Romney Campaign Press Release - Sen. Rob Portman: Romney's Plan Would Change the Direction of our Country "In a Fundamental and Positive Way"

"Today, he's taking the next step, talking about what precisely will be in those pro-growth tax reforms that he's proposing and I'm really excited to see the details of it. I think it's going to help here in Ohio and around the country. What he has laid out, in my view, is a responsible plan to accomplish the two key goals for America. One, is tackling that record debt and deficit and second is growing the economy, creating jobs, increasing take-home pay....This is a comprehensive plan that makes a lot of sense. It would change the direction of our country in a fundamental and positive way." — Sen. Rob Portman

Sen. Rob Portman

"Restoring America's Promise — Ohio" Conference Call

February 24, 2012

Click Here To Listen To The Entire Call

Highlights Of The "Restoring America's Promise — Ohio" Conference Call:

SEN. ROB PORTMAN: "Hey Ryan, thanks a lot. Appreciate everybody getting on. We'll have a chance for you to ask questions, but let me just briefly talk about what Governor Romney's releasing today and what he's already done. Back in September, he released a comprehensive jobs plan that I'm very supportive of because it will actually move the economy forward and create more economic activity and therefore more jobs. It includes spending cuts to rein in the deficit, because that's important to the economy. It also has entitlement reform to tackle the long-term debt and pro-growth tax policy that will create jobs and inspire investment. Today, he's taking the next step, talking about what precisely will be in those pro-growth tax reforms that he's proposing and I'm really excited to see the details of it. I think it's going to help here in Ohio and around the country. What he has laid out, in my view, is a responsible plan to accomplish the two key goals for America. One, is tackling that record debt and deficit and second is growing the economy, creating jobs, increasing take-home pay. The two of those, of course, are related because we're in such a deep fiscal hole, we have to have economic growth to get out of it. And it's difficult to have economic growth unless we've made a commitment to tackling the deficit. This is a comprehensive plan that makes a lot of sense. It would change the direction of our country in a fundamental and positive way. I'm in Ohio today, about to go visit a factory. It will be our 120th or so factory tour in the last few years here in Ohio and I know I'm going to hear the same thing, which is uncertainty, unpredictability, higher taxes, more regulations, higher healthcare costs are keeping our companies here in Ohio from hiring. So these plans together will make a huge difference. In regards to the tax proposal today, Mitt Romney's going to propose making the tax system fairer, flatter, and simpler. I think there's a consensus among Republicans this is the right approach to take. It starts with an across the board 20 percent cut in taxes. Everybody believes that that's going to generate a lot of economic growth, particularly because so many businesses pay their taxes as individuals. Here in Ohio, over 80 percent of businesses pay their taxes, not at the corporate rate, but at individual rate and lowering that rate is going to make a huge difference. Second, the rate cut will be coupled with modest rate cuts to deductions and exemptions of tax breaks, particularly for higher income Americans and that's so that when you're reducing the rate, you're broadening the base and therefore not increasing the deficit. Third, similar to what we're working on here in the Senate. I worked a lot on this in the Supercommittee. Governor Romney is going to propose dramatically lowering the corporate tax rate, taking it from the highest rate in the developed world to 25 percent which will make it one of the lower rates. This is going to be great for attracting capital, jobs to America. He does it again by lowering the rate, broadening the base, getting rid of a lot of the tax breaks that have made the tax code more and more complicated. The President also has a corporate tax proposal. I've commented on it yesterday and today. I'm glad to see the President finally propose something and I do think it's good to lower the rate, which the President also supports. The problem with the President's proposal is, one, he doesn't lower the rate enough. The effective rate still stays very high, about 32 percent, which makes us, again, very high relative to other countries. The average in the developed world is now 26 percent. Second, the President muddles up the tax code more with more carve outs for favored companies and industries. And third, the President doesn't do anything to make our companies more competitive globally, which is one of the big problems with our current tax code. In fact, it makes it more difficult for business internationally, which creates jobs here in America by expanding sales overseas, creating jobs here. So, I'm glad the President again is engaged, but the proposal that Romney will lay out today is really going to get the economy a shot in the arm and deal with the very problems the President has identified, which the President's proposal unfortunately does not do. Finally, the Romney plan is going to help middle-class families be able to save and invest tax-free. Capital gains, dividend taxes for folks making under $200 grand a year is going to be zero and that will help with regards to, again, getting the economy moving because these are pro-growth tax changes. So along with his bold plan to cut spending, I'm convinced that these tax reform proposals, which are responsible, realistic but also comprehensive and conservative, will jump-start job creation and help jump-start economic growth and get Ohio moving again and get America back on track and begin to give our economy more certainty and make us more competitive so that we can begin to do what people in Ohio are looking for, which is to actually bring back the jobs and provide for growth and opportunity for future generations. Today, by the way, marks the third anniversary of the President's pledge to cut the deficit in half. So three years ago, the President said: during my term, I will cut the deficit in half. And this is the same president who unfortunately has been presiding over trillion dollar deficits and, again this year we have heard from the administration that the deficit will be over $1 trillion. So he hasn't accomplished cutting the deficit in half, and this budget unfortunately adds about $11 trillion to our debt over the next ten years. It's disappointing but not surprising. President Obama doesn't have the real world experience. He's never run anything and Mitt Romney does have that experience as a business person who has been a successful person in the private sector. Also led a state where he balanced the budget and cut taxes. He, you know, he's had to do the tough things to look at a balance sheet and figure out, you know, how to make things work, how to get to balance. I'm a small business owner myself and I know that in business, you can balance your budget or you go broke. He's the kind of person we need in the White House to provide the perspective and to work with Congress to get this economy back on track."