How to Counter Obama’s Tax Cut Extension Politics

If Mitt Romney lets Barack Obama take the torch of lower taxes from his hands, no matter what happens this election (a dramatic economic calamity notwithstanding) Obama will be President through 2016. I think Obama knows this and I hope the Romney camp knows this, because Obama is making his move:

WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama will propose a one-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts for families earning less than $250,000 today, an effort to shift the conversation away from the sagging economy and onto ground of tax fairness, which Mr. Obama prefers.

His campaign will amplify the message with a series of battleground state events this week.

On Monday, Mr. Obama will appear in the East Room, surrounded by people who would benefit from the extension, an administration official said. It’s another display of the power of incumbency, whereby a president can command attention for his ideas in grand surroundings not available to his challenger.

Mr. Obama will make the same case on a campaign trip Tuesday to Iowa.

The message here is obvious: Mitt Romney is a rich guy who would extend tax cuts for his rich buddies (as ift here are only a few Americans making over $250k) while leaving you to pay the bill. But Obama is just like you and wants to punish those rich guys (and Mitt Romney) and let you keep your tax cut.

Obama won’t be letting up on attacking Mitt’s wealth any time soon.

So here’s how Romney can counter it: propose a plan which would not only flatten the tax code, but would extend the tax cuts and lower the overall rate for those making $250k or less a year while also cutting out loopholes. This way, Romney reclaims the mantle of lower taxes and can charge Obama is merely for the status quo.

Obama sees tax fairness as his turf, but it doesn’t have to be.

Romney has been letting the Obama campaign get away with a lot lately, the Swiss bank account issue the most prominent example. If Romney lets Obama slide on this without a challenge and lets the ‘puppet for the rich’ attack stick, we might as well put our focus on the Senate. Thankfully, I don’t think he will.