Obama Slices Romney’s Tax Plan in Mansfield

MANSFIELD, Ohio — President Barack Obama made another campaign trip to northeast Ohio on Wednesday, bolstered by a new poll that shows him with the lead in the Buckeye State.

The president first stopped in Mansfield Wednesday at Central Park, where he kicked off the event by congratulating the American athletes competing in the Olympics, including record-breaking swimmer Michael Phelps and the women’s gymnastics team, fresh off their gold medal win. Obama said that he called the team over the phone, joking, “How do you not bust your head every time you’re on that balance beam?”

Most notable, however, was Obama’s mention of Army Specialist Justin Lester, of Akron, who will compete in Greco-Roman wrestling for the U.S. next week.

Obama then quickly shifted the talks to the choice voters face in “two fundamentally different visions” on how to grow the economy, create middle-class jobs and pay down the deficit. The president also drew a clear line in the sand to distance his campaign from GOP rival Mitt Romney.

“Here in this country, if you work hard, you should be rewarded. We should be able to find a good job, a home to call our own,” the president said. “We should be able to retire with dignity and respect.”

Obama said U.S.A was a young nation with great diversity and opportunity that any country would trade places with.

“(The U.S.) needs to put people back to work, no matter who you are, where you come from … you can make it here in America. That’s why I’m running for a second term.”

Obama sourced a recent independent group’s study as reason why voters should stick with his campaign’s tax plan, instead of his opponent’s, saying that the average middle-class home would be hit with a tax increase of more than $2,000 under Romney.

“He’s asking you to pay more so that people like him get a big tax cut,” Obama said.

Obama then suggested that America should return to the taxes under former President Bill Clinton, when the “economy was at his best.”

The crowd of over 2,000 erupted in cheers when Obama saluted the middle class for building the country, promising not to raise their taxes, and ensuring that the government would do its part to cut the deficit.

“I’ve got a different plan for America than Mr. Romney’s,” the president said. Let’s finish what we started in 2008. Let’s put the middle class back in the forefront.

Meanwhile, in response to Obama’s taxing proposal, Romney’s campaign released the following statement:

“President Obama continues to tout liberal studies calling for more tax hikes and more government spending. We’ve been down that road before – and it’s led us to 41 straight months of unemployment above 8 percent. It’s clear that the only plan President Obama has is more of the same. Mitt Romney believes that lower tax rates and less government will jump-start the economy and create jobs.”

Obama also traveled to Akron Wednesday afternoon to speak at the John S. Knight Center on East Mill Street.