Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney has taken a lot of heat since revealing that his tax rate is about 15 percent. But his comments over speaking fees are more important, showing the former Massachusetts governor is out of touch with ordinary Americans, rival candidate Rick Santorum said Wednesday.
Romney said Tuesday that he didn’t make “very much” giving lectures, yet his appearance fees totaled more than $370,000 last year. That income alone would almost put him in the top 1 percent of American earners.
“The thing that is a difference is to make a statement that I made a couple of extra bucks giving speeches, when that couple extra bucks is over $300,000,” Santorum said on
Fox News. “I mean, that to me says a little bit more about Gov. Romney and his connection with the American people than his tax rate, which is driven by a tax code.”
Santorum said Romney’s wealth doesn’t mean that he doesn’t understand what average Americans are going through now. But, “to refer to 300 and some thousand dollars as a few extra bucks, $300,000 isn’t a few extra bucks to me,” he said.
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