Ahhh…so THAT’S why he wants to be the president…
It’s no secret that Mitt Romney’s run for the presidency is heavily financed and supported by the 0.1%. They stand to gain a great deal if he is elected. But a recent analysis by two groups, Citizens for Tax Justice (a liberalish group) and Tax Foundation (a conservatish group) suggest that maybe there’s as much in it for Mitt Romney as there is for his wealthy pals.
If Barack Obama is elected, his tax plan will cost Mitt Romney $5 million per year.
To see where the presidential candidates stand on taxing the rich, just look at how they’d tax themselves. Under his own proposal, Mitt Romney would pay half what he would under President Barack Obama’s tax plan. For a man of Romney’s means, that could save almost $5 million a year.For Obama, not as loaded as Romney but still well-off, losing re-election could provide a tax windfall. He’d save as much as $90,000 a year if Romney’s plan were enacted rather than his own tax-the-rich vision.
Two nonprofit research groups, the liberal-leaning Citizens for Tax Justice and conservative-leaning Tax Foundation, did the calculations, based on the most recent completed tax returns released by the candidates. Compared with what they owed in April, both men would be dinged in 2013 under Obama’s proposal, along with other wealthy taxpayers. They could expect savings under Romney, depending on which tax breaks the former Massachusetts governor decides to oppose.
Self-interest, kids. It’s what’s for breakfast president.
UPDATE: Jon Perr at PERRspectives.com has a very interesting take on this and shows that the $5 million in savings for Romney is actually a bit of an understatement:
On Monday, the Associated Press gave Mitt Romney great headline. Summing up recent analyses comparing how President Obama and his challenger would fare under their own tax plans, the AP reported “Obama win could cost Romney $5M in personal taxes.” Rather than declaring “Romney would cut his own tax bill in half,” the AP instead seemed to suggest Governor Romney and his ilk would be the target of punitive taxes in a second Obama term. Even more glaring, Romney’s plan to eliminate the estate tax was omitted altogether. And with just that one change, President Romney’s heirs could theoretically pocket an $80 million windfall from the United States Treasury, a revenue hole that would have to be filled by all other American taxpayers.
His post is a must-read, full of charts and analysis we should all be paying attention to.
[CC image by: NotionsCapital.com]
