Way back in March, the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center published a fairly detailed analysis of Mitt Romney's new tax plan and there were three main takeaways: the policy would disproportionately benefit the very wealthy; it would make the deficit worse; and it would actually increase taxes on those towards the bottom.
It's that third point that tends to be the most controversial. How can Romney cut taxes across the board while simultaneously increasing the burden for some? The answer is, by eliminating specific breaks that benefit working families, millions of Americans will end up paying more, even after an across-the-board cut.
A new analysis shows that the House Republican tax plan suffers from an identical flaw.
The report, prepared by Senate Democrats and reviewed by nonpartisan tax experts, marks the first attempt to quantify the trade-offs inherent in the GOP tax package, which would replace the current tax structure with two brackets -- 25 percent and 10 percent -- and cut the top rate from 35 percent.
Those changes would benefit virtually every taxpayer, but they also would reduce federal tax collections by about $4.5 trillion over the next decade, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. To avoid increasing the national debt by that amount, GOP leaders such as House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.) have pledged to get rid of all the special-interest loopholes and tax shelters that litter the code.
Republicans have declined to identify their targets. However, some of the biggest "loopholes" on the books are popular tax breaks for employer-provided health insurance, mortgage interest, state and local taxes, and retirement savings, which disproportionately benefit the upper middle class.
As a consequence, millionaires would get a tax cut of about $300,000 annually, while a married couple earning $100,000 would see their net tax burden increase by about $2,700 a year.
Don't be too surprised if we see campaign ads this fall about the "Republican plan to raise middle-class taxes."
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Hey, wait a minute... where's all those huge loopholes the rich were supposed to be advantaged with? Heh.
"...GOP leaders such as House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.) have pledged to get rid of all the special-interest loopholes and tax shelters that litter the code."
Here are a few special interest loopholes to get rid of:
1) WELFARE TO BIG OIL/COAL/PharMa/JOBS SHIPPED TO LOW/NO WAGE NATIONS.
2) Tax-breaks to millionaires/billionaires buying houses over $1 million.
3) Tax-breaks on that DEATH TAX for estates over $5 million.
4) Tax-breaks on "carried interest" - generally used by that 1%.
5) Tax-breaks on "corporate earnings vs. salaries".
6) End the war in Afghanistan NOW.
7) Cut defense contractors money NOW.
Close those and re-invest in nation building in America and WE might have more of a surplus!
That's what I thought. Nada.
By the way, the mortgage deduction is already limited to loans of a million dollars or less. For that matter most of the deductions mentioned are means tested already. Then there is the AMT, which is a small variation on the Romney plan.
"GOP tax plan squeezes middle class."
In other news, the sky is blue, water is wet, and Mitt Romney is as bland as a blank sheet of A4 paper.
I ask you: is 200 per month too much to pay to have a morally righteous Christian nation?
Does the Ryan budget include demolition of the oil and gas subsides?
Well if the Republicans win and put this tax plan into place, I'm just going to fill out my Form 1040 with the Occupation "Millionaire," sit back, and wait for my big gub'mint check to arrive. I doubt they'll be any the wiser.
The Republicans intend to stay hazy about the details of any tax plan other than Ryan's budget. They cannot admit that the programs they intend to cut are domestic programs and in particular, Medicare. If they did say what they want to cut, they would not get elected. Voters would toss them out even in some red states. It is incumbent upon the media to make the Republicans and Romney get specific about what they will cut. The media should not allow them to give the stock answer "fraud and waste" because it tells voters nothing. This should be emphasized during the election debates and it should be the big issue for every Dem running for office. If Republicans will not say what they will cut, then it is safe to assume that the Ryan budget is a blueprint for programs that are going to be killed and Dems should hang the Ryan budget on every Republican.