Associated Press
He's really not much of a numbers guy.
Mitt Romney's tax plan appears to have been designed by folks lacking a calculator. As we talked about a couple of weeks ago, the Republican wants voters to believe he can slash taxes on the wealthy, increase defense spending, increase entitlement spending, and balance the budget, all at the same time.
Romney will pay for this, he claims, by closing loopholes and eliminating deductions. Which ones? That's a secret, though he's said the home-mortgage-interest deduction, the health care deduction, and the charitable-contribution deduction are all off the table, which only makes the idea more absurd.
The policy, if attempted, would eventually reach a fork in the road: either Romney would have to raise middle-class taxes to pay for the tax cuts, or he'd have scale back the size and cost of the tax cuts. It's either one or the other; there's just no way around this.
This week, Romney economic advisor Kevin Hassett said, if push came to shove and the figures "don't add up," the tax plan "would have a different change in rates" -- in other words, a Romney administration would have no choice but to scale back its tax-cutting ambitions.
But before you say, "Well, that seems quite responsible of them," the Romney campaign told TPM overnight that Hassett has it wrong and that all of the contradictory goals "are achievable."
Matt Yglesias summarized the problem nicely.
Basically they're saying that 2+2=5. It is simply not possible to cut tax rates across the board, eliminate deductions to maintain revenue neutrality, and leave the distributive structure of the tax code unchanged. Call it "Romney's Trilemma." ... A big 20 percent across the board cut isn't going to work.
This is basically a test to see whether voters still care about arithmetic at all.
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Romney economic rules for the economy:
Rule 1) 2 + 2 = 5
Rule 2) If 2 + 2 != 5, see rule 1.
if rule 2 dont help move to rule 3
Rule 3) 7 - 3 = 5
How about Romney's IRA math? $5,000 x 40 = $100,000,000.
Damn that math and its liberal bias! :P
Um, Steve -
??? As I've mentioned before, know your history (though hopefully we won't have to repeat this particular passage):
In my entire adult lifetime, Rape-Public-CONs have ALWAYS gone for "what's behind door #3":
Exploding the deficit/debt (added bonus - when a Democrat gets in office to clean up their giant piles of elephant poo, they get to whinge endlessly about the burden on our children and grandchildren supposedly created by those "tax and spend" Dems). And their low-information base will always believe them...
Get Enraged and Engaged:
Mooch the Vote 2012!
;-)
More 'realistically' Mitt's math is:
-3 (tax cuts) + 2 (increased spending) = 5 (increased federal revenue)
However, never forget that THE DICK Cheney told us that "Reagan proved that deficits don't matter unless there is a democrat in the White House".
"...he claims, by closing loopholes and eliminating deductions. Which ones?"
Why the ones that help the middle class: mortgage deductions, charitable deductions, credits for college - you know the ones that help "you people" while leaving the deductions and tax credits alone for "his kind of people"!
He's not just banking on Americans not understanding arithmetic, he's also betting that WE all have Alzheimer's. Forget it Mittens, Dubya got US the last time with that nonsense, and WE are still digging ourselves out of that!
Widening the tax base sounds like a fair concept in principle. But, to get a higher percentage of Americans paying income taxes, unfortunately that CANNOT be the "47%" that he wants the working public to be so angered with and actually think that Romeny "will get them to pay" as the target base.
I just cannot understand why so many working, struggling middle class Romney/Ryan supporters do not see that it's themselves that are the "target base" to pay more. Maybe that's because the big red X's are on their back sides so they can't see it coming, but they would feel it!
It is ridiculous to think that Romney could or would become the first president to get congress to start taxing people that are so poor that they don't even have any earned income of their own. He just can't tax the 47%-- small social security checks, disability, medicaid, food stamps, SSI, etc., it's all non-taxable.
R for Romeny
R for Ryan
R for Republican
which all forget or can not use the important R as in aRithmetic.
The reason he is non-specific about which loopholes to close, and leaves that to congress, is because he knows congress will never agree. Then he can blame congress for failing to follow his plan. Even though it wasn't really a plan, just a bunch of promises to different groups that don't add up.
So of course the plan will never be tested, because it can never be enacted. "But it would have worked like magic!"
Mitt Romney has repeatedly made the case that America needs to reelect Barack Obama in his own words and actions. THe GOP's nominee simply isn't ready for the real deal, and his campaign has degenerated into a jumble of talking points and delusion. The only time Mitt has shown his true character has been to write off half of the country in the most demeaning way imaginable. Romney's message isn't getting through because he has no message to sell. The Republican Party has lurched so far off the mainstream stage and into right wing cuckoo territory that no GOP candidate needing independent or moderate votes can run on the party platform and be competitive. Mitt is losing. - pp
Hey, if the Party says two and two makes five, that's plusgood by me.
