LETTER: President Obama is Fighting for the Middle Class

Dear Windham Patch,

Recently, the non-partisan Tax Policy Center and Brookings Institution released a study that laid out the real world impact of Mitt Romney's tax plan. The study found that people making over a million dollars would receive a tax cut of approximately a quarter of a million dollars, while families who have children and make less than $200,000 would see their taxes go up an average of more than two thousand dollars. Yes, that is right. In New Hampshire, about 640,000 middle-class families could face a tax increase of about $2,000 under the Romney plan. Under President Obama, the typical family in New Hampshire saved $4,238.

Don't watch the commercials, just visit www.factcheck.org to get the balanced, non-political perspective. On Romney's tax plan, the site says, “Romney has said he would offset the loss of personal income tax revenue (estimated at $360 billion a year by the Tax Policy Center) by reducing tax deductions and credits. And he has said he would do this while making sure that those at the top keep paying the same share of the tax burden they are paying now… Romney has failed to produce evidence that what he promises is possible. And we judge that the weight of evidence and expert opinion is clear—it is not possible.”

What makes people believe that a billionaire who shelters money in foreign accounts to avoid paying U.S. taxes, will not release his tax returns according to political standards set decades ago (ironically by his father, George Romney), and ran a venture capitalist company that fired employees, has the skills needed to handle our current challenges? You only have to look at Massachusetts to see that the business experiences of Mitt Romney do not transfer to being President of the United States. Mitt Romney ran for governor of Massachusetts promising more jobs, decreased debt, and smaller government. Yet, under Governor Romney’s watch, taxes and fees were increased by $750 million per year, long-term debt was increased more than $2.6 billion and the state was 47th out of 50 states in job creation.

This election is a choice between two fundamentally different visions for how to grow our economy, create jobs and pay down the debt. Mitt Romney believes that if we slash taxes for millionaires and raise them on the middle class, our economy will grow. But we tried that philosophy for the past decade and it did nothing to help grow the middle class or pay down our debt. Let's keep moving forward with President Obama.

Sincerely,

Valerie Roman

32 Blossom Road
Windham, NH 03087