Did Mitt Romney Just Admit He’ll Raise Taxes On Middle Class? Washington Post Says ‘Yes’
The criticism that Mitt Romney must raise taxes on the middle class in order to afford tax breaks for the super rich is often cited by his political opponents, but did the GOP candidate just admit that middle tax hikes have been the plan all along?
Romney’s tax plan proposes tax rates cut by 20 percent. That would end up costing trillions of dollars, culminating in a big tax break for the super rich. That much we’ve heard. Romney himself says that his tax cut won’t cost anything and that no one will see an increase in taxes. That much we’ve also heard. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center has called this “not mathematically possible.” We’ve heard that as well. From there?
Silence.
So what’s the solution? According to the Washington Post, don’t trust the Tax Policy Center and have your own people do their own studies.
“The good news is that five different economic studies, including one at Harvard and Princeton and AEI and a couple at The Wall Street Journal all show that if we bring down our top rates and actually go across the board, bring down rates for everyone in America, but also limit deductions and exemptions for people at the high end, while you can keep the progressivity in the code, you could remain revenue neutral and you create an enormous incentive for growth in the economy,” Romney said on Meet the Press.
The Harvard study, done by economist Martin Feldstein, hinges on the assumption that “people in that high-income group [people making over $100,000] are not the ‘middle class.’ ”
The Post’s Ezra Klein agrees with that assumption but points out that Mitt Romney doesn’t. And it was none other than ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that outed him. “Is $100,000 middle income?” he asked, to which Romney responded, “No, middle income is $200,000 to $250,000 and less.”
That’ll close the lead with middle class families, won’t it?
Do you agree with Ezra Klein at the Washington Post? Does Mitt Romney have to raise taxes on the middle class?
