Romney’s Middle Class Myth

In recent television appearances, Mitt Romney claimed that he wanted to be President to help the middle class Americans. He said he was not concerned with the poor because they already had safety nets nor was he concerned with the rich because they could take care of themselves. This assertion is not supported by Romney’s five point tax plan. The highlights of the Romney plan are: · Permanently extend the Bush-era tax cuts. · Cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent. · Eliminate income tax on long-term capital gains and qualified dividends for households with income under $200,000 · Repeal taxes imposed by the health reform legislation. · Repeal the estate tax. Can anyone find a single thing in any of these proposals that would benefit anyone but the wealthy? Less that 10% of taxpayers with income under $200,000 (middle class according to Romney) pay capital gains tax. The Bush-era tax cuts already favor the top tax bracket as does a elimination of the inheritance tax. Speaking of inheritance tax, it is estimated the the Walton family (Wal-Mart) has already spent $100 million dollars lobbying to eliminate inheritance taxes. Should those taxes be eliminated, the Waltons would save an estimate $35 billion (with a B) in taxes so spending $100 million is a very good investment. His plan has nothing in it when it comes to eliminating either personal or corporate tax loopholes, deductions, or exemptions. He has not proposed a single change when it comes to eliminating the special favors given certain companies, industries, or individuals. These changes would save Romney the paltry 14% taxes he presently pays on the first $200,000 of capital gains income or $28,000 which is about the annual medial income of all American tax filers. The Romney tax plan would do nothing to solve the deficit problem and would only benefit the wealthy who, in his own words, can already take care of themselves.