Greg Sargent:
Mitt Romney blunders again on taxes: Igor Volsky flags an important quote from Mitt Romney at an Ohio rally this morning:
I’m going to champion small business. Small business, where jobs come from. And let me tell you how to do that…. I want to bring the rates down. By the way, don’t be expecting a huge cut in taxes, because I’m also going to lower deductions and exemptions. But by bringing rates down, we’ll be able to let small businesses keep more of their money…
Either that is an error by Romney, or he is freely admitting that is tax plan would target exemptions and deductions enjoyed by the middle class. Romney has claimed that his tax plan — which contains across the board tax cuts that disproportionately and hugely benefit the rich — will be revenue neutral, and that he will accomplish this by targeting loopholes that benefit the rich. But he hasn’t explained which ones he’d target, and the Tax Policy Center found that his plan could not pay for itself unless he did target loopholes enjoyed by the middle class.
What you’re seeing here, again, are the perils that accompany the embrace of a plan that is mathematically impossible. Recently, Romney supporters touted a study that supposedly debunked the Tax Policy Center’s findings. But it didn’t do that at all. In fact, it found that the only way to make Romney’s plan work is to raise taxes on those with incomes between $100,000 and $250,000…. The problem here is that Romney wants tax cuts for the rich and he wants credit for being a deficit hawk. But… Romney simply can’t keep all his promises… [and] cutting taxes deeply on the rich is very unpopular. Romney claims he would cut everyone’s taxes. But he can’t do that and also reduce the deficit…. [H]is tax cuts for the rich would be even more unpopular if Romney leveled with voters on how that would have to be paid for…
