WASHINGTON -- Former White House spokesman Robert Gibbs
on Sunday lit into Mitt Romney's recent debate performance,
calling the Republican presidential nominee's claims
"fundamentally dishonest" and "absolutely crazy."
"The underpinnings and foundations of that performance were
fundamentally dishonest," Gibbs said on ABC's "This Week with
George Stephanopoulos." "He walked away from the central tenet
of his economic theory by saying he had no idea what the
president was talking about. Ten minutes after the debate, even
his own staff is walking back his answers on health care and
preexisting conditions."
During the debate on Wednesday, Romney insisted that there is
no tax break for corporations sending jobs offshore. In fact, there
are several tax perks associated with offshoring. Moving costs can
be explicitly deducted from a company's tax bill, and corporations
do not have to pay tax on revenues earned overseas in tax havens
until they bring the money back to the United States -- giving
businesses an incentive to move work abroad and keep money
offshore.
Romney's own campaign adviser, Eric Fehrnstrom, also quickly
walked back Romney's debate claim that the former
Massachusetts governor's health care proposal will guarantee
affordable insurance for people with pre-existing conditions.
President Barack Obama, in a performance that was widely
panned, failed to correct Romney on the distortions he presented
during the debate. The Obama campaign has been doing damage
control in the days since, belatedly challenging Romney's
assertions and highlighting lies he told.
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D), a top Obama surrogate,
blasted Romney's tax and budget proposal during an appearance
on "Fox News Sunday."
"We saw Big Bird meet the big lie," O'Malley said, noting that
Romney has voiced his support for expensive tax rate deductions,
while refusing to specify loopholes and other tax breaks that he
would end to pay for the new perks. "There are costs to those tax
cuts … Governor Romney has not said what his secret plan is for
paying for these $5 trillion in tax cuts. Just like he will not talk
about where his tax returns have been or how much money he
has offshore."
A non-partisan analysis from the Tax Policy Center found that
there is no way to pay for the tax rate reductions Romney has
proposed without raising taxes on the middle class. Those rate
reductions would cost $5 trillion, according to the analysis, and
Obama characterized Romney's plan as a $5 trillion tax cut during
the debate. That statement that has drawn fire from conservatives
who note that Romney has also proposed closing loopholes and
ending deductions in the tax code, and the Romney campaign is
currently running a television ad accusing Obama of
misrepresenting Romney's plan by using the $5 trillion figure.
Romney adviser Ed Gillespie, appearing on "This Week," repeated
Romney's debate claim that six other studies back up his
contention that he can pay for the tax cuts without eliminating
benefits for the middle class. As HuffPost reported in mid-
September, however, three of the so-called studies are blog posts
or opinion columns, and others say that Romney would have to
eliminate perks for those making $100,000 a year in order to pay
for his plan. Romney, meanwhile, supports extending the Bush-
era tax cuts for those who make over $250,000 a year, which
means he would have to raise taxes on people making between $
100,000 and $250,000 while explicitly maintaining tax breaks for
people making more than $250,000.
Gibbs echoed the idea that the numbers don't work out.
"I mean, let's be clear, Paul Ryan a week ago was asked about the
math for this, and Paul Ryan said, look, the math takes too long,"
Gibbs said. "Well, Mitt Romney’s solution is he just decided there
wasn’t math involved in this problem, and that’s absolutely
crazy."
Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.), appearing alongside Gibbs, argued that
Obama's efforts over the past four years have not cured the
country of its economic malaise.
"The policies this president put in place actually made [the
economy] worse," Ayotte said. "Gas prices have doubled, the
middle class is being buried."
"The president, because he has the responsibility of office, has
been specific about what he proposes," O'Malley responded. "And
Mitt Romney tells us to trust him. His plan is hiding behind door
number three with Carol Merrill and his undisclosed tax returns."
source www.huffingtonpost.com/blackberry/p.html?id=1946214