Mitt Romney clearly feels the need to defend himself from the criticism that Democrats threw his way during the convention. In an interview with NBC’s Meet the Press, Romney insisted that despite what President Obama might say, he has no plans on cutting taxes for the wealthy. He also said he would keep several (of the most popular) parts of the health care reform, including coverage for people with pre-existing conditions.
Romney said that his proposed 20-percent tax cut for all would be paid for by eliminating loopholes and deductions from the highest earners. He said his plan would essentially cut taxes on the middle-class while keeping those for the richest Americans unchanged. As Holly Bailey writes on Yahoo! News, Romney “again declined to offer specifics on how exactly he would accomplish his goal of lowering taxes for other Americans while also balancing the budget.”
In the same interview, Romney insisted he wouldn’t get rid of every aspect of so-called Obamacare, reports Bloomberg. He would still repeal the law, as he vowed to do early in his campaign, but he would incorporate some of its measures into his own plan. “I’m not getting rid of all of health-care reform,” Romney said. “Of course there are a number of things that I like in health-care reform that I’m going to put in place.” In addition to keeping coverage for those with pre-existing conditions, Romney also said he’d also allow young adults to stay under their parents’ health-insurance plan “up to whatever age they might like.”
In the midst of fighting back against what he described as the Obama narrative of his campaign, Romney also emphasized what he believes will be the main message coming from his camp in the run-up to Election Day: “It’s basically ‘You want more jobs? You want higher income? Then vote for Romney and Ryan.” While Obama’s reelection would translate into more unemployment and a growing debt crisis, a Romney presidency would lead to the economy “roaring back,” he said, according to the National Journal.
