A new Democratic National Committee (DNC) ad hits Mitt Romney for attending a fundraiser this weekend hosted by the billionaire conservatives Charles and David Koch, suggesting that the presumptive GOP nominee backs economic policies which favor the wealthy at the expense of the middle class.
“Oil billionaire David Koch is hosting a fundraiser for millionaire Mitt Romney at his Hamptons estate this weekend,” reads a card at the beginning of the ad.
It is followed by clips of critical news reports on the Koch brothers, who have financially supported a slew of conservative causes, including an advocacy group closely aligned with the Tea Party movement, Americans for Prosperity.
“And what would Mitt Romney do for the Koch brothers?,” the ad then asks, before hitting Romney on a number of policies, which the DNC claims would benefit wealthy campaign backers.
“Give a new $250,000 tax cut to every millionaire & billionaire. Protect tax loopholes for companies outsourcing jobs. Protect tax subsidies for Big Oil,” says onscreen text.
The ad concludes: “Mitt Romney: Great for oil billionaires, bad for the middle class.”
Romney is attending three fundraisers this Sunday in the Hamptons on Long Island, including a $50,000 a plate dinner at David Koch’s Southampton home.
Democrats have hammered Romney over his tenure at private equity firm Bain Capital, saying he outsourced American jobs, and used his personal wealth to suggest his is out-of-touch with the concerns of those struggling with the weak economy.
This last week, Democrats intensified their attacks on Romney after a report in Vanity Fair said that the candidate’s financial advisors had established a corporation in Bermuda to hold many of his assets and detailed the use of offshore accounts in Switzerland and the Cayman Islands.
On Sunday, Democratic National Committee chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said Romney needed to release additional tax returns to further explain his offshore holdings, which Democrats have characterized as tax havens.
Romney’s campaign, though, has rejected those charges. Spokesman Kevin Madden said Romney “ is accountable for U.S. taxes. Some investments in some foreign countries can be tax havens. But Mitt Romney does not hold any such investments.”
News reports say that in addition to the Koch-hosted dinner, Romney will attend a lunch Sunday at businessman Ronald Perelman’s East Hampton home and an event at former U.S. ambassador Clifford Sobel’s home.
Occupy Wall Street, MoveOn.org and other left-leaning groups have announced plans to protest outside the fundraisers.
