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From: Kevin Possin
Mitt Romney’s nose was quite long by the end of the October 3 debate.
1. According to the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress, increasing taxes on the wealthy will not stunt economic growth, nor will tax cuts for the wealthy spur growth. According to Tax Policy Center economist Howard Gleckman, the wealthy are most likely to keep the money instead of spending it or hiring employees. Romney’s own economic advisor, Greg Mankiw, concurs. Since the wealthy already have the means to hire but choose not to, Romney’s $5 trillion tax cut would invariably increase our debt.
2. The administration is not responsible for the drop in median income. Median income has been declining for more than a decade, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
3. The administration is not responsible for all the debt since taking office. According to Reagan advisor Bruce Bartlett, George W. Bush “is more responsible.” And, according to The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the Bush tax cuts, our two wars, and the economic downturn explain virtually the entire deficit we face over the next decade.
4. Half of the green initiatives have not failed. Of the 26 loan guarantees granted, only 3 have filed for bankruptcy, and one of these, Beacon Power, is still operating and has repaid most of its loan and rehired most of its employees. And, according to Bloomberg Businessweek, there is no evidence of cronyism after a lengthy investigation into the Solyndra failure.
5. Repealing health care legislation will not decrease the deficit, it will in fact increase it, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
6. Romney’s repeal of health care legislation does not keep the requirement that insurance companies must admit people with pre-existing conditions. And Romney’s plan to simply turn Medicare over to the states is really no plan at all.
7. Cutting funding for Public Broadcasting ($450M) would not seriously help reduce total federal spending ($3.5 trillion). Romney’s suggestion is especially egregious as he defends continuation of the $4B annual subsidy to Exxon Mobile with annual profits of $40B.
8. Romney does in fact want to raise your taxes. He says he wants to “broaden the tax base,” and that is code for raising taxes on middle- and lower-income earners.
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