FISCAL ISSUES: ROMNEY
SPECIFIC POLICY POSITIONS
GENERAL PHILOSOPHY
Although some Republicans have fretted that Romney is a RINO—“Republican in Name Only”— his fiscal proposals tell a different story. In fact, they closely follow conservative thinking, down to his selection of House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan as his running mate and his support for Ryan’s controversial plan that calls for deep cuts in domestic spending, broad changes in Medicare and Medicaid, and lower tax rates, all while protecting defense spending. Romney believes that lower marginal tax rates for individuals and lower capital-gains rates will stimulate the economy, boost economic growth, and lift the country out of its economic doldrums. He says he is the person to lead this turnaround, citing his business background.
TAXES
As president, Romney would tackle taxes two ways: reduce rates and overhaul the tax code. In addition to making the Bush-era tax cuts permanent, he has proposed slashing the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent; reducing individual income-tax rates by 20 percent across the board; and eliminating the estate tax, the alternative minimum tax, and tax provisions from the 2010 health care law. He would end taxes on long-term capital gains, dividends, and interest for families who earn under $200,000. To pay for such large reductions, Romney has said he would make the tax code less complex by eliminating some yet-to-be-determined breaks. He also proposes to switch to a territorial tax system.
DEFICIT REDUCTION
To reduce the deficit, Romney would make deep spending cuts and cap federal spending at 20 percent of GDP by the end of 2016—with the goal of eventually bringing it down to between 18 percent and 20 percent—well below its level in recent decades. He has made the country’s mounting debt a key point in his case against Obama. “A prairie fire of debt is sweeping across Iowa and our nation,” he said at a campaign stop in Des Moines, “and every day we fail to act, we feed that fire with our own lack of resolve.”
SPENDING
Many of Romney’s spending proposals echo the budget proposals of his running mate, who is chairman of the House Budget Committee. Like Ryan, Romney would cap federal spending; repeal the 2010 health care law; cut the size and salaries of the federal workforce; and turn Medicaid into a block-grant program that would give control to the states, shifting it from an open-ended entitlement and limiting its funding. Romney has said he would follow the House GOP budget and cut nondefense discretionary spending by 5 percent immediately.
RECORD
SPENDING
Massachusetts’ state spending fell by at least $350 million on Romney’s watch as governor from 2002 to 2007, according to The Washington Post’s fact-checker.
BUDGET
During his governorship, Romney balanced the budget and bolstered the state’s rainy-day fund. Only problem for GOP voters? He did so by increasing state fees and closing tax loopholes.
TAXES
Romney’s campaign says that he did not raise taxes as governor, but, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayer Foundation, he did close 22 loopholes, which raised between $850 million and $1.2 billion. The Club for Growth graded his tax record as a C. Romney declined to sign activist Grover Norquist’s antitax pledge as governor, but as a presidential contender he signed on in 2006.
KEY ADVISERS
Gregory Mankiw: Although his career has been primarily in academia, Mankiw served as chairman of President Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers from 2003 to 2005. He is on leave from an economics professorship at Harvard University.
R. Glenn Hubbard: Like Mankiw, Hubbard served as economics-council chairman under Bush. He is the dean of the Columbia Business School, where he has taught since 1988. He is also a director at several companies, including ADP, BlackRock Closed-End Funds, KKR Financial, and MetLife.
Jim Talent: A former senator from Missouri, Talent worked on Romney’s 2008 campaign and is now a key economic-policy adviser. He is also a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, where he studies welfare reform and military issues.
Vin Weber: Weber, a former House member from Minnesota, is the managing partner at Clark & Weinstock, a Washington-based consulting firm. In the early 1990s, he was an acolyte of then-Rep. Newt Gingrich.
Get the latest news and analysis delivered to your inbox. Sign up for National Journal's morning alert, Wake-Up Call, and afternoon newsletter, The Edge. Subscribe here.
Leave A Comment