Contributors

Saturday, October 06, 2012

The Biggest Loophole of All

The Romney campaign seems to be completely baffled by people who keep asking them which loopholes they're going to close when they reduce taxes. The standard answer is, "We'll figure that out once we're elected. We'll consult closely with Congress and the American people."

Why do they dodge and weave on this particular issue, when they're quite specific about equally touchy issues? Like, say, health care and Obama's requirement that employers pay for contraception, two things that Romney and Ryan have pledged they will make go away on "day one." (Day one would be an awfully busy day for them.)

Now, nearly every Republican in Congress has taken the pledge to never raise taxes, and that pledge also includes removing loopholes that would result in tax increases. Romney gladly signed on to that.

So, I don't believe for an instant that any Republican would dare go against Grover Norquist on this issue, especially when he and his ilk have already forced many Republicans, like Dick Lugar (Dick Lugar!), into retirement when they were found insufficiently conservative.

But there's a very good reason why they won't answer the loophole question: they know it just doesn't matter. Romney's plan will eliminate taxes on capital gains and dividends—the way wealthy people like Romney earn almost all their income. Under his own tax plan Romney's tax rate would be cut almost zero because nearly all of his $14 million income was in capital gains.
 Romney's plan is one big lie: the biggest loophole of all is having a different tax rate on capital gains and dividends in the first place.

1 comment:

juris imprudent said...

You were good with PPACA and "we have to pass this bill to know what is in it" - why should you care about Romney's ambiguity now?

The truth is neither party is really serious about fiscal responsibility despite what they both say.