federal budget — not just on discretionary spending; and a two-thirds requirement in Congress to raise taxes.
Yet Caligiuri is still examining the roadmap. “[Ryan] talks about giving taxpayers a choice of either going under the existing tax code or under a simplified tax code,” he says. “I need to better understand what the impact would be as a matter of policy.”
His caution mirrors that of Dan Debicella, who’s running in Connecticut’s fourth congressional district. “I have not been approached about signing on to the congressman’s roadmap, but…I do agree with many of the points,” Debicella says in a statement, referring to the same parts as Caligiuri.
Caligiuri and Debicella’s situation shows one challenge with using Ryan’s roadmap as a platform: It has so many moving parts that it’s hard to understand — never mind explain.