Romney pushes middle class tax plan

Likely Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was reintroducing his year-old tax plan in Colorado Thursday, tailoring it for the middle class, aides say. Romney addresses supporters at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Golden on his first campaign appearance in the swing state since returning from a foreign trip to London, Israel and Poland. "He's going to Colorado to talk about his plans for a stronger middle class," said senior adviser Eric Fegrnstorm in a morning conference call, adding Romney would remind voters "the economy is not just downshifting, it's shifting into reverse." Romney is reintroducing the five elements of his tax plan: energy independence, skills development, trade that works for America, deficit reduction and championing small business. He has proposed reducing tax rates by 20 percent, eliminating the alternative minimum tax, ending the real estate tax and giving lower- and middle-income families a larger tax break for investment income – all the while keeping it revenue neutral. A study by the Tax Policy Center estimated unspecified tax exemptions for individuals, deductions and credits would have to be slashed by as much as 66 percent to cover the $360 billion annual cost of the proposed Romney tax code. Campaign economic adviser Kevin Hassett disputed that analysis saying," Gov. Romney has a plan to reduce taxes of all Americans. That's where the job creation will come from." After his economic speech, Romney joins Republican governors Chris Christie of New Jersey, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Wisconsin's Scott Walker at Basalt High School and wraps up the day at an Aspen fundraiser.