Listen to Mitt Romney tell a crowd he wants to cut taxes for small business, but
"don't be expecting a huge cut in taxes." because he is also going to lower the kind of deductions and exemptions a small business can claim, effectively raising taxes on small business, which would pretty much cancel out any tax cuts they may receive from Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney. Confusing? Yes. What's more confusing is why the hell Mitt would even mention this.
Watch . . . .
Here is the transcript via ThinkProgress.org
ROMNEY: Number 5, I’m going to champion small business. Small business, where jobs come from. And let me tell you how to do that. One, as Sen. Portman said, we’ve got to reform our tax system. Look, small businesses typically pay tax at the individual tax rate. And so, our individual income taxes are ones I want to reform, make them simpler. I want to bring the rates down. By the way, don’t be expecting a huge cut in taxes, because I’m also going to lower deductions and exemptions. But by bringing rates down, we’ll be able to let small businesses keep more of their money, so they can hire more people.
Did Mitt just admit that his whole tax plan for small businesses is what Rachel Maddow would call "bullpucky"?
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So Mitt isn't going to really cut taxes for small business or working class business owners, and we all know Mitt "isn't very concerned with the very poor", so who is Mitt going to cut taxes for? Not the super rich like Mitt Romney, just ask Mitt Romney . . .
Mitt Romney: The policies I've put forward are tax cuts for the middle class. I'm proposing no tax cuts for the rich.
Wait, but you just said you want to cut taxes for the middle class, but then you said that they shouldn't expect huge tax cuts because President Mitt would close some loopholes and lower exemption that small businesses currently enjoy. It turns out, the only way to get a straight answer out of Mitt is to give his campaign $50,000, and then you will get answers like this out of Mitt . . .
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Romney: "So our message of low taxes doesn't connect"
Well if you are aware that "low taxes doesn't connect" then why are you still pushing it as your main message, Mitt?
Telling small businesses in Ohio that they should not be expecting much from your tax policy because the loopholes you would close would offset any tax cuts they might get is just asinine. In Romney's 5-talking point plan, he has a whole talking point for "Small Business" that includes . . .
Reduce taxes on job creation through individual and corporate tax reform.
Stop the increases in regulations that are tangling job creators in red tape
Protect workers and businesses from strong arm labor union tactics
Replace Obamacare with real health care reform that controls costs and improves care
Romney's One Page Totally Serious Plan to Envigorate The Common Folk
The tangling! Oh the horrific tangling!
Workers get one mention. ONE. Workers can fuck off in the Mitt Romney Small Business plan where they will be protected from decent wages and labor rights. The Job Creator is exalted twice, defended from ominous red tape and useless regulations like consumer protection and such, and the number one priority is "tax reform" for individuals and corporations. Small business shouldn't expect huge tax cuts, but for corporations, well, corporations are people my friends . . .
As Ezra Klien stated months back, the wealthiest Americans would see the lions share of any tax cuts under Romney's proposals, and Paul Ryan's budget actually goes further than Mittens would.
. . . . While Romney would bring taxes for top incomes down to 28 percent, Ryan has proposed bringing the top rate down even lower, to 25 percent. Meanwhile, Ryan’s plan would actually increase the effective tax rate on the very poorest Americans by getting rid of tax breaks that benefit low earners.
Under Ryan’s plan, the six tiers of tax rates would be simplified to two rates: 25 percent for higher earners and 10 percent for lower-earners. But the overall impact of the Ryan budget would still disproportionately benefit the wealthy. The top 20 percent would get a $13,907 tax cut in 2015, and the top 1 percent would get a whopping $155,808 tax break, according to an analysis by the Tax Policy Center. By contrast, the bottom 20 percent of Americans would pay $159 more in taxes in 2015.
*Bold text added by the diarist
Has anyone mentioned how Paul Ryan's budget would literally eliminate the middle class? Two tax brackets, 25% for the haves and 10% for the have nots.
Mitt's "Don't be expecting a huge cut in taxes" comment to small business makes no sense, except for it is the truth. Why Mitt would downplay the positive effects of his proposal is idiotic from a political perspective, but it was a kind of rare moment of truth from Romney. The only way he can cut taxes across the board without driving the deficit through the roof overnight is to close some meaningless exemptions that don't bother rich guys like Mitt Romney, say the kind the middle class and small businesses need, yeah, that's the ticket . . . Why would Mitt say this? When you are running a disaster campaign where you have alienated so many voters, when your big thing is tax cuts, why would you tell the people of Ohio who are small job creators "Don't be expecting huge tax cuts"?
Romney/Ryan! America's Comeback Team! just don't be expecting a huge comeback.
Meanwhile they are complaining that 47% of America aren't paying taxes? So cutting taxes for some people is noble but other people aren't paying enough, and guess what? It's the poor who are robbing the rich! Yes, that is what Romney's tax plan boils down to, God, wouldn't it be awful for the Republican party if Mitt Romney actually said that out loud on tape . . . .
Only the people who can afford to fork over $50,000, around the average yearly salary for a wage earning American, only the people who can fork over that to listen to the charisma that is Mitt Romney in person should be expecting huge tax cuts from Romney/Ryan. But for Romney to actually say that small business shouldn't expect huge things from him, well, just wow. And to think, this guy is the best the GOP has.