Right Change: Romney Talks Taxes on “Meet the Press”

In a rare appearance on NBC’s Sunday morning political show, Meet the Press, Mitt Romney defended attacks on how he will handle tax cuts for the middle class and the wealthy if elected president. Romney last appeared on the show in 2009 and actually taped the segment on Saturday during a campaign stop in New Hampshire. Presidential candidates seldom if ever appear live on the show – even Obama has been conspicuously absent for the last three years.

In response to interviewer David Gregory’s questions about his tax plan, the former Massachusetts governor said the Democrats accusation that he will raise taxes on the middle class is absolutely false.

Contrary to what the Democrats are saying, I'm not going to increase the tax burden on middle-income families. It would absolutely be wrong to do that. But you know I've had the experience of being a governor. I've demonstrated that I have the capacity to balance budgets. I balanced them four years in a row in Massachusetts and we cut the taxes 19 times in Massachusetts.

I can tell you that people at the high end, high-income taxpayers, are going to have fewer deductions and exemptions. Those numbers are going to come down. Otherwise, they'd get a tax break. And I want to make sure people understand, despite what the Democrats said at their convention. I am not reducing taxes on high-income taxpayers. I'm bringing down the rate of taxation, but also bringing down deductions and exemptions at the high end so the revenues stay the same, the taxes people pay stay the same.

Middle-income people are going to get a break. But at the high end, the tax coming in stays the same. But we encourage small business, because small business is able to keep more of what it makes and therefore hire more people, which is my priority.

When Gregory pressed Romney about balancing the budget, Romney acknowledged the difficulties of reducing a $16 trillion debt in just four years.

I'll balance the budget by the end of my second term. Doing it in the first term would cause, I believe, a dramatic impact on the economy. Too, too dramatic, and therefore the steps I've put in place and we've put together a plan that lays out how we get to a balanced budget within eight to 10 years.

Gregory then tried to back Romney in a corner, begging him to concede that he will have to water-down his policies and principles in order to get a deal done with Congress. Romney would not give in, standing on convictions built through years of experience in government and the private sector.

There's nothing wrong with the term compromise, but there is something very wrong with the term abandoning one's principles. And I'm going to stand by my principles. And those are--I am not going to raise taxes on the American people. Our problem in our country isnot that we're not paying enough taxes. It's that we're spending too much money and the economy is not growing as it could and should. 

Look, we've just watched another month of tepid job numbers. This does not look like a recovery. The President's policies have meant that this economy is not growing as it should. The fastest way to balance our budget is to grow the economy, put more people to work, see rising incomes. That’s how you balance budgets. And so my tax policy is not designed to say, “Oh, let's get some more money from people.” It's designed to say, “Let's get more growth of the economy, hire more people so we can get more tax revenues the way we ought to.”

Criticism of Romney’s words came down immediately after the show aired Sunday morning. Politico’s Ginger Gibson called Romney out for a lack of specifics and math to support his plan. Bloomberg’s Roxana Tiron said the governor is basing the effectiveness of his plan on assumptions made by economists and analysts. Suffice it to say the country will need to see and/or hear specific details based on real-life, past examples if Romney is to convince voters his plan is better than Obama’s. We are all waiting on these specifics and the upcoming debates are just the time and place for another one of the challenger’s power point presentations.

Romney will get his first shot at the President on October 3rd in Denver, CO. The running mates will square off on October 11th in Kentucky. The final two presidential debates are set for the 16th and 22nd of the same month in New York and Florida, respectively. With the conventions concluded and any momentum gained or lost in the books, it will all come down to the debates. Expect Romney to continue to harp on the economy and jobs. And expect to see those elusive details and specifics come to the forefront. If not, don’t expect Romney to prevail in November.

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