Mitt Romney photo

Romney Campaign Press Release - Myth VS. Fact: Presiden't Obama's False and Misleading Claims about Mitt Romney and the Middle Class

December 23, 2011

MYTH: Extending massive tax breaks to millionaires, billionaires, and large corporations while only offering the typical middle-class family a $54 tax cut

FACT: The Average Family Receives More Than $1,500 Per Year In Tax Relief Under Mitt Romney's Proposal.  While President Obama has repeatedly passed temporary extensions of the Bush Tax Cuts, Governor Romney has called for making them permanent. ("Effect of Expiration of Bush-Era Tax Cuts on Average Middle-Income Family, by State and Congressional District," Tax Foundation, 8/1/10)

  • 80 Percent Of The Tax Cut From Making Current Rates Permanent Goes To The Middle Class.  "Mr. Greenspan was talking about re-imposing the taxes for all Americans. The Treasury has estimated that a permanent extension of all the Bush tax cuts would cost $3.6 trillion over the next decade. Allowing taxes to increase on those in the top income brackets would take the cost to the government down to $2.9 trillion, according to White House estimates." (Luca Di Leo, "Greenspan Steps Up Call To End Bush-Era Tax Cuts," Wall Street Journal, 4/17/11)

MYTH: Letting Wall Street write their own rules again, putting taxpayers on the hook for future bailouts and middle-class security at risk

FACT: Mitt Romney Supports A "Streamlined Regulatory Framework" For Financial Institutions.  He believes in a system of financial regulation that includes some of the concepts contained in Dodd-Frank.   Unlike the massive and bureaucratic system put in place by Dodd-Frank, however, Mitt has called for a "simple, predictable, and efficient regulatory system appropriate for our dynamic economy."

  • Mitt Romney Favors A Regulatory Environment That "Creates A Simple, Predictable, And Efficient Regulatory System Appropriate For Our Dynamic Economy." "As president, Mitt Romney will also seek to repeal Dodd-Frank and replace it with a streamlined regulatory framework. The recent financial crisis exposed serious weaknesses in a regulatory system that was poorly equipped to deal with dynamic and evolving markets. The government's response was to layer on new regulations and invent new bureaucracies that do not address the underlying causes of a crisis driven by the over-leveraging of our financial institutions and our homeowners. Rather than dealing directly with those issues, the government gave itself an open check book to write ambiguous regulations that have left our businesses and households uncertain of their obligations and uncompetitive in a global marketplace. Some of the concepts in Dodd-Frank have a place. Greater transparency for inter-bank relationships, enhanced capital requirements, and provisions to address new forms of complex financial transactions are all necessary elements of effective financial reform. But these concepts must be translated into law in a way that creates a simple, predictable, and efficient regulatory system appropriate for our dynamic economy." (Mitt Romney, "Believe In America," 2011, p. 59)

MYTH: Repealing the Affordable Care Act, allowing insurance companies go back to the days of dropping coverage when you get sick, double-digit premium increases or denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition

FACT: Mitt Romney Supports Federal Regulation That Prohibits Insurers From Dropping Coverage For Those With Pre-Existing Conditions.  Romney has called for federal regulation to be focused on "making markets work" by, for instance, "[e]nsur[ing] that individuals with pre-existing conditions who are continuously covered for a specified period may not be denied coverage." (Romney For President, "Repeal Obamacare, Reform Health Care," Press Release, 5/12/11)

  • In President Obama's First Two Years In Office, Families Have Already Seen "Double-Digit Premium Increases."  The average total family premium increased from $12,298 in 2008 to $13,871 in 2010, a 13% increase.

MYTH: Privatizing Medicare and telling seniors they're on their own to pay for their health care coverage

FACT: Mitt Romney Has Proposed A Comprehensive Plan To Strengthen And Improve Medicare.  The plan has now been endorsed in the bipartisan proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Ron Wyden.

