US Pres. Candidate Romney Promises Not To Cut Taxes on Wealthy Americans

US Pres. Candidate Romney Promises Not To Cut Taxes on Wealthy Americans

Mitt Romney rejected claims by President Barack Obama that he would sign off on more tax breaks for the wealthy if elected president, but again declined to offer specifics on how exactly he would accomplish his goal of lowering taxes for other Americans while also balancing the budget.

In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," Romney said he would offset his proposed 20 percent tax cut for all Americans by eliminating loopholes and deductions for high-income earners. He argued that his plan would in effect lower taxes for middle class Americans while keeping tax rates the same for wealthy Americans.

"People at the high end, high income taxpayers, are going to have fewer deductions and exemptions. Those numbers are going to come down. Otherwise they'd get a tax break," Romney told NBC. "And I want to make sure people understand, despite what the Democrats said at their convention, I am not reducing taxes on high income taxpayers."

Romney argued that limiting deductions and exceptions would keep government revenues up and "encourage more hiring" and "encourage growth" in the economy. He said he wants to "makes sure we don't put any bigger burden on middle income people."

But asked about "the specifics of how you get into this math," Romney declined to offer any additional details, suggesting the "principals" of his plan should be enough for Americans to judge his tax proposals.

"The specifics are these which is those principles I described are the heart of my policy," Romney said. "And I've indicated as well that contrary to what the Democrats are saying I'm not going to increase the tax burden on middle-income families. It would absolutely be wrong to do that."

The Republican presidential nominee criticized GOP lawmakers in Congress–a group that includes his running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan-- for backing automatic budget cuts during debt negotiations last year. Under the agreement signed by the White House and the Republican Congress, the automatic cuts, known in Washington as "sequestration," will automatically remove $1.2 trillion from the budget unless lawmakers can find other cuts to replace them. 

Posted by James Fried on Monday September 10 2012, 3:30 AM EDT. Ref: Reuters. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Nation. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0