Does Romney need to 'fill in the blanks' of his tax plan?

Romney's proposed tax breaks would create a $360 billion hole in the budget — and he hasn't specified what he'd do to close the gap

Mitt Romney
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

President Obama's campaign is hammering Mitt Romney's tax plan, citing a study by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center that shows Romney would need to raise taxes on middle- and lower-income households to keep all his campaign promises. Romney has vowed to enact a raft of specific tax cuts, which would create a $360 billion hole in the budget, while promising to balance the budget. The Tax Policy Center found that it would be mathematically impossible to achieve those goals, but Romney has so far resisted pressure to explain how he could pay for his tax cuts. Does he need to provide more specifics?

Yes. Otherwise Romney's plan makes no sense: Romney has two options: He can "eliminate a wheelbarrow full of tax breaks" or "slash more spending," says The Washington Post in an editorial. But he refuses to do endorse either approach, offering the "feel-good temptation of lower taxes without the harsh medicine to follow." The "bottom line of this exercise" is that Romney "has a hole in his balance sheet," and he "needs to fill in the blanks of his tax policy, and soon."

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