Romney pushes opposition to "death tax" in Iowa
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney speaks to supporters at a rally on a farm on October 9, 2012 near Van Meter, Iowa.
/ Steve Pope/Getty ImagesVAN METER, Iowa - Mitt Romney, pitching his candidacy Tuesday to Iowa farmers, promised to strengthen the family farm by cutting regulations, increasing trade, lowering energy costs, and getting rid of the estate tax on high-value family farms transferred after the owner dies.
Obama has "no plan for rural America...I do," Romney told a crowd of more than 500 who gathered on a family farm here in central Iowa to hear him speak.
Focusing on the parts of his economic plan most relevant to the agriculture industry, Romney said wants to abolish the estate tax that conservatives call "the death tax." Obama has proposed a 45 percent tax rate on individual estates that are worth more than $3.5 million - down from the current $5.2 million. (The measure was killed when it failed to gain the support of some Democrats in the Senate).
"He's planning on raising the death tax pretty significantly," Romney said of Obama. "My own view is we ought to kill the death tax. You paid for that farm once, you shouldn't have to pay for it again."
The Republican nominee seized on the frustration of many farmers over the inability of Congress to pass a farm bill. Obama has blamed Republicans in Congress, including Romney running-mate Paul Ryan, but Romney said Obama was partially to blame for the failure.
"People have been waiting a long time for a farm bill and the president has to exert the kind of presidential leadership it takes to get the House and the Senate together and actually pass a farm bill," he said. "That's something I will devote my time to, to make sure that we get that bill passed so farmers know what they can expect."
Romney did not detail what features he would like to see passed in a farm bill, or what he would do about farm subsidies that critics view as corporate welfare.
Romney also touched on how his regulatory plan would benefit Iowa's farmers, arguing that regulations under the Obama administration have "gone crazy." Romney pointed to efforts by the government to regulate water in ditches and to try to prevent teenagers from being able to work on family farms (the latter a claim rated inaccurate by fact-checkers). "You have to have regulations," Romney said, but he argued that there are too many frivolous ones and said that as president he will ask that all regulations get passed through Congress.
One of the areas Romney steered clear of was wind energy, which is responsible for thousands of manufacturing jobs in Iowa and is a source of revenue for many farmers who have allowed wind turbines to be built on their land. Although he promoted his plan to increase the production of oil, coal, and natural gas as beneficial to farmers, Romney did not mention his opposition to extending the wind tax credit. The position puts him at odds with most of Iowa's Republican leaders.
Obama's campaign website lays out parts of his record and plans that benefit rural America, including expansion of financing and credit for rural businesses, and investment in clean energy and broadband internet in rural areas.
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Seems in previous elections that both parties were always able to distract and polarize voters with insignificant peripheral issues, which ended up getting most voters so caught up in the BS that they'd lose sight of the bigger picture.
If they (Both Parties) don't start addressing the real problems in our country like "out-sourcing", illegal immigration and the out of control costs of health care insurance, by the next election - American citizens may just have to run a nation-wide campaign to vote every single incumbent elected official out of office, so that maybe they'll finally get the message.
Wouldn't it be More Productive if Our Elected Leaders Started Working Together as AMERICANS for AMERICANS and AMERICA, instead of just bickering, stalling and posturing for the next election as democrats and republicans! The American People have had it with this unproductive BS! The sad thing is that both parties stink! Neither party is really looking out for the best interest of the US citizens who elect them and who they're supposed to represent.
This is not our first fight eh libs.... see yeah November 6th at the booth, but you must vote and tell your Democrat friends to vote too.
Especially the women in Ohio, they will pick the next President!!!
Don't do as those GOP Acorn copy cats have done in Florida this year which is registration fraud! If Florida goes to Romney this issue will go to the Supreme Court...
Both are going to be attacked in the coming weeks, there is no way Romney can cut taxes across the board by 20% on TOP of the Bush tax cuts and increase military spending and not add to the debt! Oh, he says 20 billion jobs will be created by giving the rich and companies money! What a lie, it doesn't work that way... Reagan and Bush said the same...
He can only give cuts to everyone by ending entitlements and deductions for the middleclass... wake up people! The GOP wants all American social programs eviscerated and making the rich richer!!!
The Karl Rove/Mitt Romney GOP is doing a great job fooling you people just to get power so they can cause another depression and start more wars... The rich will get richer and the poor poorer under this phoney.. Ann will love having parties in the White House for her rich friends, and she gets the servants for free... unreal.
1.) How will letting the government control business help ?
2.) Do you really want a board appointed deciding what your medical care will be ?
3.) Have you looked into Obama and what he stands for ?
Below is a good site, visit it.
http://www.year-4-change.com/index.php
1. Brought down unemployment after Bush created the problems that elevated it.
2. Killed the Al Queda leader as he had pledged-Something GW pledged and couldn't do.
3. Tried to work with a GOP that flat out told him in advance it wasn't interested in passing any legislation, just ruining his chances for re-election.
4. Picked people for what they could accomplish unlike Bush who required they be of the same party.
5. Saved the country from the major depression created by the Bush Administration created by bad management.
6. Got the occupying U.S. troops out of Iraq and ended the war there, something GW was either incapable of doing or refused to do because his Big Business cronies were reaping in Billions of Dollars we had to borrow from Communist China.
If I need to go on, I will, but I sense your mind is made up and all I'm doing is confusing you with the facts.
You can't know the plan; he can't explain the plan; he'll tell you it's not his plan next week....plan, plan, plan. Kind of like the mind of God that no one can understand, it's just so damned profound.
Kind of makes me wonder what kind of "plan" he has for me. I don't know aboutyou, but I'd rather he not bother to make upanymore imaginary plans for my sake.