Romney to Obama on taxes: Start telling the truth

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney , left, and vice presidential candidate, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., right, attend a town hall at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, N.H., Monday, Aug. 20, 2012.

/ AP Photo/Cheryl Senter

(CBS News) GOFFSTOWN, N.H.--Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan joined forces on Monday to attack President Obama in the Granite State, but it was Romney who leveled the harshest accusations, asserting that the president was running a dishonest campaign he called "sad and disappointing."

"It seems that the first victim of an Obama campaign is the truth," Romney told a crowd of nearly 3,000 on the lawn of St. Anselm College, after a women asked him how he would combat lies being spread about him by liberals, including a rumor that he was going to raise taxes.

"I signed a statement," Romney said referring to the antitax pledge sponsored by Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. "I will not raise taxes on anybody. I don't want to raise taxes on the American people, and this is a president who, by the way, has proposed raising the tax rate from 35 percent to 40 percent."

Obama, in remarks to reporters later on Monday, strongly defended his campaign's general tone. "We don't go out of bounds," Obama said.

The Obama campaign has argued that Romney's call for cutting taxes across the board will necessarily raise the tax burden on middle-income Americans in order to balance the budget, an analysis the Romney campaign disputes. Romney dismissed a recent analysis by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center that reached that conclusion, saying it was based on "garbage assumptions."

"I will not raise taxes on the American people, I will not raise taxes on middle-income Americans.... Mr. President, stop saying something that's not the truth," Romney said to extended applause.

Romney and Ryan also addressed foreign policy for the first time as a pair, as members of the audience asked about their plans for Afghanistan and Israel.

Romney, who took the lead on the Afghanistan question, steered clear of a detailed policy discussion and instead criticized Obama for not speaking to the nation about the war with enough frequency.

"I expect the president of the United States to address the nation on a regular basis and explain what's happening and why they're there, what the mission is, what its purpose is. How we'll know when it's completed. Other presidents have done this. We haven't heard this president do this. This is something he ought to do time and time again so the people of America know where [things] stand," he said.

He also pledged to "do everything in my power to transition from our military to their military as soon as possible, bring our men and women home, and do so in a way consistent with our mission, which is to keep Afghanistan from being overrun by a new entity that would allow Afghanistan to be a launching point for terror again like it was on 9/11."

Obama campaign spokeswoman Lis Smith responded that Romney's answer was far from sufficiently forthcoming.

"That's simply not enough from someone running to be commander in chief," Smith said in a statement. "The truth is that Romney has refused to put forth a plan for what he would do in Afghanistan. If he does have some secret plan, he owes it to our men and women in uniform to tell them."

Ryan, who speaks far more often on economic than national-security issues, sought to bolster his credentials by recalling his vote to send troops to war after Sept. 11 as a congressman and criticized Obama's handling of the war.

"The president, in my opinion, has made decisions that are more political in nature than military in nature," he said. "You make decisions based on what is right for the country, for our national security, and let our men and women serving in our armed forces do their job in the safest possible way. Period. End of story."

Romney had more specifics to offer on the issue of the United States' relationship with Israel--and, by extension, Iran--when he called for Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to be tried in an international court for statements he made last week threatening to wipe out Israel.

"The awful, offensive obnoxious things he said about Israel should lead to him being indicted onto the genocide convention, his people being treated like the pariah they are, his diplomats," Romney said in reference to a 1951 United Nations resolution.

"Iran becoming nuclear is unacceptable, and we have options on the table, but they're not just on the table they're in our hand," he said. "We won't allow them to become a nuclear threat to us or our friends."

Neither Romney nor Ryan brought up, or was asked about, two new scandals involving two of Ryan's House GOP colleagues--Rep. Todd Akin's controversial comments on abortion and Rep. Kevin Yoder's nude swim in the Sea of Galillee.

[ScribL100]

Romney is toast. The Independents hate him, the women hate him, latinos hate him. The only people that like him are old white rich bigots.

[mosieb]

I am woman and I am not rich, I am however old...I do not hate Romney I do on the other hand STRONGLY dislike our President. Romney showed all the taxes he needs to show. Obama needs to show us his "papers"

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

"Romney to Obama on Taxes: Start telling the truth"

American people to Romney: Release 5 or more years of your TAX RETURNS Mr. TAX CHEAT!

[marychgo]

To believe Romney's proposed income tax cuts will be revenue-neutral and won't shift the income tax burden from the rich to the middle class and the poor, American voters have to take a gigantic LEAP OF FAITH in the "voodoo economics" the GOP has been selling for 30 years (yes, Virginia, that's "trickle down" and deregulation!).

I'm having trouble believing even Romney/Ryan actually BELIEVE this foolishness, but the ONLY way their numbers could CONCEIVABLY work out the way they say they will would be if those lower tax rates jump-start such a magnificent surge of economic growth that there's an additional trillion or more dollars of income to be taxed at their lower rates. That kind of surge DIDN'T happen in the '80s under Reagan and Bush 41 or in the '00s under Bush 43. HIGHER taxes in the '90s under Clinton DID produce good job growth, but sadly, a lot of the growth in the economy was produced by the tech bubble.

Which is what the Tax Policy Center study was trying to tell them. We already have the lowest federal income tax rates of my lifetime. Cutting those rates even more will NOT stimulate economic growth and will CERTAINLY NOT "trickle down" to help the Americans who have suffered the most since the Crash of 2008. No matter HOW MUCH the Republicans cut federal spending, lower tax rates guarantee either huge annual deficits as far as the eye can see or higher taxes for SOME Americans. To pretend otherwise is the REAL lie in this contest!

