Romney deflected questions about the fuzzy math of his tax plan last debate by claiming that no less than six different studies show that you can cut the wealthy's taxes by 20% and have it be wholly revenue neutral without raising taxes on the middle class or increasing the deficit.
Unfortunately none of these studies are holding up. Yesterday Romney wasn't even safe on Fox News as Chris Wallace called him on the fact that all these studies are by partisan Republican blogs or conservative think tanks or in one case a former George W. Bush adviser.
"Of the six studies, two are blog posts by the conservative American Enterprise Institute; one is a report by the Republican-friendly Heritage Foundation; one is a paper by Princeton professor and former George W. Bush adviser Harvey Rosen; the fifth and sixth are a paper and Wall Street Journal op-ed by Harvard economist Martin Feldstein, an adviser to the Romney campaign."
"In addition, not all the studies appear to reach the same conclusion as Romney. He contends they show that it’s possible to lower tax rates across the board by 20 percent and avoid adding to the deficit by unwinding deductions and credits for high incomes. That’s not the case."
"Feldstein’s reports, for instance, conclude that the numbers add up if effective taxes rise on incomes between $100,000 and $200,000, even though Romney has ruled that out. Rosen, for his part, makes the math work by omitting part of the revenue losses and assuming huge economic growth effects from tax reform."
"Months ago, Romney’s proposal was called into question by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which found that even under friendly assumptions, there aren’t enough loopholes in the tax code for incomes above $200,000 to make up for his nearly $5 trillion in tax cuts. In other words, the plan would either force the middle class to pay more or increase the deficit."
"The other studies that Romney cites — the two blog posts by AEI and the report by Heritage — question the contours of the TPC paper or posit different revenue baselines. Neither of them comprehensively illustrate how the GOP nominee’s math might add up."
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/10/romney-challenged-on-six-studies-validating-tax-plan.php?ref=fpa
If Chris Wallace is calling Romney on this it's a sign that this is making the consciousness-finally-of the MSM. It's perfect timing for the President to push back on Romney tomorrow if we hear any more-as I expect we will-about these "six studies."
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