Politics: R. Money

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Politics R. Money Can Romney overcome his wealth and connect with middle-class Americans? By John Dickerson Posted Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012, at 06:22 PM ET Mitt Romney has said that he would like to talk about income inequality—but only in "quiet rooms." Romney is learning, however, that there is no way to keep the inequality conversation between four walls. It's going to occur in quiet rooms, in loud rooms, on debate stages, and, most importantly, in the quiet room known as the voting booth.   Campaigning in South Carolina Tuesday, Romney learned just how difficult this issue will be when he tried to take advantage of the new fascination with income inequality to attack rival Newt Gingrich. Gingrich's capital gains tax of 0 percent would be a huge windfall to the wealthy, he argued, whereas his plan would offer a capital gains break only for the middle class. But then Time's Mark Halperin asked Romney about his own personal tax rate. Romney said it was about 15 percent, because he doesn't make much wage income. Suddenly the income inequality issue that Romney had been trying to exploit was being turned against him. The White House spokesman and Democratic National Committee said that Romney was an example of just the kind of taxpayer the president thought should be paying more in times of tight budgets. The primary question of the 2012 campaign appears to be: What is fair? Is the government, through design or stupidity, tilted against some and rewarding others? Is the private enterprise system broken because of corporate greed and stupidity, or is it instead hindered by government? And no ... To continue reading, click here. Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE | READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Wikipedia's SOPA Protest: Shutting the Site Down Is a Brilliant Tactic It Should Never Repeat Obama Blames GOP Deadline for Keystone Rejection Don't Buy the Atlantic's Fear-Mongering on the "Danger" of Genetically Modified Foods	Advertisement
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