Friday, October 12, 2012

AEI vs. TPC: Duel Continues in Veep Debate


In his debate against Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), Vice Presidnet Joe Biden cited two think tanks, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) and the Tax Policy Center (TPC).

Biden cited the think tanks, saying that their studies show that Romney's tax plan would raise taxes on the middle class.  Said Biden as yesterday's debate:
Now, there’s not enough — the reason why the AEI study, the American Enterprise Institute study, the Tax Policy Center study, the reason they all say it’s going to — taxes will go up on the middle class, the only way you can find $5 trillion in loopholes is cut the mortgage deduction for middle-class people, cut the health care deduction for middle-class people, take away their ability to get a tax break to send their kids to college.
The Washington Free Beacon says that AEI said not such thing.  Here is what they say:
Joe Biden cited an American Enterprise Institute study showing that Mitt Romney’s tax plan would raise taxes on the middle class.
AEI has said no such thing, though.
Alex Brill of the American Enterprise Institute wrote that the Tax Policy Center’s study—the one so heavily cited by the Obama campaign that claims a President Romney would institute tax hikes on the middle class—actually “falls apart.”
Brill found that, in order to keep the budget revenue neutral under the new tax cuts and closed loopholes, the government would actually have to cut, not raise, taxes on the middle class.
Brill also excoriated the TPC for misusing his work, calling their conclusion “a false interpretation of our research.”
Huffington Post questions whether the AEI study that defends Romney's tax plan is truly non-partisan.

Here is a new Romney add that touts the AEI study.

Here is what the Washington Post has to say about the TPC vs. AEI duel.

This article says that the candidates are misleading the public in citing the think tank studies.