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Modest differences define GOP rivals

The difference is in the details for Republican presidential contenders.

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By Jessica Wehrman and Jack Torry
Washington Bureau Updated 11:48 PM Saturday, February 25, 2012

WASHINGTON — All four Republican candidates for president support smaller government, lower taxes and fewer regulations. All oppose abortion in some way and gay marriage.

But dial down into the issues and there are differences.

For example, all four want to cut taxes, but Texas Congressman Ron Paul wants to eliminate the Internal Revenue Service and the federal income tax.

They all want to scrap the new health care law signed in 2010 by President Barack Obama, but they swerve away from one another on what they would replace the law with.

And they all want to reduce federal spending and offer relatively few new spending ideas. The one exception is former House Speaker Newt Gingrich who has said he wants to develop a colony on the moon.

“This Republican primary, everyone’s question becomes just how conservative — or conservative in what way — are the candidates,” said John Green of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron. “What we’re looking at is modest differences in policy and differences in credibility, but there’s not a huge difference.”

Voters judge presidential candidates based on a variety of factors, including how much they identify with the person or trust them to lead the country. But issues matter and too often in presidential campaigns they get lost in all the noise.

With the March 6 Ohio primary election just nine days away, the Dayton Daily News examined the positions of the four remaining GOP candidates — Gingrich, Paul, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum — on taxes, spending, health care and social issues. While the differences may be small, they are not insignificant. And with so much at stake in this election, voters need to know where the candidates stand on issues that are most important to the public.

Taxes

All four Republicans want to end estate taxes, but there are discernible differences on other taxes.

• Gingrich:

Give people the option of paying a 15 percent flat tax instead of paying the current income tax rate.

Cut the corporate income tax from 35 percent to 12.5 percent, and scrap the capital gains tax, which is the profit from the sale of stocks and real estate.

• Romney:

Cut individual tax rates by 20 percent and eliminate taxes on capital gains and dividends for individuals earning less than $200,000 a year.

• Santorum:

Cut income tax brackets to two — 28 percent and 10 percent, while reducing capital gains taxes from the current rate of 15 percent to 12 percent.

Triple the $1,000-per-child tax credit, and eliminate the corporate tax for manufacturers — a way he said to boost manufacturing in the United States.

• Paul’s tax plan is the most distinctive. He would:

Finance the government through excise taxes, tariffs and corporate taxes. He says he could support an individual income tax as long as it is a flat tax.

A new report by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget in Washington calculates that the tax and spending plans offered by Romney, Santorum and Gingrich would add anywhere from $2.6 trillion to $7.1 trillion in new debt during the next decade.

But in a speech in Detroit on Friday, Romney said his plans will not add to the deficit. He said stronger economic growth and spending cuts will offset the reduced tax revenue.

Medicare and Medicaid

Each candidate has a plan for curbing the rising cost of Medicare and Medicaid. Along with Social Security, those programs are responsible for much of the projected rise in federal spending over the next decade. According to the Congressional Budget Office, Medicare, which provides health care for the elderly, will soar from $560 billion this year to $1 trillion in 2022. Meanwhile, Medicaid, which pays health costs for low-income Americans, will increase from $262 billion this year to $605 billion in 2022.

• Romney:

Backs a plan similar to one approved last year by House Republicans, which allows those nearing retirement to stay in the current Medicare system, where the federal government pays a fee for physician and hospital services. But Romney would offer future retirees money to buy private insurance plans. He has argued that intense competition among insurance companies to sell their plans would lead to lower costs to the government.

• Santorum:

Has endorsed the House GOP plan on reforming Medicare. Much like Romney’s plan, the House Republican proposal would provide a payment or voucher to people so they could buy private insurance. The program would not impact anyone who is 55 years or older.

• Gingrich:

Gives seniors the choice to either stay in the current Medicare system or select a private plan.

• Paul:

Would preserve Medicare while attempting to eventually funnel Americans into medical savings accounts. Paul has questioned the constitutionality of Medicare, but has yet to call for getting rid of it.

Health care mandate

The candidates have their differences on the key feature of the 2010 law — the requirement by the federal government that everyone buy a health insurance policy. Romney has faced intense criticism from his GOP opponents — Santorum in particular — for the health care law he signed in Massachusetts that requires individuals to secure health care coverage. He argues that states have the right to design their own health laws, but the federal government lacks the power to impose an individual mandate on all 50 states.

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