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Mitt Gets Worse By ThinkProgress War Room on Aug 1, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Mitt Romney’s Plan for a $2,000 Middle Class Tax Hike As we reported yesterday, we already know that Mitt Romney has an economic plan to enrich the wealthy at the expense of everyone else. Well, a new non-partisan, independent analysis of Romney’s tax plan released today by the Tax Policy Center shows just how far Romney would go to help the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
Here’s the rundown.
Much Higher Taxes on the Middle Class
Romney’s plan raises taxes on the bottom 95 percent of Americans. The average middle class family with children will see a tax increase of more than $2,000. Among everyone making less than $200,000, the tax increase averages out to more than $500 per person. Much Lower Taxes on the Wealthiest Americans
Romney’s plan includes a large tax cut for the only the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans. A new $247,000 tax cut for the wealthiest 0.1 percent on top of the Bush tax cuts. A new $87,000 tax cut for every millionaire on top of the Bush tax cuts. How It Could Be Even Worse for the Middle Class
The authors of the study bent over backwards to make the analysis as favorable as possible for Romney’s plan. For example, the analysis assumes that almost every deduction — think mortgage interest, employer-provided health care, and charitable contributions — would be completely eliminated for people making over $200,000 a year. Nobody have ever proposed that and, as a practical matter, it’s almost impossible to imagine Congress passing such a plan. Since Romney has promised to make his plan revenue-neutral, every dollar in deductions kept by the wealthy means another dollar in increased taxes for the middle class.
In short, Romney’s plan is likely to be much, much more favorable to the wealthy and demand much, much more of the middle class than even this analysis finds. $2,000 should be thought of as the floor for middle class tax increases under the Romney plan, not the ceiling.
Romney Struggles to Respond
In typical fashion, “The Romney campaign on Wednesday declined to address the specifics of the analysis,” reported the Washington Post. In other words, the analysis is correct so they couldn’t really argue with it.
Their only real response was to call it a “partisan” study because one of the co-authors is a Democrat (the other worked in President George H.W. Bush’s White House).
The only problem with that attack? During the Republican primary, the Romney campaign cited the Tax Policy Center on several occasions in order to attack Rick Santorum, Rick Perry, and Newt Gingrich. In fact, the Romney campaign once referred to the Tax Policy Center’s “objective, third party analysis.”
House Republicans Join the Middle Class Tax Increasing Party
While it’s almost impossible to imagine Congress passing a plan that would eliminate most or all tax benefits for the wealthy, it’s definitely possible to imagine them passing one going after the middle class. In fact, it happened just today.
Today, the House of Representatives passed a plan that slashed taxes on the wealthy while raising them on the middle class. The Republican plan passed today included:
Another extension of the extra tax cuts on income over $250,000 that would benefit just the top 2 percent of Americans. A tax increase for nearly 25 MILLION working and middle class families. Tax increases on military families. Amazingly, the Republican plan raises taxes on ten times more people than the Senate-passed Democratic plan, which finally ends extra tax cuts that the wealthiest Americans don’t need and we simply cannot afford:
Since the president promised to veto the Republican plan and it was already defeated in the Senate last week, Republicans are once again the only people in Washington standing in the way of tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans.
IN ONE SENTENCE: Mitt Romney and Republicans will do anything to slash taxes on the wealthy — even if that means forcing millions of middle class families to pay thousands more every year.
-------------------- Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise. Posts: 3827 | From: beautiful California | Registered: Sep 2008
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posted
that just cannot be true raybond, i mean if it were actually true, it would be, - well it would be just like class warfare, and we all know that the GOP hates class warfare
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
I thought higher taxes were good for America, you know to build the roads we use and such.
-------------------- It isn't so much that liberals are ignorant. It's just that they know so many things that aren't so. Posts: 6949 | Registered: Apr 2004
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posted
Higher taxes are good for America and inevitable. High revenues will lead to higher payments on debt, reducing interest, and creating a better ability to invest towards tomorrow.
Will there be mistakes on the way? Absolutely. My portfolio history is far from stellar. Does that mean I shouldn't have bothered in the first place? That trying was a mistake? That funding it was foolish?
-------------------- No longer eligible for government service due to lack of tax issues. Posts: 5178 | From: Up North | Registered: Dec 2005
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quote:Higher taxes are good for America and inevitable. High revenues will lead to higher payments on debt, reducing interest, and creating a better ability to invest towards tomorrow.
Higher taxes mean NOTHING GOOD (no matter which 'class' pays them) if current spending practices aren't changed. I agree that everyone will need to pay more taxes if we are to get out of this hole...but only if we stop digging first.
Your portfolio example contains one flaw, Big...you're investing YOUR money. Your choices...your risks.
I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who agrees that the government has been a good steward with the people's coffers, regardless of their party. THAT is why many of us are against raising taxes until we feel that we can trust them with more than they are already wasting. .
quote:Higher taxes are good for America and inevitable. High revenues will lead to higher payments on debt, reducing interest, and creating a better ability to invest towards tomorrow.
Higher taxes mean NOTHING GOOD (no matter which 'class' pays them) if current spending practices aren't changed. I agree that everyone will need to pay more taxes if we are to get out of this hole...but only if we stop digging first.
Your portfolio example contains one flaw, Big...you're investing YOUR money. Your choices...your risks.
I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who agrees that the government has been a good steward with the people's coffers, regardless of their party. THAT is why many of us are against raising taxes until we feel that we can trust them with more than they are already wasting. .
posted
comeon SF, when was th "Golden Age of American Growth? 50's and 60's right? guess waht? they taxed and spent.
taxes are not evil, people are evil, wasteful people especially evil. we have to pay a little more taxes adn spend a little MORE less...
to be honest? my last couple years experince has told me that the rules are just being thrown out the window at all levels, private industry, Government political machine, and government civil service machine, everybody thinks they deserve more than they get, and they don't even earn what they are already getting for the most part...
and that's even in private industry, we wouldn't have so much growth as we have had in cell phones without them being built in China. the cell phone phenomena has been a major portion of our growth for the last ten years too.. not much growth left there now tho... we may provide a few more services over the existing infrastructure, but there's not going to be any more major infrastructure investment in cell phones for along time to come now
in Government? all the politicians are feeding off the all you can eat buffet adn they just pass th ebill onto their kids and grandkids. GOP and Dems alike -neither party is better than the other, different? sure a little , but not better.
-------------------- Don't envy the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise. Posts: 36378 | From: USA | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
You can't have a country and a society there in with out taxes.
You cannot have a military all over the world protecting American interest with out Taxes.
If you are going to have a society that runs an unemployment problem and the excess crime that comes with it you have to have revenue to deal with it and that means taxes.
And if we are to put wars on the credit card they will have to be paid for at some time and that means taxes.
I myself am willing to pay more taxes and I can afford to. It just is what you feel about your country and if you want it to be here fifty years from now.
-------------------- Wise men learn more from fools than fools from the wise. Posts: 3827 | From: beautiful California | Registered: Sep 2008
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