Obama: Ryan plan would reduce Romney's tax rate to 1 percent
(CBS News) Under the budget plan offered by Republican vice presidential nominee Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., Mitt Romney would "pay less than 1 percent in taxes each year," President Obama charged during a New Hampshire campaign swing Saturday.
"That's a pretty good deal, just paying one percent in taxes; you're making millions of dollars," the president said in his second remarks of the day in Rochester, N.H., repeating the claim he first made earlier in Windham, N.H., that the plan put forth by Ryan -- the House Budget Committee chair -- would cut Romney's tax rate to less than 1 percent.
"Now, here's the kicker: They expect you to pick up the tab," he continued to an eruption of "boos."
Mr. Obama urged his New Hampshire supporters to approach Romney and Ryan when they arrive in the state for campaign events Monday "so you can tell them if you think this is fair. And you should ask them, 'How do you think that's gonna grow the economy again? How is that gonna strengthen the middle class?'"
The president's speech was designed to rip Romney on taxes, which has been a prominent theme so far in this campaign. A recent dust-up arose after Romney refused to release additional tax returns to help quell allegations perpetuated by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., that Romney hasn't paid taxes in a decade.
"Their ideas are pretty simple - they're not hard to explain," Mr. Obama said of the GOP ticket to the Windham crowd of about 2,300. He said they "think if we get rid of more regulations on big corporations and big banks - some of which we put in place to prevent another taxpayer-funded bailout -- and if we do more tax cuts for the very wealthiest Americans, then somehow prosperity's gonna rain down on all of you."
(Watch a clip of President Obama's remarks in Windham, N.H., in the video to the left.)
Though his prepared remarks deemed the Republicans' philosophy "trickle-down fairy dust," Mr. Obama opted for starker language in his delivery, repeating the "trickle-down snake oil" line he introduced earlier this week.
But even before the president took the podium in Windham, the Romney campaign issued a statement striking down the one-percent tax rate claim in his prepared remarks as "yet another false attack."
"The fact is, President Obama wants to raise taxes on private investment and job creators, which will lead to higher unemployment and fewer jobs," Romney campaign spokesman Ryan Williams said. "The Romney-Ryan Plan eliminates taxes for the middle class on interest, dividends and capital gains and implements pro-growth policies to deliver more jobs and more take-home pay for middle-class families."
Later in the speech, the president addressed the ongoing debate on Medicare. While Ryan earlier in the day tried to put a face to his own Medicare argument by introducing his mother as a beneficiary of the program, Mr. Obama hypothesized that Ryan and Romney "know it's not a very popular idea" to offer seniors vouchers, as they've proposed, "because now they're being dishonest about my plan since they can't sell their plan," which the president claimed would force seniors to shell out an additional $6,400 for health care.
"They're trying to throw everything at the wall just to see what will stick," the president said, going on to tout his administration's work in "strengthening Medicare" and saving seniors money on prescription drugs. He said the "only changes to your benefits" he's made while in office is allowing Medicare to also cover new preventative services like cancer screenings "for free."
