Obama camp questions ‘simple math’ behind Romney tax proposals

President Obama's campaign Sunday sought to continue undercutting Mitt Romney's tax proposal, as a campaign spokesperson insisted it was mathematically impossible.

Speaking to the press, spokeswoman Jen Psaki said that Romney's plan to cut taxes across-the-board while not contributing to the deficit would not add up.

"And I was not a math major, I was an English major. So just to be clear, this is something any American can do," she said.

The Romney campaign, though, pushed back, claiming that the Obama team is being dishonest in overstating the size of Romney’s tax cut proposal and by failing to account for the increased economic activity they say the cuts will spark.

During Wednesday’s debate, President Obama charged Romney with calling for a $5 trillion tax cut. Romney responded that he was “not looking for a $5 trillion tax cut” and said he would not approve any cuts that increase to the deficit if elected president.

Since the debate, both campaigns have unveiled a series of ads charging the other side with being dishonest about the Romney tax cut proposal.

The Obama administration cites the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which has estimated that Romney's tax cuts would cost nearly $5 trillion. But the Romney campaign maintains that the cost of those cuts can be covered by eliminating various tax credits, deductions and loopholes.

On Sunday, Psaki again argued that even if voters gave Romney the "absolute benefit of the doubt," on what various deductions could be trimmed, his plan would still come up short by about a trillion dollars.

Instead, the only way for those cuts to exist is by "either blowing a hole in the deficit or raising taxes on middle-class families," according to Psaki.

Republicans contend that the scoring of such tax proposals does not account for the increased economic activity created by those cuts, which provide new revenues to control the deficit.

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