DNC: Romney's Economic Plan Will Benefit Millionaires at the Expense of the Middle Class

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "Mitt Romney wants to talk about stress – he should know a thing or two about it – he has left stress for untold numbers of Americans in his wake and is prepared to heap more of it on our most vulnerable citizens to protect tax breaks and loopholes for his wealthy donors and friends," said DNC Communications Director Brad Woodhouse.  "Mitt Romney had an abysmal record on jobs as governor with Massachusetts ranking 47th out of all 50 states in job creation and now he wants to visit that failure on the rest of the country by now supporting an even more draconian budget plan than the one put forward by Paul Ryan.  Mitt Romney is so out of touch he thinks what Americans need right now is to make life more difficult for seniors by ending Medicare and slashing Social Security to continue funding tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires.  Mitt Romney's failed leadership and policies are a form of stress no American should be subject to."

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MITT ROMNEY IS DOUBLING DOWN ON THE FAILED ECONOMIC POLICIES OF THE PAST THAT WILL HELP MILLIONAIRES BUT HURT THE MIDDLE CLASS

Mitt Romney Said He Was "On The Same Page" As Paul Ryan's Budget That Ends Medicare As We Know It And Gives Huge Tax Cuts To Millionaires And Billionaires. Mitt Romney said he was "on the same page" with Paul Ryan's budget proposal that ends Medicare as we know it and gives more tax cuts to the wealthy while cutting vital programs for middle class families. [Boston Globe, 4/15/11]

Mitt Romney Supports The Cut, Cap And Balance Proposal, Calling It A "Line In The Sand." "'The answer for the country is for the president to agree to cut fed spending, to cap fed spending and to put in place a balanced budget amendment,' Romney said in a question and answer session at a meeting Thursday of the Portsmouth Rotary. 'For me, that's the line in the sand. Come on, Mr. President.'" [Washington Post, 7/14/11]

• Balanced Budget Amendment Would Hurt Our Economy And Could Cause Problems For Social Security. "A balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution […] would be a highly ill-advised way to address the nation's long-term fiscal problems. It would threaten significant economic harm while raising a host of problems for the operation of Social Security and other vital federal functions." [CBPP, 6/6/11]

• The Balanced Budget Amendment Would Put A Cap On Spending That Would Force More Cuts Than Even In The Ryan Budget. "In addition, the House Judiciary Committee version would cap annual federal spending at 18 percent of the Gross Domestic Product. Such a cap would force program cuts far more draconian than even the severe cuts in the Ryan budget that the House of Representatives passed in April." [CBPP, 6/6/11]

• The Balanced Budget Amendment May Force Social Security Benefits To Be Cut. "By design, the Social Security trust fund is building up reserves […] which will be drawn down to help pay benefits when the number of retired "baby boomers" peaks in the late 2020s and early 2030s […] But under the balanced budget amendment, it would essentially be unconstitutional for Social Security to draw down these savings to pay promised benefits. Instead, benefits could have to be cut, because all spending would have to be covered by tax revenues collected during that same year." [CBPP, 6/6/11]

UNDER ROMNEY, MASSACHUSETTS RANKED 47TH IN THE NATION IN JOB CREATION

Under Mitt Romney, Massachusetts Ranked 47th In Job Creation. "The Republican contender was the governor of Massachusetts from January 2003 to January 2007. And during that time, according to the U.S. Labor Department, the state ranked 47th in the entire country in jobs growth. Fourth from last.  The only ones that did worse? Ohio, Michigan and Louisiana. In other words, two rustbelt states and another that lost its biggest city to a hurricane. The Massachusetts jobs growth over that period, a pitiful 0.9%, badly lagged other high-skill, high-wage, knowledge economy states like New York (2.7%), California (4.7%) and North Carolina (7.6%). The national average: More than 5%." [Marketwatch, 2/23/10]

SOURCE Democratic National Committee