Romney's tax plan crunches middle class

From the Tampa Bay Times: Romney's tax plan crunches middle class

Lower taxes on the rich and higher taxes on the middle class is how a nonpartisan analysis summed up Mitt Romney's tax plan.

According to the Tax Policy Center analysis, Romney's plan to extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone, lower marginal tax rates by 20 percent, eliminate the alternative minimum tax and estate taxes and get rid of taxes on investment income for most taxpayers, while not adding to the deficit, would be a boon for top earners alone. People making $1 million or more would see an average tax cut of $87,000. But people making under $200,000 would see their taxes go up. Those earning between $75,000 and $100,000 per year would see their taxes increase $884.

How does this happen? Because in order to offset the $360 billion revenue loss from tax cuts, big-ticket tax breaks would have to close, including the mortgage interest deduction, the tax exclusion for employer-provided health coverage and the deduction for charitable giving, among others. And since the value of those tax breaks are far less for high-income taxpayers than the value of the Romney tax cuts, middle- and lower-income taxpayers would have to make up the difference. As a result, the tax burden would shift by $86 billion from high-income taxpayers to middle- and lower-income taxpayers, the center found.

The numbers speak volumes about the Romney campaign's priorities. While President Barack Obama is proposing that taxes rise on the wealthiest Americans by letting the Bush tax cuts lapse only for those with incomes of $250,000 or more, Romney would flip that formula and give further breaks to the nation's millionaires, people who are already paying the lowest effective tax rate in 60 years.

This is what it comes down to, folks. Romney is so in-deep to the Koch's and other billionaire donors to his election that he is looking out only for their interests. The SuperPacs/billionaires club is so good at making THEIR message look like the the average American's grass-root message that they have got the poor and middle class, the people who they seek to slap with tax hikes, out pushing their agenda.

A non-partisan policy group has crunched the numbers. The one's getting "crunched" by Romney's tax plan are the middle class.

The Romney Tax Hike
"How the GOP candidate stumbled into proposing higher taxes on the middle class and how he can get out of it."

A bombshell report released last week by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center shows that Mitt Romney has given Democrats the greatest gift they could hope for—a Republican plan for a broad increase in middle-class taxes.

On the Distributional Effects of Base-Broadening Income Tax Reform

Our major conclusion is that a revenue-neutral individual income tax change that incorporates the features Governor Romney has proposed – including reducing marginal tax rates substantially, eliminating the individual alternative minimum tax (AMT) and maintaining all tax breaks for saving and investment – would provide large tax cuts to high-income households, and increase the tax burdens on middle- and/or lower-income taxpayers.

What he's done is propose specific tax cuts, say he wants to keep tax breaks for investment income, and say he wants to make the whole thing deficit-neutral by closing loopholes. It turns out that the only way to do that is with a big increase in middle class taxes.

(ps to mods: I don't start posts often so if this is in the wrong forum, please move accordingly)

Didn't we go through this already, trickle down economics doesn't work...

Look what happened with the bush tax cuts, so yeah it does nothing for growth despite what they keep trying to sell us.

Obama or Romney?

It's a tough choice for you guys.

Both of them seem so sincere.

If we really wanted to change this country's fortune, we would change the import laws and tariffs, and end or reverse outsourcing. Instead, what we get from tools like Romney is doubling-down on trickle-down economics.

His plan would accelerate the decline of the middle class, for a short-term payoff to his wealthy cohorts.

Luv it when posters complain about distractions like 'who paid what in taxes' or 'who got what grades in school', but when a real post about the economy or tax plans comes along, all those whiners are no where to be found. This thread gets ignored and the stupid crap made up by fake news sites gets all the attention. Oh well. For my part I look at the projected impacts of each candidates tax plans as the single biggest decision factor before voting. Brookings and the CBO are the two best sources for tax plan analysis.

S n F for you OP.

Finally a real issue. It seems no one cares to talk about it. Why?