Democrats use Mitt Romney’s vice presidential selection process in tax attacks

Source: Boston Globe

President Obama’s reelection campaign on Sunday accused Mitt Romney of tax-related hypocrisies in his vice presidential search and his eventual selection of Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan.

Ryan, who chairs the House Budget Committee, is known for conservative budget proposals that include lower tax rates -- including the elimination of taxes on capital gains on investments.

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In an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday, Obama adviser David Axelrod said Ryan’s plan would help people like Romney but not the middle class.

“Governor Romney would pay less than 1 percent on his taxes. We know that he paid 13.9 percent” under the existing tax system, Axelrod said. “How is that going to strengthen our country, strengthen the economy, help the middle class?”

On the same program, Maryland Representative Chris Van Hollen, the ranking Democrat on Ryan’s budget committee, said that “in picking Paul Ryan, what Mitt Romney has done is pick somebody who has an economic plan and a budget plan that is great for people just like Mitt Romney. It’s great if you’re very wealthy in this country because it provides you additional tax breaks, but it does so at the expense of everyone and everything else.”

Read more: http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2012/08/12/democrats-use-mitt-romney-vice-presidential-selection-process-tax-attacks/477qVZ70ggYF2JcTzAYSIN/story.html