According to The Atlantic, U.S Congressman Paul Ryan has outlined several tax reforms that, on the surface, appear to "discard a needlessly complex and manipulative tax code"; in reality, however, the plan allows the super-rich to pay a ridiculously low amount of taxes while increasing them "on the bottom 30 percent of earners." Using Mitt Romney as an example:

Romney did earn $593,996 in author and speaking fees in 2010 that would still be taxed under the Ryan plan. Just not much. Ryan would cut the top marginal tax rate from 35 to 25 percent and get rid of the Alternative Minimum Tax -- saving Romney another $292,389 or so on his 2010 tax bill. Now, Romney would still owe self-employment taxes on his author and speaking fees, but that only amounts to $29,151. Add it all up, and Romney would have paid $177,650 out of a taxable income of $21,661,344, for a cool effective rate of 0.82 percent.