Asked about Romney’s view that his speakers’ fees were “not very much,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said on a conference call organized by the Democratic National Committee: “I’ll bet you $10,000 the American people think it’s a lot.”
By referencing a $10,000 bet Romney tried to wager with Texas Gov. Rick Perry in a GOP debate, Schneiderman highlighted Romney’s awkwardness in dealing with his wealth.
White House spokesman Jay Carney answers whether he believes GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney should release his tax records and responds to comments from Newt Gingrich calling President Obama the "food stamp" president. (Jan. 17)
In New Hampshire, the candidate said he worried about receiving a “pink slip.” In South Carolina, he handed an out-of-work supporter cash (his campaign said it was $50 to $60).
On Tuesday, Romney criticized a plan by former House speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.), one of his rivals, to eliminate capital gains taxes for all Americans. “Warren Buffett, Bill Gates would probably pay no taxes at all,” Romney said, without stating whether it would affect him. Romney’s own plan eliminates capital gains taxes for those making $200,000 or less.
The Romney campaign did not respond to requests to discuss his taxes. But spokeswoman Andrea Saul distributed a National Review Online column she marked “MUST READ” by Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Sen. John McCain’s former economic policy adviser. He accused Democrats of demonizing Romney “for succeeding in the private sector.”
At 15 percent, Romney would pay a smaller share of his income in federal taxes than most high earners. In 2009, the top 1 percent of earners paid an average of 24 percent of adjusted gross income in federal taxes, according to Internal Revenue Service data. Romney’s rate is lower because virtually all of his income is from profits on investments, rather than earned wages.
Even at 15 percent, however, Romney would pay more than most Americans. IRS data show the average taxpayer forked over 11 percent of income in 2009. Under the country’s progressive tax system, the bottom 50 percent of earners paid less than 2 percent in income taxes, and millions of households had no income tax liability.
Separate payroll tax levies devoted to Social Security and Medicare add significantly to the average tax bill. But even with payroll taxes factored in, the average person earning $60,000 to $103,000 in 2011 will send only about 16.6 percent of their total earnings to Washington, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.
Former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.), another candidate for the GOP nomination, accused Romney of taking advantage of tax “loopholes.”
“I don’t know what my rate is, but I think I’d be really happy if it were 15 percent,” he told reporters. “Look, the tax code is broken. It’s not Governor Romney’s fault.”
White House press secretary Jay Carney said Obama thinks wealthy Americans who earn income from investments should not pay a lower effective tax rate than middle-income Americans.
“This only illuminates what he believes is an issue, which is that everybody who’s working hard ought to pay their fair share,” Carney said.
Perry, Santorum and Gingrich took particular issue with the April timing of Romney’s planned release, which could come after he has secured the GOP nomination.
“What is he saying to the people of South Carolina? ‘You’re not important enough for me to release my income tax, nor the people of Florida?’ ” Gingrich told reporters in Florence. “Either there is nothing there, so why isn’t he releasing it, or there is something there, so why is he hiding it?”
Montgomery reported from Washington. Staff writers Dan Balz, Rosalind S. Helderman and Karen Tumulty in South Carolina and Jia Lynn Yang in Washington contributed to this report.
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