The Truth About Romney’s Taxes

When you are Obama’s campaign staff, and the liberal Washington Post takes you to task for a Tweet, you know you’ve messed up.

Here is the Tweet:

“FACT: In 2010 and 2011, Romney paid less than 15% in taxes on $42.5 million in income—much less than what many middle-class families pay.”

A lot of factors go into the tax that people pay, and this is certainly true of Romney.

But what’s the bottom line?

The Obama campaign’s tweet relies on a very slippery “fact.”

Romney, by receiving much of his income in capital gains and dividends and giving millions of dollars to charity, is certainly able to keep his effective tax rate relatively low, especially compared to a wealthy person who earns much of his or her income in salary. But, even so, Romney still pays an effective tax rate that is higher than the tax rate paid by most Americans.

The Washington Post gave the Obama claim three Pinocchios.

We would say that’s a bit lax on Obama.