Washington, D.C. — A new report by Seth Hanlon, Director of Fiscal Reform at the Center for American Progress Action Fund, finds that the tax policies proposed by Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would give a tax cut of potentially more than $2 billion to the Republicans’ single largest donor, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. The report finds that Adelson would receive an exponential rate of return on his pledge to spend $100 million to defeat President Barack Obama and elect Gov. Romney.
“Through a variety of proposals to cut taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations like Sheldon Adelson’s Las Vegas Sands Corporation, Mitt Romney would give Adelson a multibillion dollar windfall,” said Hanlon. “In addition to cutting the tax rates paid by the richest Americans, Romney’s plan to permanently exempt the foreign profits of U.S. corporations from taxation would provide Adelson with immediate and lasting rewards.”
The report finds that a single tax proposal from Romney—maintaining the current Bush-era rates on dividends—could allow Adelson to recoup his $100 million election investment in less than a single year. In addition to the more than $2 billion estimated windfall for Adelson during the first four years of a Romney administration, Adelson’s heirs could also save as much as $8.9 billion as a result of Romney’s plan to eliminate the estate tax.
“This report provides dramatic evidence of Mitt Romney’s plan to raise taxes on middle class families in order to slash taxes on the right-wing billionaires bankrolling the Republican election effort,” said Tom Perriello, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. “Middle-class families should not have to pay more so Mitt Romney’s billionaire donors can pay even less. Far right billionaires like Sheldon Adelson stand to reap a huge return on investment if they manage to buy this election. This focus on big returns to investors at the expense of working families may have helped Romney get rich at Bain Capital, but it would be a disaster for America.”
Read the full report:
Sheldon Adelson’s Return on Investment by Seth Hanlon
###