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With a peg to the upcoming legislative push for the "Buffett rule" adjustment of tax rates for the very wealthy, the message of the day from President Obama's Chicago-based re-election campaign was this: "Mitt Romney is the beneficiary of a broken tax system, and he wants to keep it that way."
Those were the words of campaign manager Jim Messina, who joined Sen. Dick Durbin and Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin in a conference call to talk about what they dub economic "fairness" in the tax system.
According to Durbin, who hammered Romney on his reported past holdings in overseas banks, fairness is a foreign concept to a candidate who benefited from a "Swiss bank account."
Durbin said of the semi-presumptive GOP that it is "impossible for him to explain or defend" the overseas account, paraphrasing Buffett Rule-envisoner Warren Buffett himself in saying "there are plenty of good banks in the United States."
Participants were pointed in naming examples of Romney's personal wealth (Messina invoked the famed car-elevator in plans for the former governor's La Jolla, CA home), saying that Romney's tax structure "looks out for people just like him."
Another example: Romney's limiting of his tax return disclosure to just two years -- 21 fewer than the number of years worth of documents he reportedly disclosed to the McCain campaign when being vetted for the VP slot four years ago.
"Romney supports tax policies that reward people like him, and now he's just trying to obscure just how much he would benefit by hiding his own financial records," Messina said.
But the campaign demurred when asked by a reporter if Obama would agree to release as many years of records as the 23 it's demanding of his rival, saying only that Romney must live up to the standard set by his own 2008 vetting process.
Obama has released tax records dating back to 2000.
The Romney camp released this statement before today's Obama campaign conference call: “President Obama is the first president in history to openly campaign for re-election on a platform of higher taxes. He has already raised taxes on millions of Americans, but he won’t stop there. He wants to raise taxes on millions more by taxing small businesses and job creators. We appreciate the Obama campaign reinforcing Mitt Romney’s platform of lowering tax rates across the board in order to jumpstart this bad Obama economy.”
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Well well I guess I need to throw out a few pesky facts. I know that you Lib/Prog don't believe in them BUT they are what they are. First Buffet, when he says he pays MORE taxes than his secretary, he refers to the tax RATE not the amount. And if Mr Buffet were honest he would also tell us that he pays taxes on the money when it is earned, THEN he pays taxes on the money made from the investment, and finally he pays taxes in a huge way when he dies. He is also fighting paying the very taxes he would gladly? pay more of from 2002 and has spent millions fighting the government. Warren why not put your money where your mouth is! And as a part of the tax increase plan he put forth he also called for DRAMATIC cuts in spending which seems to be missing from grate leaders class warfare rhetoric. So he like all you typical Lib/Prog is at a minimum mis stating the facts. Second the top 1% pay right at 35% give or take of federal taxes and the top 10% pay 70.5% of federal taxes AND the bottom 49% pay ZERO taxes. So one had to wonder where that is fair? And when talking about fair one might want to address the following facts presented by Wynton Hall in an article posted today titled 7 Devastating FACTS about the Obama economy "
1. Every fifth man in America is out of a job. Indeed, black male unemployment is now at the highest rate it has ever been since the U.S. government began collecting statistics on the subject in 1972. Just 56.9 percent of black men over the age of 20 are now working. Indeed, according to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), one out of every six African Americans, male or female, are now unemployed.
2. Every seventh person you pass on the sidewalk now relies on food stamps.
3. On the last day of President Bush's presidency, gas prices were $1.84 a gallon. Today under Obama, the average price of a gallon of gas costs $3.94. Easter weekend in Catalina Island, California, drivers saw prices topping $7 a gallon.
4. In 2006 and 2007, 90% of all college graduates found a job. Under Obama, just 56% of college graduates are able to find a job.
5. More than one in four U.S. homeowners are "under water" or owe more than their homes are worth. The housing crisis has now destroyed $7 trillion in U.S. household wealth. Another 9.5 million homes are still at risk of default, sparking what analysts believe will be a second wave of foreclosures in the months to come.
6. President Obama has increased the national debt more in three years than President Bush did in eight. Under Bush, the debt rose $4.899 trillion in eight years. In three years, Obama has exploded the debt by $4.939 trillion.
7. A record 87,897,000 Americans are no longer in the labor force. When the number of individuals who have stopped looking for a job and/or who are working part-time but desire full-time employment is included--a figure known as the "underemployment rate"--real unemployment stands at 19.1%.
As President Obama said in a speech a week ago, "In three years we’ve begun to see what change looks like."
Read more: http://www.ktrh.com/pages/michaelberry.html?article=10026911#ixzz1rkUbVhI4
Finally it is very ironic that the man wants to rescind the Obama tax cuts. I mean they were implemented by Bush, however, when grate leader had a golden opportunity to rescind them with control of both the House and the Senate he did not do so and therefore they became the Obama tax cuts. Come on people if raising taxes on the alleged rich is such a PERFECT solution now why was in not then? Because the devastation that will be created would have ruined ANY hope that he had of re election. So the ONLY people that think we are doing well are the Barrack Inane Obama zombies and the 49% that are on the government teat. Facts are facts folks and to continue to blame Bush (although he was by no means stellar) after a 6 trillion dollar increase in deficit spending is just a pure absurdity.
Buffoon is for adding the Buffoon rule, since it will not make a difference to him. Also, Warren's company owes $300,000,000 in back federal taxes.
To McRob:
From IRS Tax Tip 2012-35, February 22, 2012
"7. The tax rates that apply to net capital gain are generally lower than the tax rates that apply to other income. For 2011, the maximum capital gains rate for most people is 15 percent."
I'm guessing that you have never had any net capital gains. Otherwise you would've known about Form 1040 Schedule D and the special rates applied to capital gains.