Romney Tax Revelation, Ryan’s Budget Admission, and More

Tax Promises:

Mitt Romney wants us all to know that he’s regularly paid at least 13 percent of his income in taxes — trust him! On Thursday, Romney said: “I did go back and look at my taxes and over the past 10 years I never paid less than 13 percent. I think the most recent year is 13.6 or something like that. So I paid taxes every single year.” You’ll have to take his word on it though. Romney still insists he won’t be releasing any more of his tax returns. (Read more)

Reid Quadruples Down: All right, Harry Reid. The ball’s back in your court now that Romney has said he did pay taxes. The Senate majority leader’s response to Romney’s claim Thursday? Prove it by releasing more tax returns. “We’ll believe it when we see it. Until Mitt Romney releases his tax returns, Americans will continue to wonder what he’s hiding,” Reid spokesman Adam Jentleson said. And here we go all over again. (Read more)

Stimulus Denial: Paul Ryan is refuting Boston Globe and Associated Press reports that said he asked for millions of dollars in stimulus funds despite opposing the federal program. “No, I never asked for stimulus,” the Republican vice presidential candidate told WCPO Cincinnati, denying that he ever made such a request. The reports were based on four letters the AP and the Globe obtained in which Ryan requested funds for energy programs in his district. Ryan’s office had previously explained that the Wisconsin congressman, who decried the federal stimulus as a “wasteful spending spree,” was “providing a legitimate constituent service.” (Read more)

VP Suggestion: Sen. John McCain has some friendly re-election campaign advice for President Obama—dump Vice President Joe Biden from the ticket and replace him with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Said the guy who chose Sarah Palin as his running mate in 2008: “I think it might be wise to do that. But it’s not going to happen. … If I were Hillary Clinton, I’m not sure I’d want to be on that team.” (Read more)

Video of the Day: You know the Romney-Ryan plan that will supposedly take us on the path to a balanced budget? Well, Paul Ryan let it slip during an interview on Fox News that he doesn’t know whether their plan will do that. The VP candidate said he wasn’t sure because “we haven’t run the numbers on that specific plan.” Basically, Ryan admitted that he has no idea whether the plan he and Romney have to balance the budget will even, actually, you know … balance the budget.