Obama ‘tax lies’ ignored as oldest tax group says Romney plan leads to “more growth”

President Barack Obama’s campaign has repeatedly called Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney a liar when it comes to his tax plan. Media on both Left and Right have questioned Romney but they have ignored Obama on details. Obama has a perpetual pass when it comes to media.

Democrats have driven the messaging, ignoring Obama’s muddled plan that doesn’t even have a balanced budget in sight.

Who is the real liar when it comes to tax plans?

There’s a wealth of information online, with most media—even, incredibly, conservative media—giving a nod to a newcomer in tax wonkery. That group came up with a theory about Romney’s plan that the Obama team has promoted—that Romney’s plan would benefit high income earners and levy more taxes on the middle class.

Obama presents Romney's plan by the strategy a Democrat would use. It's important to look at what one tax group called Obama "tax lies." 

Two groups have released opinions about tax code reform.

Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative group advocating for a flat tax, did an article titled ‘Top Five Obama Tax Lies from the First Debate.’ ATR explains the “Obama Tax Lies” in a clear, nonpartisan manner, noting this [boldface added]:

Of recent note, Obama has altered his tax pledge: In a second term, he only promises not to raise income taxes on those making less than $250,000, and only for one year. After the one year has come and gone, all taxes are fair game, and at any income level.

The Tax Foundation is a policy center that’s been in existence since 1937. The Foundation took economic growth into consideration on scoring both Romney and Obama’s tax plans as well as the much discussed Simpson-Bowles plan no one paid heed to until the election season bloomed.

The Tax Foundation has done an article comparing each candidate’s plan and Simspon-Bowles. The article includes an easy-to-understand chart comparing the plans.

The Foundation also did an article that included growth projected in Romney’s plan. Part of the conclusion (boldface added):

[T]he Romney tax plan would grow the economy by 7.4 percent, the capital stock by almost 19 percent, wages by almost 5 percent, and hours worked by 3 percent. The benefits would be widely enjoyed, as every income group would experience at least a 7 percent increase in after-tax income. It would benefit the federal budget as well, in that fully 60 percent of the static revenue loss from Romney’s plan would be recovered from taxing a larger economy.

It’s critical to point out that virtually no media have asked Obama about the more than one dozen taxes in the ObamaCare Tax Bill, including tax hikes on the “middle class”,  and how he plans to replace the funds he will need to pay for that poorly legislated healthcare takeover.

Obama gave Labor leaders a waiver for 7 years on taxes union members and others could pay on generous healthcare plans most Americans do not have. That break removed $120 billion from projected payments for the ObamaCare Tax Bill—that’s on top of whatever revenue was lost due to the repeal of the 1099 provision in the ObamaCare Tax Bill.

Media have been extremely negligent in reporting on taxes when it comes to Obama.

The Tax Foundation said Romney was “not willing to expose the middle class, and perhaps other groups, to a full scrubbing of the tax code.” The Foundation also said, “Romney’s tax plan makes important reforms that are likely to lead to lower deficits, an eventual balanced budget, and more economic growth.”

The bottom line for taxpayers is fairly easy to explain despite what can be a maze of confusion when it comes to any plan related to the more than 72,000 pages of federal tax rules.

The obvious solution, aside from tax reform, is to cut federal spending by starting with noncritical programs. Taxpayers do not realize how freely the government spends money, refusing to abide by a budget like individuals and small businesses have to do. As a matter of fact, any reform should begin with cutting unnecessary programs.

One example is the more than $24 million earmarked for the National Writing Project. You could fill a book with federal grants that if withheld or canceled, would not affect a single American life. We already pay teachers to teach reading and writing although the success rate is inferior.

What’s the real bottom line on all these tax plans?

Republicans are not going to raise taxes on the middle class. That would go against the core philosophy of the party.

Whom do you trust when it comes to taxes?

Do you trust Democrats who haven’t come up with a Senate budget for years, passed a huge tax hike bill and called it healthcare reform, continue to spend us into a deeper hole and haven’t even given real tax reform a nod while giving Americans a payroll tax break by diluting social security revenue?

Or do you trust Republicans whose party principles rest on lower taxes and smaller government?

Do you trust Obama the perpetual tax hiker or Romney who will seek real reform?

Romney’s marginal rates are 11.60 percent lower than Obama’s. Romney's plan will put 7 percent more after tax income in your pocket.

That’s pretty much a no-brainer if taxes are a concern for you when you cast your vote in November. Don't trust media to present a fair analysis of Romney. He's not a Democrat.

(Commentary by Kay B. Day/Oct. 5, 2012) 

Comments

[Jim Kress]

Mitt Romney suggests cutting mortgage interest deduction on eve of presidential debate

Published: October 2, 2012 7:16 PM
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/mitt-romney-suggests-cutting-mortgage-interest-deduction-on-eve-of-presidential-debate-1.4066809

"In an interview Monday night with Denver TV station KDVR, Romney said, "As an option you could say everybody's going to get up to a $17,000 deduction. And you could use your charitable deduction, your home mortgage deduction, or others — your health care deduction, and you can fill that bucket, if you will, that $17,000 bucket that way. And higher income people might have a lower number."

A Romney adviser said changes in other areas — a taxpayer's personal exemption and the deduction or credit for health care — would also be taken into account if deductions were limited as Romney suggested. Combining changes to those two areas with the limit on deductions would maintain Romney's goal of keeping tax burdens the same for wealthy and middle income taxpayers, the adviser said."

We got the same promises from Reagan and the Democrats in the 80's. They took away many deductions, temporarily reduced the rates and then raised the rates but didn't give back the deductions.

Bait-and-Switch hardly begins to describe these tactics. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Also, the rhetoric about the "rich" by ROMNEY makes my hair stand on end. How can he adopt the class hatred rhetoric of the Left and expect us to have any faith in him?

This kind of "Tax Plan" will murder the economy!

[Kay B. Day/Ed.]

Jim, they didn't include the reduction in marginal rates. That is a seriously skewed article by a nonprofit news organization that pushes Leftist policy.