[UPDATED] Which Is It, Mitt? Romney Website Promotes Two Contradictory Tax Policies.
We all expected Mitt Romney would flip-flop on many issues during the course of a long campaign in which he's desperate to appease the GOP base. We just thought he'd be better at covering his tracks. On one page of his website, Mitt Romney promotes an economic plan that stresses how important it is to maintain marginal tax rates at the current level. [Screenshot available here.] Yet just a few clicks away, the website promote a different tax plan that seeks to reduce marginal tax rates across the board. [Screenshot available here.] Which is it, Mitt? We knew that Mitt Romney doesn't agree with the Mitt Romney of 10 years ago, but apparently he can't even agree with the Mitt Romney of today.
ABC News: Mitt Romney's Surrogate Headache: Can't Live With 'Em, Can't Live Without 'Em
On February 27, 2012, ABC News reported:
[Jim] Talent, a senior adviser to the Romney campaign and former senator from Missouri, recently spoke on a conference call to call Rick Santorum out as an over-spender. But as the Democratic super PAC, American Bridge, was only too pleased to point out, the conservative Club for Growth once called Talent out for exactly the same kind of spending behavior. "In his previous time in the Senate, prior to losing to [Sen. Claire] McCaskill in 2006, Talent voted to raid the Social Security Trust Fund, for the infamous 'Bridge to Nowhere' earmark, and for other pork-laden budget busters," the Club wrote in a 2010 news release, unearthed by American Bridge.
POLITICO: Romney's New Mich. Ad Hits Santorum Experience, Sotomayor Vote
On February 24, 2012, POLITICO reported:
The Sotomayor criticism is notable, since she’s a figure of real popularity among some Latinos and particularly Puerto Rican voters. It’s also a bit awkward, timing-wise, since Romney just picked up the endorsement of Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander, who supported Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.
MSNBC: Worst. Surrogates. Ever.
On February 23, 2012, Steve Benen wrote on MSNBC's The Maddow Blog:
When compared against his Republican rivals, Mitt Romney enjoys far more support from his party's establishment, giving him a small army of GOP surrogates he can dispatch to get his message out to the public. Of course, this only works when the campaign's surrogates (a) aren't embarrassing, and (b) actually agree with Romney's message.
Arizona Republic: McCain Trashes Romney (In Super PAC Ad)
On February 23, 2012, the Arizona Republic reported:
This being the video age, however, a pro-Democrat super PAC like American Bridge is not going to let McCain (or probably American voters) forget what the former senator said about the man he now says should be president. The PAC has released a video, which I’d guess will get a lot of TV exposure should Romney become the Republican nominee. The title is: “What does McCain really think about Mitt Romney?”
Romney Boldly Abandons His Own Economic Plan
Mitt Romney released a new economic plan a mere five months after he rolled out his 59-point, 87-page (available in e-book!) "Believe In America" economic plan. Why the policy reboot? Just another desperate attempt to win over the conservative base of the Republican Party. Point 1 of 59 in Romney's last plan was to maintain current tax rates on personal income. This proposal was heavily criticized by conservatives. As the Wall Street Journal editorial board noted, “But on other taxes, Mr. Romney shrinks from a fight. He says he favors tax reform with lower individual tax rates but only 'in the long run.'" So what does Romney do? What he has done for 17 years: he shifts positions to try and win over voters. The conservative base wanted bold? He went bold, proclaiming that his plan was “a bold, pro-growth proposal to cut taxes." But will this be enough to convince the base that Romney is authentically conservative? Doubtful. Will it show primary voters, and voters across the country, that Romney will say anything to get elected? Absolutely.
Daily Kos: Oops! Mitt Romney's New Michigan Ad Uses Picture Of Him In New York To Prove He Grew Up In Detroit
On February 16, the Daily Kos reported:
"I remember going to the Detroit auto show with my dad," he recalls, the ad simultaneously cutting to a photograph of Mitt Romney and his father, standing on a roof, looking down on the unwashed masses milling about at what voters are supposed to believe is the Detroit auto show. The only problem? That's not the Detroit auto show. It's the 1964 World's Fair grounds. In New York.
Washington Post: Romney’s Work On Olympics, Mass. Projects Reveals Complex History With Earmarks
On February 16, 2012, the Washington Post reported:
Mitt Romney is escalating his attacks on GOP presidential rival Rick Santorum as a Washington insider who sought more than $1 billion for wasteful projects during his time in the Senate. But Romney has a complicated relationship with federal funding. As the head of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, he led an aggressive effort to win hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid for the struggling Winter Games. As governor of Massachusetts, Romney requested millions in federal earmarks for state transportation projects. He once boasted about his prowess at winning taxpayer money.
Huffington Post: Mitt Romney, 'Son Of Detroit,' Tools Around Michigan In Car Manufactured In Canada
On February 15, the Huffington Post reported:
Having seen Mitt Romney tool around the Greater Detroit area in two campaign ads in which he nostalgically recalls his childhood and his love of cars, you might be wondering, "What sort of car is he driving?" As it turns out, he's behind the wheel of a cherry Chrysler 300, the pride of Detroit. Oh, wait! Did I say "Detroit?" Sorry, ha ha, I meant "Canada." Yes, as the sleuths at Blue Mass Group report, Romney's whip is a foreign-born Chrysler, manufactured in Brampton, Ontario and imported to Detroit so that it can be imported "from" Detroit.
TPM: D’oh! Romney Backer Attacks Santorum For Same Votes He Cast Himself
On February 14, 2012, Talking Points Memo reported:
From Political Surrogate Usage 101: Don’t send your surrogate out to attack someone for exactly the same thing he once did. The Romney campaign did just that when they dispatched former Sen. Jim Talent (R-MO) to attack Rick Santorum’s budget-busting vote to add a Medicare prescription drug program in the Senate. The problem they quickly ran into was that Talent voted the same way.