Both ends of the Republican ticket defended the math underlying their economic proposals in interviews aired Sunday, insisting that cutting taxes for the wealthy and eliminating tax loopholes will spur economic growth.
But GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan continued to deflect questions about what specific loopholes they would seek to close.
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Romney and Ryan both responded to criticism leveled by former President Bill Clinton that Republican budget “arithmetic” — including cuts in tax rates for the rich and increased defense spending — cannot work without elimination of big middle-class tax advantages such as the mortgage interest deduction.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Romney cited multiple economic studies that he said show that closing loopholes and bringing down tax rates across the board “can create enormous incentive for growth of the economy.’’
“Middle-income people are going to get a break,” Romney said.
Both candidates resisted naming any specific loopholes they would seek to cut. Ryan, speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” said such a discussion is best left for after the November election, when the issues can be debated before the public in Congress.
“I’ve been in Congress a number of years. I’ve been on the Ways and Means Committee for 12 years,” Ryan said. “And we think the best way to do this is to get this framework in place and then negotiate, work with Democrats, work with people across the aisle, have these kinds of hearings, have this conversation to get this objective.”
Romney, who has promised to create 12 million new jobs in his first term, discounted a report by Moody’s Investors Service and other analysts predicting creation of 12 million new jobs no matter which of the two major presidential candidates is elected.
“If the president’s reelected you’re going to see chronic high unemployment continue for another four years or longer,” Romney said. “You’re going to see low-wage growth, if any growth at all. And of course there will always be this fiscal calamity at our doorstep. A crisis potential at our doorstep. The kind you’re seeing in Europe today.”
Romney also criticized congressional Republicans for agreeing to defense cuts as part of a deal with the White House last summer to extend the debt ceiling. It cuts $1.2 trillion in spending over the next decade, beginning in January. The Obama administration had hoped to use the agreement, called sequestration, as the basis for further negotiations on reducing the deficit. Romney called Republican support for defense cuts “an extraordinary miscalculation in the wrong direction.” Among the House Republicans voting for the deal was Ryan (R-Wis.).
Romney said his economic plan would keep defense spending at the current level of GDP.
Romney did indicate that there was common ground with Obama on health care. He said if elected, he would retain certain provisions of the Obama health-care overhaul, including coverage to those with preexisting medical conditions.
“I’m not getting rid of all health-care reform,” Romney said. “There are a number of things that I like in health-care reform that I’m going to put in place.”
President Obama addressed economic concerns in an interview excerpted on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He said he was still willing to seek a so-called “grand bargain” with congressional Republicans to cut the deficit. But he asserted that he would not go beyond the ratio of $2.5 in cuts for every dollar of increases in revenue.
CBS’s Scott Pelley pointed out that this ratio had already been rejected by the GOP.
“Well, and, you know, that’s part of what this election’s about. Governor Romney said he wouldn’t take a deal with $10 of spending cuts for $1 of revenue increases,” said Obama, referring to Romney’s response to a primary season debate question.
“And the problem is the math, or the arithmetic, as President Clinton said, doesn’t add up,” Obama said. “You can’t reduce the deficit unless you take a balanced approach that says, ‘We’ve gotta make government leaner and more efficient,’ but we’ve also got to ask people like me or Governor Romney who have done better than anybody else over the course of the last decade and whose taxes are just about lower than they’ve been in the last 50 years to do a little bit more.”
But GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney and vice presidential running mate Paul Ryan continued to deflect questions about what specific loopholes they would seek to close.
Graphic
Explore the 2012 electoral map and view historical results and demographics
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David Nakamura In a reversal of roles, it was Obama asking to see hard evidence that Andrew Wupperman, 6, of Orlando, was actually born in Hawaii.
Romney and Ryan both responded to criticism leveled by former President Bill Clinton that Republican budget “arithmetic” — including cuts in tax rates for the rich and increased defense spending — cannot work without elimination of big middle-class tax advantages such as the mortgage interest deduction.
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Romney cited multiple economic studies that he said show that closing loopholes and bringing down tax rates across the board “can create enormous incentive for growth of the economy.’’
“Middle-income people are going to get a break,” Romney said.
Both candidates resisted naming any specific loopholes they would seek to cut. Ryan, speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” said such a discussion is best left for after the November election, when the issues can be debated before the public in Congress.
“I’ve been in Congress a number of years. I’ve been on the Ways and Means Committee for 12 years,” Ryan said. “And we think the best way to do this is to get this framework in place and then negotiate, work with Democrats, work with people across the aisle, have these kinds of hearings, have this conversation to get this objective.”
Romney, who has promised to create 12 million new jobs in his first term, discounted a report by Moody’s Investors Service and other analysts predicting creation of 12 million new jobs no matter which of the two major presidential candidates is elected.
“If the president’s reelected you’re going to see chronic high unemployment continue for another four years or longer,” Romney said. “You’re going to see low-wage growth, if any growth at all. And of course there will always be this fiscal calamity at our doorstep. A crisis potential at our doorstep. The kind you’re seeing in Europe today.”
Romney also criticized congressional Republicans for agreeing to defense cuts as part of a deal with the White House last summer to extend the debt ceiling. It cuts $1.2 trillion in spending over the next decade, beginning in January. The Obama administration had hoped to use the agreement, called sequestration, as the basis for further negotiations on reducing the deficit. Romney called Republican support for defense cuts “an extraordinary miscalculation in the wrong direction.” Among the House Republicans voting for the deal was Ryan (R-Wis.).
Romney said his economic plan would keep defense spending at the current level of GDP.
Romney did indicate that there was common ground with Obama on health care. He said if elected, he would retain certain provisions of the Obama health-care overhaul, including coverage to those with preexisting medical conditions.
“I’m not getting rid of all health-care reform,” Romney said. “There are a number of things that I like in health-care reform that I’m going to put in place.”
President Obama addressed economic concerns in an interview excerpted on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” He said he was still willing to seek a so-called “grand bargain” with congressional Republicans to cut the deficit. But he asserted that he would not go beyond the ratio of $2.5 in cuts for every dollar of increases in revenue.
CBS’s Scott Pelley pointed out that this ratio had already been rejected by the GOP.
“Well, and, you know, that’s part of what this election’s about. Governor Romney said he wouldn’t take a deal with $10 of spending cuts for $1 of revenue increases,” said Obama, referring to Romney’s response to a primary season debate question.
“And the problem is the math, or the arithmetic, as President Clinton said, doesn’t add up,” Obama said. “You can’t reduce the deficit unless you take a balanced approach that says, ‘We’ve gotta make government leaner and more efficient,’ but we’ve also got to ask people like me or Governor Romney who have done better than anybody else over the course of the last decade and whose taxes are just about lower than they’ve been in the last 50 years to do a little bit more.”