Mitt Romney

D'oh! Debt Hawks Fear Most GOP Tax Plans Will Increase Deficit

Brian Beutler | February 23, 2012, 1:48PM

A key test for the political establishment and the media this campaign cycle will be whether they accurately explain the Presidential candidates' budget plans to voters, or whether they allow the candidates to spin their way out of the severe implications of their own proposals. The election will hinge to a large extent on the two parties' visions for the role of the federal government and how to pay for it, and keeping the taxing and spending implication of those visions clear is the key to helping voters make informed decisions at the polls.

An event hosted Thursday morning by the fiscal discipline hawks at the Center for a Responsible Federal Budget offered this corner of the establishment an early critique of the GOP candidates' tax and spending plans -- all of which drew mixed reviews or worse.

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Mitt Romney

The GOP's Real Tax Cut Goal Has Nothing To Do With The Middle Class (CHART)

Brian Beutler | February 23, 2012, 5:50AM

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks at the Livonia and Greater Farmington Hills Area Chambers of Commerce luncheon at the Farmington Hills Manor in Farmington Hills, Michigan, Thursday, February 16, 2012. (Patricia Beck/Detroit Free Press/MCT)

You'd think that with the economy growing, and indeed accelerating in its growth, the GOP would be setting itself up to claim all the credit come November -- rather than reluctantly embracing President Obama's call for a payroll tax cut, while talking down its efficacy as a tonic for the job market.

Instead they're obstinately digging in. And with all of the party's presidential hopefuls lukewarm on the payroll tax cut and leapfrogging each other with plans to cut taxes for wealthy Americans alone, Republicans are inadvertently clarifying for voters what they know to be unpopular economic policies.

"Let's be honest, this is an economic relief package, not a bill that's going to grow the economy and create jobs," said House Speaker John Boehner last week in a statement ahead of the passage of the payroll tax cut deal.

The package itself won a modest majority of Republican votes in the House and a significant minority of Republican votes in the Senate. But both stand in complete agreement with the GOP presidential field on the need to enact large, permanent tax cuts for the highest earners in the country. This is what Mitt Romney refers to as pro-growth tax policy. So to give you a clearer sense of what the GOP would have rather done than renew the payroll tax cut, here's a graphical breakdown.

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Iran

Gallup: Iran, China Top America's 'Greatest Enemy' List

David Taintor | February 20, 2012, 10:44AM

America needs adversaries. And according to a new Gallup poll, Americans are happy to place Iran and China at the top of its "greatest enemy" list.

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Contraception

Blunt: Contraception Mandate Not 'Only Litmus Test' For Presidential Candidate

Brian Beutler | February 14, 2012, 4:23PM

Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO)

You'd think the GOP's ongoing, dogged push to allow any employer to deny female employees contraceptive coverage is an indication that Republicans take a strong stance on the issue.

But it's not. On Tuesday afternoon, I asked Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) whether he could support a Republican presidential candidate who had required religious institutions to provide female employees with contraceptive coverage.

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Mitt Romney

Tax Avoidance Questions Continue To Haunt Romney

Brian Beutler | February 13, 2012, 5:45AM

Reporters covering the GOP primary horse race may have moved on, but a key question continues to dog Mitt Romney's presidential campaign -- one that will loom large if he wins his party's nomination. Has he avoided U.S. taxes by investing a fortune offshore?

At a town hall event in Maine on Friday, an antagonistic questioner asked Romney, "Do you think it's patriotic of you to stash your money away in the Cayman Islands?"

In response, Romney correctly noted that money U.S. taxpayers invest offshore is largely taxed just as it would be if they invested it in the states. But he once again denied avoiding any U.S. taxes by investing offshore -- a claim tax experts openly doubt.

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Mitt Romney

Dems Slam Romney For Inconsistencies On Birth Control

Sahil Kapur | February 9, 2012, 5:17PM

In his 2006 Massachusetts health care law, Mitt Romney embraced a virtually identical contraception coverage mandate as President Obama recently has, experts say, and as a result expanded access to birth control for hundreds of thousands of women. And Democrats really want you to know that.

"They are practically mirror images or each other," John McDonough, a professor of public health at Harvard, said on a conference call organized by the Democratic National Committee. "They completely reflect each other."

Romney has embraced the shocked, shocked tone of leading Republicans on this issue in recent days, and Democrats have acted swiftly to flag up inconsistencies in his position.

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Mitt Romney

Why Florida Was A Dangerous Test Case For Romney's General Election Prospects

Brian Beutler | February 2, 2012, 5:41AM

Mitt Romney

The fight for Florida's fifty delegates was more than just a key test for the four remaining Republican presidential hopefuls. It also took the GOP's three year experiment with far-right politics into a more appropriate laboratory -- a state where the voters didn't reflect the party's base as neatly as they did in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

And though Mitt Romney trampled his opponents and solidified his status as the nominee-in-waiting, Florida was also a wake-up call. To win so resoundingly, Romney had to inch away from conservative movement dogma for the first time since he began his candidacy.

It wasn't easy.

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Mitt Romney

Romney Team Silent On Key Offshore Tax Avoidance Question

Brian Beutler | February 1, 2012, 5:37AM

Mitt Romney

Just over a week ago, Mitt Romney's top campaign and financial aides held an on-the-record press call to walk reporters through the former governor's 2010 tax return.

The briefing cleared up several questions, but left others unanswered -- including one from TPM that will either exculpate Romney from allegations that he's used investments in offshore entities to avoid U.S. taxes, or reveal that his campaign has not fully addressed those allegations.

On the call, Romney's trustee pledged get back to us with this information. But despite multiple inquiries in the days since the conference call, the Romney camp has not set the record straight one way or another.

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