AP News, October 16th, 2007
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is appealing to the fiscal conservatism of New Hampshire voters in a new ad that starts running Tuesday.
In it, the former Massachusetts governor and business executive says existing tax policy is fundamentally unfair and that his plan would reduce the tax burden for all.
"It's not fair that you have to pay taxes when you earn your money, when you save your money and then when you die," Romney says in the television ad.
Romney has made the promise of lower taxes a staple of his campaign. He and his GOP rivals also have argued over who would be the best steward of the nation's economy and whose proposals would create the most jobs.
His new ad appeals to voters where it counts most: their pocketbooks and wallets.
"That's why I'll kill the death tax once and for all and roll back tax rates across the board," Romney says in the 30-second ad. "And savings? When I'm president, for middle-class Americans, the new tax rate on your interest, dividends, and capital gains will be absolutely zero."
Romney has proposed eliminating taxes on interest and dividends for families earning less than $200,000 a year. He has said the plan would benefit 95 percent of families — 56 million that earned interest in 2005, 28 million that earned dividends and 23 million with capital gains from real estate, stocks or bonds.
The proposal would cost $32 billion, to be paid for through economic growth, and by holding non-defense discretionary spending to inflation minus 1 percentage point.
"Want tax cuts that will grow our economy?" Romney asks before repeating what has become a campaign slogan: "Change begins with us."
Republican rival Rudy Giuliani has made taxes a centerpiece of his radio ads. He routinely touts 23 tax cuts that occurred while he was mayor of New York. Critics note that he did not initiate all of them, and that he opposed some.
