US politics live White House and Mitt Romney compete on tax reform plans Define Jackets

US politics live White House and Mitt Romney compete on tax reform plans ShareTweet thisEmailA button vendor wears a campaign sticker for Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum before a campaign rally in Phoenix, Arizona. Photograph: Joshua Lott/Reuters10.30am: Ryan Devereauxhas a summary of the latest events on the campaign trail, with just six days to go untilvoting in the Arizona and Michigan primaries 鈥?The Republican presidential candidates debate tonight in Mesa, Arizona 鈥?With Arizona's primary next Tuesday, a poll from CNN, Time and ORC International has Santorum and Romney in a tight race Rick Santorum speaks at a campaign rally in Phoenix last night. Photograph: Joshua Lott/Reuters鈥?Rick Santorum has sidestepped a past claim that the US is under attack from Satan. Yesterday theDrudge Report ran a headline 鈥?In Michigan, theDetroit News endorsed Mitt Romneybut not without an important qualification 鈥?Finally, in what was obviously the biggest political news of the day, someone has made a portrait of Rick Santorum entirely composed of a mosaic of gay porn. The very much Not Safe For Work image can be viewedhere The queue line up for a Mitt Romney campaign event in Chandler, Arizona this morning. Photograph: Ewen MacAskill/guardian.uk 11.06am:More from theDetroit News endorsementof one-time Michigan nativeMitt Romney

Very conservative Republicans have been lukewarm to Romney because of his history of more moderate positions on social issues. They have flirted with each of his rivals looking for a true standard bearer of conservative values. One by one, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have enjoyed a burst of popularity at Romney's expense. Santorum, Gingrich and Paul are challenging Romney on the Michigan ballot next Tuesday. But those Republicans are delusional if they think either Santorum or Gingrich can prevail in the fall against Obama.

Naturally, Republican grassroots really appreciate being called "delusional" by the media. 11.40am:A newbrace of polls via NBC News and MaristfindsMitt Romney

In Michigan 鈥?which has turned into a make-or-break contest for Romney 鈥?the former Massachusetts governor gets the support of 37% of likely GOP primary voters, including those who are leaning toward a particular candidate. Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, gets 35%, and he's followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 13% and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 8%.

The happier scene in Arizona sees Romney on 43%, Santorum with 27%, Gingrich on 16% and Paul 11%. And here's the reason why: Romney's huge lead among early voters, thanks to Romney's organisational clout:

And among those who have voted early or absentee in Arizona 鈥?more than half of all likely Republicans voters in the poll 鈥?Romney holds a 30-point advantage over Santorum, 52% to 22%. 12pm:The Guardian's Ewen MacAskill says the queue of people waiting outside theMitt Romney 12.12pm:Republicans love to crow that America'scorporate tax rate Tim Geithnerto roll out cuts in the corporate tax rate combined with loophole closures, asAP reports

The Obama administration is planning to propose cutting the top tax rate for corporations to 28%, and pay for Define Jackets it by eliminating dozens of tax loopholes companies now use to lower their rates, a senior administration official said. Chances of a deeply divided Congress revamping a tax system regarded as convoluted across the political spectrum seems remote in an election year, but the announcement on Wednesday is certain to fuel debate in the run-up to November's elections. 12.23pm:Amid all the talk of a contested convention for the Republicans in Tampa,veteran Democratic pollsterStan Greenbergtells the Guardian There is a lot of discussion of this prospect around the conservative blogosphere but to be honest, contested conventions in modern politics are a lot like unicorns: people might want one but it never makes an appearance in reality. 12.35pm:The Treasury and the White House have now released a joint report on the president's plan forbusiness tax reform

The United States now essentially trades off greater tax expenditures, loopholes, and tax planning for a higher statutory corporate tax rate relative to other countries. This is a poor trade that produces a tax system that is uncompetitive relative to other countries, distorts business decision making, and slows economic growth.

Nonpartisan tax analysts consistently find that corporations here on average pay just slightly more than their competitors in other developed countries after exploiting the many tax breaks and loopholes. Recent news accounts have highlighted the low effective rates paid by companies like Google, Boeing and General Electric. 12.46pm:Buddy Roemerhas announced this morning that he iswithdrawing from the GOP nomination process Roemer says he's going to run for the Reform party nomination. And if you thought, "Reform what?" then [repeat]. 12.52pm:President Obamaattended a ground-breaking ceremony for the Smithsonian's newNational Museum of African American History and Culture

It was on this ground long ago that lives were once traded, where hundreds of thousands once marched for jobs and for freedom. It was here that the pillars of democracy were built often by black hands. Michelle Obama hugs a child from the Brooklyn Montessori school at the ground breaking ceremony for the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American history and culture. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Mr Romney wants to cut individual tax rates by 20% in all six brackets, reducing the tax the wealthiest Americans pay to 28% from 35%. That target is slightly higher than the 25% rate Mr Romney laid out earlier in the campaign. The tax rate for people in the lowest income bracket would drop to 8% from 10%, and would fall to 20% from 25% for those Americans in the middle. Mr Romney would maintain the current 15% tax rate on capital gains and dividends for households that earn $200,000 a year or more. Those earning less than that amount would pay no taxes on capital gains and dividends under his plan.

