To pay for a single $250,00 tax cut for someone like Romney who makes more than $3 million a year, 125 middle-class families would have to pay $2,000 more in taxes every year.
When it comes to middle-class taxes, we knew Mitt Romney's plan was bad. But now, according to nonpartisan analysis, we know just how bad it is: If Romney wants to pay for his budget-busting $5 trillion tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, he'll have to raise taxes on millions of middle-class families.
To pay for his reckless plan, Romney would have to slash some of the most important tax benefits for the middle class—benefits like health insurance premiums covered by their employer, interest on home mortgages, donations to charity, and children and child care. Romney would also have to raise taxes on the middle class; families with children who make less than $200,000 would see their taxes spike by an average of $2,000.
To put it in perspective: To pay for a single $250,00 tax cut for someone like Romney who makes more than $3 million a year, 125 middle-class families would have to pay $2,000 more in taxes every year.
This is a formula we've tried before—and it crashed our economy and punished the middle class. Romney's plan won't create jobs or grow our economy in the long run, and it's also just fundamentally unfair. As President Obama noted in a speech today, "He's not asking you to contribute more to pay down the deficit or to invest in our kids' education. He's asking you to pay more so that people like him can get a tax cut."
President Obama has a very different plan. It's a plan to prevent a tax hike on the middle class, enact spending cuts and reforms, and ask the wealthiest to pay their fair share. He's already cut taxes by $3,600 for a typical family, and he's calling on Congress to stop a tax increase on 98 percent of Americans.
Mitt Romney wants to raise your taxes. President Obama wants to cut them. This is the choice we face.