Romney's Shrouded Tax Plan- A Pig in a Poke

Romney still mum on tax plan, says Los Angeles Times:

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-mitt-romney-tax-plan-20121009,0,1523512.story

Twitter, the micro-blogging brewery of social media, is a battleground of real time information, written in 140 characters or less. But, in this mine field of social information, no one has been able to produce reliable data about a Romney-Ryan tax plan.

Hash tags and retweets circulate so fast, it's virtually impossible to keep up with the congruent conversations. But, one political point is clear, in the midst of this electronic cacophony  That is, Romney's tax plan is shrouded in secrecy.  Twitizen Republicans are defending a hidden tax plan, as obscure, as Cervantes would describe, as a dragon in a windmill.

One social twitterer told me not to worry about Romney's budget plan, to cut social services, because, after all, people are supposed to support these programs with charitable contributions.  When I used 140 characters to say, well, maybe Romney will cut tax deductions for charitable contributions, the same twitizen said, "Well, if that's true, then, I can't vote for him."  

Aaaha! Therein is the point. Romney won't tell us what loopholes he'll stop in his tax plan, because, like the twitizen told me, he'll loose her vote.

We don't know what's in the Romney-Ryan tax plan. Nonetheless, Americans are asked to vote for him just because he claims to have one.  Anybody know what a "pig in a poke" is? It's something offered in a manner that conceals its true value, especially, its lack of value.  That's the Romney-Ryan tax plan.  A pig in a poke.

If the Romney-Ryan tax plan were put on a question in the popular game show Millionaire, it might look something like this:

Question:  What does the Romney-Ryan Tax Plan do to cut $5 trillion dollars out of our national debt?

Does it:

a.  Keep the current tax rate for people who earn over $250,000?

b.  Cut the employer contributions to health care reform and Social Security?

c.  Raise taxes on the middle class by closing tax deductions for charitable contributions, mortgage interest payments and health care costs?

d.  Can any, or all of the above, fill a $5 Trillion deficit?

As contestants, we have the opt out option on this question. We'd certainly pass because, frankly, only Romney-Ryan know the answer and they're not telling us.

The Los Angeles Times reports: "Tax experts have questioned how Romney can find enough deductions to make up the money that would be lost through a 20% cut in the overall tax rate -- the figure the GOP (presidential) candidate used in the past. And some have suggested that if he's able to find enough ways to limit deductions, the result would be to raise taxes on the middle class while lowering them for the wealthy. Repeating the argument he made in his recent debate with Obama, Romney insisted that would not be the case."

Well, remember what President Clinton said about the mythical Romney-Ryan tax plan? He said it's mathematically impossible.  It's called "arithmetic".  

Governor Romney's shrouded tax plan is a pig in a poke.  He'd be looked upon more favorably if he released his own tax information. Instead, Romney is claiming to create a tax plan without using basic arithmetic to make the sum equal the whole.

Romney's campaign statement about how much he pays in his own taxes gets an incomplete grade:

http://www.mittromney.com/disclosure

Romney already gets away with keeping his income taxes a secret. Let's not let him sell us his pig in a poke taxation policy, so we have to pay more, while he and his rich friends pay less than their fair share.