Presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney has a new problem in terms of image and explaining some substance: a study finds his proposed tax plan will help the rich. Here’s a bit of Newsy.com’s report:
Taxes are back on the political menu this week. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center released a report today on Mitt Romney’s proposed plan for taxation, and it wasn’t flattering. The report concludes that Romney’s plan …
TPC: “… would provide large tax cuts to high-income households, and increase the tax burdens on middle- and/or lower-income taxpayers.”
In fact, the study says, Mr. Romney’s current proposal for taxes, albeit incomplete, would cut tax revenues by $360 billion dollars. During a Wednesday campaign stop in Ohio, President Obama seized the opportunity to criticize the presumptive GOP nominee’s tax plan.
Obama: “He’s not asking you to contribute more to pay down the deficit … He’s asking you to pay more so that people like him can get a big tax cut.”
Bloomberg’s Josh Barro says Mr. Romney’s plan is less about tax revenues and more about maintaining a neutral deficit by giving out tax breaks while cutting government spending. Barro also says:
Barro: ” … it’s not necessarily true that the Romney plan would raise taxes on middle- and lower-income tax filers. If Romney cuts taxes enough, his plan could give a tax cut to everybody… “
Note that Romney’s camp tries to play the ideological red meat card by dismissing the study as “liberal” but that isn’t being bought by many, including as the report notes, some who are not considered liberal. Watch the full video report on this issue:
Note that there is new polling out (a post on that will appear soon) that underscores Romney’s now quite serious image problems.
This kind of report coming out — from a group considered nonpartisan (not considered liberal unless it’s at this moment in a campaign when there is an attempt to discredit a study that is not helpful) — will not boost his poll numbers.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.