"Romneys for Brown" Reminds Massachusetts of Scott Brown's Close Ties to Mitt Romney and Support for Romney Economic Policy that Harms Middle Class

 

For Immediate Release: August 27, 2012
Contact: Mathew Helman, Communications Director
E-mail: mathew@progressmass.org, Cell: 617-821-8004

BOSTON - Massachusetts residents gathered today outside of Republican Scott Brown's campaign headquarters to highlight what Brown's close relationship with Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney means for Middle Class Massachusetts.  The group of activists, calling themselves "Romneys for Brown," donned Mitt Romney masks and carried signs featuring some of Mitt Romney's more notorious quotes regarding economic policy, including: "I like being able to fire people who provide services to me;" "I'm not concerned about the very poor;" "Let Detroit go bankrupt;" and, "Corporations are people."

"Mitt Romney's economic policies, which would harm Middle Class Massachusetts, have enjoyed no more enthusiastic cheerleader than Republican Scott Brown," reminded Mathew Helman, Communications Director for ProgressMass.  "Republican Scott Brown has made it abundantly clear that he would be a rubber stamp for Mitt Romney on economic policy.  That should deeply worry Massachusetts since the centerpiece of Mitt Romney's economic policy is a tax plan that yet again cuts taxes for the wealthiest Americans while raising taxes on the rest of us."

"Romneys for Brown" offered a send-off to Brown in the form of a "Republican Convention Care Package," as Brown prepares to travel to Tampa, Florida, for the Republican National Convention to support the self-described "severely conservative" Mitt Romney for President and far-right-wing conservative Paul Ryan for Vice President.

Among the items in the "Republican Convention Care Package" were: a "Scott Brown ♥ Romney/Ryan" rubber stamp; blank 1040 IRS forms that Brown could share with Romney, a reference to Romney's refusal to reveal tax information prior to 2010; Etch-A-Sketch toys, a reference to Brown's and Romney's shared tendency of covering up previous votes or positions on issues that are politically unpopular; (of course, "Etch-A-Sketch" was entered into the political lexicon by Brown's and Romney's shared advisor, Eric Fehrnstrom;) a pair of flip-flops; and, three-way "Best Friends Forever" charm necklaces that "Romneys for Brown" encourages Brown to share with Romney and Ryan.

Additionally, "Romneys for Brown" distributed fact sheets, the content of which is below, highlighting: Brown's past rhetoric illustrating that he'd serve as a rubber stamp for Mitt Romney on economic policy; analyses of Romney's tax plan confirming that he would slash taxes for the wealthiest Americans while raising taxes on the rest of us; and, Brown's recent vote against tax cuts for the Middle Class.

THE MITT ROMNEY-SCOTT BROWN TAX PLAN:
HIGHER TAXES ON MIDDLE CLASS, MORE TAX CUTS FOR WEALTHIEST

Republican Scott Brown: A Mitt Romney Rubber Stamp

On multiple occasions throughout his time in the U.S. Senate, Republican Scott Brown has pointed to Mitt Romney as the person he trusts most on economic issues.

"Let me give you a piece of advice.  And it's something that I think of regularly when I think of my challenges here in Washington.  If you want to fix something that's broken, especially dealing with economic policies, you have to listen to Governor Mitt Romney."
-Scott Brown, 2/18/10, introducing Mitt Romney at the 2010 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC)

"When it comes to dealing with the economic issues, there's no one I would trust more than Governor Romney."
-Scott Brown, 3/19/12, on CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight"

Republican Scott Brown's Rubber Stamp for Mitt Romney Means a Tax Hike for the Middle Class

Now that Republican Scott Brown has made it clear that he would be a rubber stamp for a President Mitt Romney if both Brown and Romney are successful in their campaigns this year, what would that mean for Middle Class Massachusetts?  The bottom line is that it would mean higher taxes on the Middle Class to pay for yet another tax cut for the wealthiest Americans.

Washington Post, "Study: Romney tax plan would result in cuts for rich, higher burden for others," 8/1/12

Mitt Romney's plan to overhaul the tax code would produce cuts for the richest 5 percent of Americans -- and bigger bills for everybody else, according to an independent analysis set for release Wednesday.

The study was conducted by researchers at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute, who seem to bend over backward to be fair to the Republican presidential candidate. [...]

What would that mean for the average tax bill? Millionaires would get an $87,000 tax cut, the study says. But for 95 percent of the population, taxes would go up by about 1.2 percent, an average of $500 a year.

CBS News, "Analysis: Romney tax plan strongly favors the rich," 3/2/12

Mitt Romney's new tax plan strongly favors the wealthiest Americans, offering earners in the top 20 percent an average tax cut of more than $16,000 while raising taxes on the bottom 20 percent of earners, according to an analysis from a non-partisan Washington think tank.

The analysis out Thursday from the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution think tanks, finds that under Romney's plan the bottom 20 percent would see their average federal tax rate increase $149, or 1.3 percent.

The top 20 percent, meanwhile, would see an average tax cut of $16,134 -- a 5.4 percent reduction in their tax rate. The top one percent of earners would see their average tax rate fall by nearly $150,000 per year, and the top 0.1 percent would see a reduction of more than $725,000.

Republican Scott Brown Already On the Record Voting Against Middle Class Tax Cuts

It's no surprise that Republican Scott Brown supports Mitt Romney's economic philosophy, the centerpiece of which is Mitt Romney's tax plan that would cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans and pay for it by raising taxes on the Middle Class.  Brown is already on the record voting against tax cuts for the Middle Class, voting "Nay" on S. 3412, the Middle Class Tax Cut Act (Senate Vote # 184, 7/25/12).

Boston Globe, "Brown votes against extending tax cuts," 7/25/12

Senator Scott Brown, the lone Republican in the Massachusetts delegation, sided with his party Wednesday and voted against a Democratic proposal that would allow tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans to expire but would keep in place cuts for those making less than $250,000 annually.

Republican Scott Brown has made it clear that he will be a rubber stamp for Mitt Romney's economic policies; and, Mitt Romney has made it clear that he will raise taxes on the Middle Class and cut taxes for the wealthiest Americans.  That will be the result of the Middle Class-crushing Mitt Romney-Scott Brown tax plan.

 

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