Exactly. I'm getting really freaked out here about how Orwellian this whole thing has become.
I've said many times that the most terrifying thing about 21st Century Republicans is the way they have voluntary imposed upon themselves the "reality control" mental discipline that Orwell thought it would take the coercion of a pervasive, all-seeing, all powerful totalitarian police state with complete control over information to impose upon them.
How does it make sense anyway, a cut is a cut and a loophole is a loophole. Why the big need to mix the two? And we are supposed to beleive Romney tells the truth about this?
ALL of you naive libs are forgetting Mitt's 11th hour Secret Plan!
Magic Beans!
(Ryan, you're young and fit- go climb that beanstalk!)
Before we include this in the next volume of Mitt's Mendacity (we're close to vol. 40, aren't we?) consider this quote from Mark Twain:
That he's a compulsive liar who stands for nothing but his own ambition (or perhaps Ann's?) has been established beyond cavil. We should be concerned that there are still people who listen to him and believe him, or pretend to. Even if President Obama wins the election, those people will still be around, and they'll feel angry and/or betrayed.
If Romney plans on stopping the refurbishing of tennis courts, his plan could have potential. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2123809,00.html
...either Romney would have to raise middle-class taxes to pay for the tax cuts, or he'd have scale back the size and cost of the tax cuts. It's either one or the other; there's just no way around this.
Yes there is, the tried and true Republican way. Bigger deficits.
D'oh! To paraphrase Maxwell Smart, "beat me by this much". I just posted much the same thing at #1.4 (dang it - your post wasn't there when I started typing)... LOL. I say your mind must be great, Hersch, since we think so much alike.
Get Enraged and Engaged:
Mooch the Vote 2012!
;-)
Exactly right. Bigger deficits and debt then complain about it, then force cuts to government. They only pretend to care about debt deficits so they can drown the government (read: Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, EPA, IRS, SEC, etc.) into oblivion.
Bigger deficits and debt then complain about it, then force cuts to government.
718BKNYC, you saw the republican secret plan. Run up the deficit and debt and sooner or later we will have to cut those plans people have been paying into their whole working lives.
After paying into these plans for over forty years, I think I am entitled to think I should get something back. Amazing how republican spit out the words "Entitlement Plan."
Mitt Romney is Grover Norquist's trojan horse. If this country is stupid enough to vote for such a fraudulent human being, we will very soon be slaves to the slimey likes of Norquist, Cantor, McConnell, and Rinse Pubus. This election is about the continued existence of the United States as a democracy and not a fascist dictatorship controlled by religious fanatics.
Correction "and not a fascist dictatorship
controlled bypandering to religious fanatics."If the his plan is revenue neuteral and does not affect the distributive structure, what is the point?
Actually, I'd say it's more a test to see if there's a level of BS the electorate won't buy. They bought Bush's level, which was pretty high, but Romney seems determined to find out if there's a limit, and I think he has.
only one of Mitt's sons works a job, so they neither serve the country in the military nor do they pay a fair share of income taxes. They just drive on the roads (we tax payers built that), and use up everything for the common good and would pay "not a dollar more" for the privileges. AND what he's doing isn't flip-flopping, it's straight up lying and deceit because he believes the 47% not only don't have sense enough to care for our lives, we don't know a multitude of lies when we hear them. He's just evil. I know a number of Mormons and they are ashamed of him.
Not 2+2=5, it's 2+2=22
This is why they're out to destroy public education -- they're hoping that eventually more of the 99% won't be able to figure out how they're being screwed, beyond those already voting Republican.
In general politicians and math do not mix. Most big government programs run overbudget...usually by a lot.
BREAKING
RNC cuts ties with firm over voter registration allegations
By Michael Isikoff, NBC News
The Republican National Committee has fired a controversial consulting firm it was paying millions of dollars to conduct voter registration in five battleground states, NBC News has learned.
The move came after the Palm Beach County, Fla., elections supervisor discovered 108 potentially fraudulent registration forms submitted by the GOP consulting firm, including suspected phony signatures and home addresses that matched those of a gas station, a medical building and a Land Rover dealership.
I always thought it was well understood that 2+2=5 for sufficiently large values of 2. All Mitt has to do is use the most convenient 2's he can find, which, I also always thought, was the purpose of having Paul Ryan around.
I always thought it was well understood that 2+2=5 for sufficiently large values of 2. All Mitt has to do is use the most convenient 2's he can find, which, I also always thought, was the purpose of having Paul Ryan around.
Chinese Checkers anyone?