Obama campaign: Romney, Perry tax plans help wealthy, hurt those who work

[jefferson_dem]

Obama campaign: Romney, Perry tax plans help wealthy, hurt those who work

Posted by CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jessica Yellin

(CNN) - A new Obama campaign memo slams Rick Perry's and Mitt Romney’s tax proposals, leveling a charge that’s now a campaign theme: the rich will benefit at the expense of the middle class if a Republican claims the White House in 2012.

The memo, by Obama campaign policy director James Kvaal, charges that under both Romney's and Perry’s tax plans, “the most fortunate Americans would pay less while the middle class would pay a higher share.” It describes their economic plans as “far right," draws parallels to proposals by congressional Republicans, and repeatedly charges that those who make money by investing wealth will prosper while those who live off of “work” will suffer. It’s a version of the warrior-for-the-middle-class message the president has been repeating since he began selling his jobs plan earlier this year.

The memo comes the same day Texas Gov. Perry unveiled his plan for a flat tax. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Perry says his plan will let taxpayers choose between “a new, flat tax rate of 20% or their current income tax rate. The new flat tax preserves mortgage interest, charitable and state and local tax exemptions for families earning less than $500,000 annually, and it increases the standard deduction to $12,500 for individuals and dependents..” It would also eliminate the tax on Social Security benefits.

Steve Forbes, perhaps the best known flat-tax advocate, endorsed Perry, and in an appearance on Fox News praised the plan’s “radical simplicity” insisting it will “make it worthwhile to invest in America again, drastically simplifying the tax code, lowering the corporate tax rate.”

The Obama campaign’s memo suggests it is people in Forbes’ very privileged tax bracket who will most benefit from the Perry flat tax. In the memo Kvaal argues that in general flat-tax proposals “eliminate all taxation on capital gains and other investment income so that the wealthiest who generate much of their income from investments rather than work see huge gains.”

<SNIP>

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/10/25/obama-campaign-romney-perry-tax-plans-help-wealthy-hurt-those-who-work/