· September 27, 2012

IO Report shows why Romney needs to “reboot” his policies

There’s a story in the New York Times describing yet another reboot of the Romney for President campaign. We’ll call this reboot, the compassionate Romney. Compassionate Romney speaks into a camera for 60 seconds and tells you it’s hard out there, he knows it, and, well, he cares. Then it’s blame Obama and ends with “my plan will work.” This tear-jerker comes ten days after the 47% video in which he dispassionately tells a roomful of power wigs half the country are shirkers and he’s written them off. This reboot should go into the file marked: “Will say anything to get elected.” What this more tender Mitt Romney is saying doesn’t square with the policy proposals he’s brought forth as his surefire plan. Here’s what we know of the Romney-Ryan Plan:

• Tax cuts for the wealthy
• Paid for by effectively raising taxes on the middle class, elderly and working poor

IO worked with the Center for American Progress on a recent report: The Real Cost of the Romney-Ryan Plan to Ohioans. Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Millionaires in Ohio would receive around $87,000 in tax cuts under Romney-Ryan. To help pay for that, the currently untaxed health coverage that 6 million families in Ohio receive from their employers would be taxed. The bill per year, per family would range from $1,000 to $1,900. The mortgage deduction would also take a hit, nailing middle income earners. Taxes on mortgages would increase over $1,000 per family.
• Working families and single parents struggling to balance work and childcare would get hit by Romney Economics. Currently, 158,000 families claim the child care tax credit. Romney’s plan is to reduce that credit by 58%. This would cost each of those families in Ohio $318 more per year for child care through the increase in taxes. Helping lower income workers with child care through this tax credit is an incentive to work.
• 1.6 million lower income working families in Ohio qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable portion of the child tax credit. Both of these credits were improved in the Obama Stimulus in 2009. Romney’s plan calls for rolling back those improvements which would cost these Ohio working families about $876 each per year.

There’s so much more – read the report linked above. The point is high rollers win, most people lose in Ohio under Romney Economics. We’ve looked at the numbers in Ohio, but given that these are federal policies, middle class and lower income workers are clobbered from sea to shining sea by the Romney-Ryan plan. Don’t get fooled by gauzy campaign ads — Romney may reboot his message, but he hasn’t rebooted his budget and tax priorities.