  • The White House Immediately Rejected The Bipartisan Proposal As "Radical." (Sam Baker, "Dems, Allies Firmly Reject Paul Ryan's New Medicare Reform Plan," The Hill, 12/15/11)
  • The Obama Claim Emulates Politifact's "2011 Lie Of The Year." "Now, PolitiFact has chosen the Democrats' claim as the 2011 Lie of the Year. ... A complicated and wonky subject with life-or-death consequences, health care is fertile ground for falsehoods. The Democratic attack about ‘ending Medicare' was a pervasive line in 2011 that preyed on seniors' worries about whether they could afford health care." (Bill Adair And Angie Drobnic Holan, "Lie Of The Year 2011: ‘Republicans Voted To End Medicare,'" PolitiFact, 12/20/11)
  • "The Last Thing We Need Is Demagoguing Attacks Against People Who Have Put Forward Serious Policy Proposals."  "‘In terms of creating a national conversation about fiscal reform, the last thing we need is demagoguing attacks against people who have put forward serious policy proposals,' said Jason Peuquet, a policy analyst with the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. ‘It's very worrying.'" (Bill Adair And Angie Drobnic Holan, "Lie Of The Year 2011: ‘Republicans Voted To End Medicare,'" PolitiFact, 12/20/11)
  • Mitt Romney's Plan Specifies That Current Seniors Are Unaffected, And Future Seniors Will Receive The Support They Need To Acquire Insurance:
  • "This Plan Has No Effect On Current Seniors." "This plan has no effect on current seniors or those nearing retirement.  It will go into effect for younger Americans when they reach retirement in the future." (Romney For President, "Romney Presents Plan To Turn Around The Federal Government," Press Release, 11/4/11)
  • "[Romney]'s Goal Is For Medicare To Offer Every Senior Affordable Options That Provide Coverage And Service At Least As Good As What Today's Seniors Receive." "His goal is for Medicare to offer every senior affordable options that provide coverage and service at least as good as what today's seniors receive.  Lower income seniors in the future will receive the most generous benefits to ensure that they are able to get care every bit as good as that provided in the current Medicare program." (Romney For President, "Romney Presents Plan To Turn Around The Federal Government," Press Release, 11/4/11)

MYTH: Rubberstamping the Republican budget plan that would lead to deep cuts in Social Security and wipe out investments in education and programs essential to creating jobs for the middle class, while refusing to ask the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share

FACT: Mitt Romney Has Proposed No Cuts To Social Security For The Middle Class.  His plan places Social Security on a path to sustainability with no changes for those at or near retirement, by gradually raising the retirement age for future seniors and lowering the growth rate in benefits for wealthy retirees.  "No one at or near the retirement age will see any changes and tax hikes cannot be on the table. Instead, Social Security can be placed on a sustainable trajectory with commonsense reforms: Gradually raise the retirement age to reflect increases in longevity; Slow the growth in benefits for higher-income retirees." (Romney For President, "Romney Presents Plan To Turn Around The Federal Government," Press Release, 11/4/11)

Mitt Romney Has Not Suggested Wiping Out A Single "Investment In Education [Or] Program Essential To Creating Jobs For The Middle Class."  The Obama campaign's claim is simply false.

MYTH: As corporate buyout specialist, firing thousands of workers, closing dozens of plants and outsourcing jobs to China to boost profits for himself and his partners

FACT: Mitt Romney Created Tens Of Thousands Of Jobs During His Career In The Private Sector.  Apparently the Obama campaign couldn't come up with ten items for its list and instead added this bizarre entry that has no bearing on the policies Mitt Romney has proposed to help the middle class by restoring economic growth and job creation.

MYTH: Letting Detroit go bankrupt instead of extending a rescue loan to the auto industry that saved 1.4 million jobs and the auto manufacturers from liquidation

FACT: The Managed Bankruptcy Proposed By Mitt Romney Is Precisely The Course That Ultimately Rescued The Automakers.  Unfortunately, it took the federal government several false starts and billions in wasted taxpayer dollars to get there.

