President Obama is always searching for fresh ways to remind voters that Mitt Romney is out to help the wealthy while the president is the only candidate who cares for the middle class. At a fundraiser in Connecticut yesterday, he came up with a new punch line, comparing Romney’s tax plan to Robin Hood, the mythical character who stole from the rich and gave to poor.
“It’s like Robin Hood in reverse. It’s Romney Hood,” he said. The crowd of 500 at the $500-per-person event in Stamford responded with laughter and loud applause.
As back-up for his criticism of Romney’s tax plan, the president is leaning heavily on a report issued last week by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which said Romney’s proposal to cut income taxes by 20 percent across the board would boost income for the wealthiest taxpayers while reducing it for lesser earners.
According to the study, Romney’s tax cuts would raise after-tax income by an average of 4.1 percent for those earning more than $1 million a year, while reducing by an average of 1.2 percent the after-tax income of individuals earning less than $200,000. Romney’s campaign called the study bias because one of the co-authors previously served as a White House economic advisor.
In response to the president’s Robin Hood attack, Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams said the president was the only one in the race who would raise Americans’ taxes.
“While he’s used taxpayer dollars to grow government and reward his donors, middle-class Americans have seen fewer jobs, lower incomes, and less hope for the future,” he said.
After the $500-a-head event at a Connecticut hotel, Obama attended a far glitzier affair with big name celebrities, co-hosted by screenwriter Aaron Sorkin and actress Anne Hathaway and costing $35,800-a-person.
