After laughing at the spectacle of Romney's speech, look at the emptiness of his plan
Romney's speech in Detroit was billed as a major economic speech. First of all, no one really showed up, as can be seen in the photos of the empty stadium. Not to be overlooked, though, his economic plan didn't show up either. He offered the typical, tired republican plans that have failed us for decades. Cut taxes. That's it. He then has the audacity to claim that these proposed tax cuts would not add to the deficit.
And, like a good republican, along with tax cuts, he offers to cut funding to the social safety nets and lay off 10% of the federal government employees. Only in magic-math gopper land do tax cuts and layoffs equal job growth and deficit reduction. This isn't the emperor wearing no clothes, this is the robot having no data.
The tax cuts:
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First, I will make an across-the-board, 20% reduction in marginal individual income tax rates. By reducing the tax on the next dollar of income earned by all taxpayers, we will encourage hard work, risk-taking, and productivity by allowing Americans to keep more of what they earn.
The businesses that pay taxes through the individual income tax system account for more than half of all private sector jobs in the United States. So this tax cut will encourage businesses to hire, raise wages, and grow the economy.
Second, I will make our business taxation globally competitive. I will reduce the corporate tax rate to 25%. Currently, it’s among the highest in the developed world; I will bring it in line with other nations.
I will make the R&D tax credit permanent so we can encourage the kind of innovation that drives economic growth. And I will end the job-killing repatriation tax, so American companies who do business overseas will bring their profits here and invest at home.
Third, I will promote savings and investment by maintaining the 15% rate on capital gains and dividends. I will eliminate the tax entirely for those with annual income below $200,000. These low tax rates will encourage Americans to save and invest – and they will encourage business investment and economic growth.
Finally, I will repeal the Alternative Minimum Tax, and I will abolish the death tax.
These changes will not add to the deficit.
The program cuts:
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Of course, we’ll start with the easiest cut of all: Obamacare, a trillion-dollar entitlement we don’t want and can’t afford. It’s bad medicine, bad policy, and when I’m President, the bad news of Obamacare will be over.
We’ll also cut things like subsidies to Amtrak and funding for Planned Parenthood. We’ll repeal the union giveaway called the Davis-Bacon Act to save taxpayers over $10 billion per year.
Second, we will return federal programs to the states.
I will send Medicaid back to the states and cap that program’s rate of growth. And I will do the same for other programs, like food stamps, housing subsidies, and job training.
States are better equipped to perform all these functions. Once the economy is really growing again, I believe that we should return spending on these programs to pre-recession levels, cap their rate of growth, and give the states flexibility and control. Taxpayers would save money, and those in need would benefit from programs that are more effective, efficient, and responsive.
Welfare reform showed us how well a state-led approach can work.
Let’s extend that conservative, small-government philosophy across the entire social safety net.
Finally, government itself must be made more efficient.
I will shrink the size of the federal workforce by 10% and link the pay and benefits of federal employees to those of their peers in the private sector. Public servants should not make more than the Americans who pay their salaries.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120224/NEWS15/120224034/Text-of-Mitt-Romney-s-speech-to-the-Detroit-Economic-Club His "major economic speech" was a flop, any way you look at it.
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