Romney’s Tight Grip On Information Puts Campaign On Defensive Over Taxes

Romney’s Tight Grip On Information Puts Campaign On Defensive Over Taxes

Benjy Sarlin

Mitt Romney has kept his economic policy close to the vest, leaving him in a difficult position as he tries to push back against a study claiming his proposals would increase taxes for 95% of Americans.

The report, by researchers at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, looked at Romney’s call for a 20% income tax cut for everyone, that he says he would finance by ending existing (and as-yet-unnamed) tax deductions. They assumed for their analysis that Romney would try to eliminate tax breaks favoring the rich as much as possible to pay for his plan, before turning to popular middle-class deductions on health care and mortgage payments to make up the remaining gap. But even allowing for that highly generous baseline, the average American family making less than $200,000 would still have to pay $2,000 more of their income in taxes while the richest .1% would see an average net tax cut close to $250,000.

The study puts Romney in a tricky spot. His campaign has not disputed the substance of its findings. Doing so would require him to provide much more information explaining how he intends to pay for his 20% tax cut, information that could invite Democratic attacks if, as expected, his offsets included eliminating popular tax breaks for the middle class or powerful interest groups.

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Romney’s current dilemma should feel familiar to the candidate. He faces a very similar dynamic with his own personal taxes, where Romney’s refusal to release any returns from earlier than 2010 has left him open to widespread speculation about just what he might want to hide. Top Democrats like Harry Reid, sensing weakness, have gone so far as to spin unsubstantiated accusations about Romney’s taxes, claiming he may not have paid any for years. Why? Because they know that unless Romney is going to prove them wrong by releasing his taxes, they can get away with it.

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/romney-tax-plan-brookings-95-percent.php