  • Romney In November 2008: "A Managed Bankruptcy May Be The Only Path." "The American auto industry is vital to our national interest as an employer and as a hub for manufacturing. A managed bankruptcy may be the only path to the fundamental restructuring the industry needs. It would permit the companies to shed excess labor, pension and real estate costs. The federal government should provide guarantees for post-bankruptcy financing and assure car buyers that their warranties are not at risk." (Mitt Romney, Op-Ed, "Let Detroit Go Bankrupt," New York Times, 11/18/08)
  • Obama In March 2009: "The Obama Administration's Leading Plan ... Would Use Bankruptcy." "The Obama administration's leading plan to fix General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC would use bankruptcy filings to purge the ailing companies of their biggest problems, including bondholder debt and retiree health-care costs, according to people familiar with the matter. ... President Barack Obama's task force has told both companies that the administration prefers this route as a way to reorganize the two auto makers, rather than the prolonged out-of-court process that has thus far frustrated administration officials." (Jeffrey McCracken, Monica Langley And John D. Stoll, "Bankruptcy Leads Possible Plans For GM, Chrysler," The Wall Street Journal, 3/30/09)
  •  "The administration says a ‘surgical' structured bankruptcy may be the only way forward for GM and Chrysler, and President Obama held out that prospect Monday. ‘I know that when people even hear the word 'bankruptcy,' it can be a bit unsettling, so let me explain what I mean,' he said. ‘What I am talking about is using our existing legal structure as a tool that, with the backing of the U.S. government, can make it easier for General Motors and Chrysler to quickly clear away old debts that are weighing them down so they can get back on their feet and onto a path to success; a tool that we can use, even as workers are staying on the job building cars that are being sold.'" (Jeffrey McCracken, Monica Langley And John D. Stoll, "Bankruptcy Leads Possible Plans For GM, Chrysler," The Wall Street Journal, 3/30/09)
  • "Taxpayers Could Lose Roughly $14 Billion." "The White House said Wednesday that taxpayers could lose roughly $14 billion of the money spent on auto industry bailouts, despite the industry's recent recovery." (Josh Mitchell, "Auto Bailout Cost $14 Billion," The Wall Street Journal, 6/2/11)

MYTH: Letting the foreclosure process "hit the bottom" so that investors can come in and make a quick buck, rather than promoting refinancing opportunities for responsible homeowners

FACT: President Obama's Own Plan Was For The Housing Market To "Bottom[ ] Out."  And he has admitted that his housing policies have been a failure.  "I think that the continuing decline in the housing market is something that hasn't bottomed out as quickly as we expected.  And so that's continued to be a big drag on the economy.  We've had to revamp our housing program several times to try to help people stay in their homes and try to start lifting home values up.  But of all the things we've done, that's probably been the area that's been most stubborn to us trying to solve the problem." (Barack Obama, Remarks At Twitter Town Hall, 7/6/11)

  • President Obama Has Presided Over Record Foreclosure Levels. "Banks seized more than a million U.S. homes in one year for the first time last year, despite a slowdown in the last few months as questions around foreclosure processing arose, a leading firm said on Thursday. Banks foreclosed on 69,847 properties in December, bringing the year's total to 1.05 million, topping the prior record of 918,000 homes seized in 2009, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said." (Corbett B. Daly, "Home Foreclosures In 2010 Top 1 Million For The First Time," Reuters, 1/13/11)

MYTH: Eliminating the estate tax for millionaires and billionaires and making seniors and the middle-class foot the bill

FACT: Mitt Romney Would Eliminate The Estate Tax For All Americans.  Middle class families attempting to pass down small businesses and family farms are badly affected by the estate tax.  Perhaps this is why Americans support its repeal by 4-to-1.  ("Americans' Views On Taxes," NPR, Kaiser Foundation, Harvard Kennedy School, March 2003)

MYTH: Undermining collective bargaining rights for workers, taking away a seat at the table for middle-class families when their economic livelihoods are on the line

FACT: Mitt Romney Has Specifically Called For The Protection Of Collective Bargaining Rights.  "Mitt Romney believes in the right of workers to join a union or to not join a union. To exercise that right freely, workers must have access to all the relevant facts they need to make an informed decision. This means hearing from both the union about the potential benefits and from management about potential costs. This also means being able to act on that decision in the privacy of the ballot booth." (Mitt Romney, "Believe In America," 2011, p. 109)

  • Romney Has Not Called For The Elimination Of Any Collective Bargaining Right Available To Workers At The Start Of The Obama Administration.  He has only called for the reversal of Obama administration policies that take power away from workers and given it to union bosses, such as: the infamous Boeing case that the administration has since dropped, Project Labor Agreements that force workers on government projects to join unions, Card Check, and Quickie Elections.

Mitt Romney, Romney Campaign Press Release - Myth VS. Fact: Presiden't Obama's False and Misleading Claims about Mitt Romney and the Middle Class Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/298478

Simple Search of Our Archives