[bbinfla]

Cry me a river Romney, the Misssippi needs your help.

[CaptainSmollett]

So you support a candidate that lies to you?

[A_Canadian_Opinion]

No CaptainRetard, it's clearly obvious that bbinfla does not support dishonest Romney.

[venusvegasvada]

Penn and Teller, the famous Las Vegas Magicians had better watch their backs!

There's a new Magic Team coming to town!

It's Romney and Ryan!

Here's a taste of what to expect with their new Magic show!

SEE!
The Amazing Romney, using the world's largest whiteboard, take multiple, functioning US companies, rip them apart, shuffle their assets around while playing games with loans and offshoring and shell companies!

FEEL!
The Amazing Romney, in a huge explosion and a puff of smoke, masterfully make all the companies, workers and profits disappear! RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES! All without a trace!

HEAR!
The Amazing Romney tell everyone in the audience to trust him that the money is safely and legally overseas, hidden in multiple bank accounts! All without providing a shred of evidence!

WATCH!
The Amazing Ryan and his Mother describe how ancient alchemy/GOP mathematics can do anything from reverse the aging process to raising the dead! See him take a bunch of negative numbers and magically turn them all into positive numbers! Right before your very eyes! At the same time his Mom bakes Apple Pies for the audience! Totally amazing!

[CaptainSmollett]

Ahhh, more creative blithering from the land of Harry Reid.

Obama is responsible for a massive increase in poverty, but you give him a free pass...that genius.

[venusvegasvada]

Wow.
I'm starting to think that everyone in the GOP is either a selfish Rich person that never worked a day in their life or some ignorant dipsh!t that is functionally illiterate, failed basic math and doesn't understand what the difference between Democracy and Capitalism is.

Hold that GOP flag up on high there buddy and keep waiving it.

[RealMrTeaMan]

Dear Mr. Romney,
We have contacted you now several times regarding your missing tax returns for years ending 2000 through 2011. To date we have only received a partial return for year ending 2010 and a "projection" of taxes for year ending 2011. Unfortunately this is inadequate documentation to evaluate your financial history and allegiances, which are critical to understand your previous behavior.

Given the disappointing Swiss bank accounts and Cayman shell corporations that we have previously discussed, these documents are now critical to better understand your past financial background. This understanding is in turn required in order to make an informed decision regarding your capability to perform the financially sensitive position that you have applied for.

If you have recently released the tax returns for years ending 2000-2011, please accept our sincere apology and we will continue to evaluate your application. If however we do not receive your tax records for the years ending 2000-2011 , we regret that we will be unable to process your application, and unable to consider you for the position for which you have applied.

If this is the case, we want to send our appreciation for your effort and application and encourage you to reapply when you are better able to meet with our admittedly high standards.

Thank You and Best Regards.

The American People

[CaptainSmollett]

If the IRS says they are okay, who are you to say different?

What Romney does with his own money is immaterial compared to what Obama does with ours: $6 tillion in new debt, and that doesn't bother you?

[venusvegasvada]

Wow.
I'm starting to think that everyone in the GOP is either a selfish Rich person that never worked a day in their life or some ignorant dipsh!t that is functionally illiterate, failed basic math and doesn't understand what the difference between Democracy and Capitalism is.

Hold that GOP flag up on high there buddy and keep waiving it.

[ludvig1-2009]

If when Mitt gave McCain his tax records going way back when and McCain decided to pick Palin instead of him for the VP role, it certainly hints that Romney had some bad stuff in his tax records that he don't want to show. This is backed up by Mitt's wife who says they won't show the records because they would be used against Mitt. Show us the returns Mitt.

[andrewjsacks]

It is Romney who needs to tell the truth.

[dstiebs1]

All Romney needs to do is cut the Government back to the size it was before Obama and he will save a Tillion Dollars in the first year.

[moretruthnow]

All President Obama needs to do is keep exposing the lies and the most dishonest republicans we have seen in years. They have done nothing and a lot of it to keep the country from success. The GOP have nothing but lies and lots of hateful lies and hateful attacks. President Obama must expose the hate they have for minorities to vote, for women to get birth control, for honest government. America deserves to have President Obama reelected so we can continue to have Medicare and Social Security. We need Democrats who are concerned about the middle class and working poor. We do not need republican billionaires against regulations, against our environment and against everyone who is not the wealthy. They care about the rich and demand they never pay taxes.

[RealMrTeaMan]

Uhhh Obama cut spending by 1 Trillion Problem is that we still have to pay for thew 2 wars and the unfunded Medicaid expansion, while taxes were cut, and the economy trashed....

Now republicans don't seem to remember (or want to) that it was 8 years of Bush (and the exact same policies that Romney is proposing) that got us here...

We are just starting to get on our feet from the WORST financial collapse since the great depression..... The republicans are obstructing EVERYTHING and at the same time saying it should get better faster...

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57493537-503544/report-congress-on-pace-to-be-least-productive-since-world-war-ii/

All while draped in the flag...

Disgusting..

[aintfakin]

louiville223 August 20, 2012 8:45 PM EDT
The only ones worried about Romney's taxes are you class envy clowns who wouldn't vote for him no matter what he did.
---------------------------------------------------
envy?
got that right
I would love to have his 13%....if it is even that much
course we dont know.....
he has actually come out and said he is going to tax the wealthy even less.
and you sit there and swallow it like a baby bird.
did you graduate from high school?