Check the Math: Romney's Tax Plan Doesn't Raise Middle Class Taxes

Weekly Standard ^ | 10/03/2012 | John McCormack

[SeekAndFind]

A study by the Tax Policy Center, a project of the center-left Brookings Institution and Urban Institute, claims that Mitt Romney's tax plan is mathematically impossible.

TPC claims that Romney cannot cut tax rates by 20 percent across the board and maintain revenue neutrality without raising the net tax burden on the middle class. According to TPC, in the year 2015 under Romney's tax plan, "maintaining revenue neutrality mathematically necessitates a shift in the tax burden of at least $86 billion away from high-income taxpayers onto lower- and middle-income taxpayers. This is true even under the assumption that the maximum amount of revenue possible is obtained from cutting tax expenditures for high-income households."

So, according to the Tax Policy Center, we start out with an $86 billion hole in Romney's tax plan. But the Tax Policy Center's own calculations show that that $86 billion hole can, in fact, be filled without raising middle class taxes.

TPC's study assumes that pro-growth tax reform cannot produce any economic growth. TPC acknowledges that, according to an economic model created by Harvard professors Greg Mankiw and Matthew Weinzerl that assumes tax reform will produce economic growth, "the tax cuts would result in revenue reductions of $307 billion (instead of $360 billion)." In other words, economic growth could fill $53 billion of that $86 billion hole.

That still leaves us $33 billion short. But TPC also acknowledges that its study assumed that Romney would not touch "the exclusion of interest on state and local bonds and exclusion of inside-buildup on life insurance vehicles." According to TPC, eliminating these exclusions could raise $45 billion in revenue.

So economic growth ($53 billion) plus nixing these two exclusions ($45 billion) equals $98 billion. That's $12 billion more than $86 billion needed to prevent a middle class tax hike.

[SeekAndFind]

To number crunchers out there, the study can be found here:

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/8/16%20romney%20tax%20implications%20brown%20gale%20looney/16%20romney%20tax%20implications%20brown%20gale%20looney

[MEGoody]

It doesn't do any good to tell Obama supporters to "check the math." They are incapable of doing so.

And even if they could, they wouldn't because they don't want anything to get in the way of their ZerO worship.

[Gaffer]

Actually, I simply REFUSE to discuss, evaluate or argue the merit of Romney/Ryan’s Campaign plans for the economy or the budget one way or the other.

There is no point in it. I categorically refuse to accept ANY argument about such where there is no equally detailed plan, published or otherwise from Obama and his Democrat cadre of illusory sychopants.

There is NOTHING substantive about Obama or his ‘supposed plans for this or that’.. there is no ‘there’ there, period.

Why should we accept criticism of what is likely a reasoned and logical approach to getting us out of this debt and distress Obama created when all Obama himself can cite is “it’s Bush’s fault” and “white people are the enemy”...

Screw him and screw all the journalists giving the Romney/Ryan plan a rectal exam while simultaneously just saying “the affirmative action black man needs another chance - homework to be delivered after the election”......sorry, folks, we been there done that with Nancy and the Affordable Care Act....no sale.

And, yet, some wonder why ‘racism’ still exists today.

[pfflier]

But yahoo and the MSM “fact checkers” have already said it will...they wouldn’t lie would they?