How to pay for all this, especially the across the board tax cuts? "Mr Romney offered no specific proposals to increase revenue through the tax code," reports the WSJ, "Instead, he would leave those decisions to Congress." Always a recipe for success. Stronger economic growth and reductions in spending will help Lululemon Online to ensure that these tax cuts do not expand deficits addition, higher-income Americans in particular will see limits placed on deductions, exemptions, and credits that are currently available

The bit in bold is very, very interesting: Mitt Romney looking past the GOP primaries and tackling his 1% problem? (Meanwhile, Newt Gingrich is sharpening a stick.)

Mr Hubbard said three different revenue streams would keep the plan from increasing the budget deficit: the "dynamic" effects of economic growth, the additional income that would be subject to taxation through "base broadening," and spending cuts Mr Romney plans that would reach $500 billion per year by 2016. The campaign promised more specifics on those spending cuts within the next week.

"Base broadening" here means bringing in additional tax payers or taxable income. At least he didn't also suggest "eliminating waste and inefficiency," the other usual suspect for filling fiscal holes. 2pm:So while Mitt Romney is churning out Serious Proposals, his main rival for the moment,Rick Santorum 2.15pm:For further analysis of Mitt Romney's new tax cuts, theWashington Post's Greg Sargent talks to Bob McIntyre

So how does this all square with Romney's claim [that he would "make sure the top one percent keeps paying the current share they're paying or more"] about the one percent? McIntyre says the key is that Romney said the one percent's "share" would not drop. He didn't say the amount the one percent pays wouldn't drop. "If you reduce the whole thing by 20% then they can go down by 20% and still pay the same share," McIntyre explains. 2.41pm:Buzzfeed has dug out audiofrom a 2008 interviewRick Santorum

"As of course you know, as you course you know, that abuse in gay relationships is higher than in heterosexual relationships, it's absolutely clear about that. Sexual abuse, violence to children, is higher in those relationships. It's fact."

Santorum is also brilliantly vehement when Signorile describes Santorum's longstanding argument that "if same sex marriage is ok, then so is polygamy" as specious.

Ps 鈥?This is Adam Gabbatt taking over from Richard for a few hours. 2.57pm:Barack Obama is tied with Mitt Romney inArizona,according to our friends at Public Policy Polling Obama and Romney each stand at 47% in PPP's latest poll, while the president leads both Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich by 4 points. "The only Republican he actually runs behind is Rick Santorum, although only by a single point at 47-46," PPP's press release says. "This is the latest in an increasingly long line of our polls recently that challenge the premise that Romney is a much stronger general election candidate than Santorum." Good news for Obama 鈥?although PPP do qualify the poll by saying it is unlikely the President would be able to beat Romney in Arizona once the GOP unifies around one candidate. "But the fact that we're even talking about Arizona as potentially being on the board right now is a big a shift from where we were a couple months ago."

Arizona is a great microcosm of how Barack Obama's reelection prospects have improved over the last 3 months. When we polled there in November his approval numbers were atrocious and his prospects for winning the state in the general election didn't look very good. Now he's getting more popular, the Republicans are getting less popular, and he appears to have a decent chance there. .@Vahousedemsfinding many flaws in @bobmcdonnellsuggested amendments to#sb484#transvaginal#ultrasound And just like that, Virginia's vaginal-probe ultrasound goes up in the smoke of burning vice presidential ambitions.is.gd/5Z7Jub 4.19pm:More fromBob McDonnell'sstatement after he recommended amendments which wouldnot Thus, having looked at the current proposal, I believe there is no need to direct by statute that further invasive ultrasound procedures be done. Mandating an invasive procedure in order to give informed consent is not a proper role for the state. No person should be directed to undergo an invasive procedure by the state, without their consent, as a precondition to another medical procedure. For this reason, I have recommended to the General Assembly a series of amendments to this bill. I am requesting that the General Assembly amend this bill to explicitly state that no woman in Virginia will have to undergo a transvaginal ultrasound involuntarily. I am asking the General Assembly to state in this legislation that only a transabdominal, or external, ultrasound will be required to satisfy the requirements to determine gestational age. Should a doctor determine that another form of ultrasound may be necessary to provide the necessary images and information that will be an issue for the doctor and the patient. The government will have no role in that medical decision. 4.34pm:Mitt Romney's tax plan"has the appeal of simplicity" and could help him win over not only conservative voters but independents at a general election, writesEwen MacAskill The plan is aimed at giving Romney a much-needed edge in a closely-fought campaign. Michigan is his home state and defeat at the hands of Santorum would raise serious doubts about his chances of becoming the Republican presidential nominee. Voters in Michigan, Arizona and Super Tuesday states such as Ohio rate the economy and unemployment are the most important issues. Romney, speaking in Chandler, argued tax cuts would help the economy grow. He suggested 20% cuts in each of six tax brackets: 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% and 35%. These would become 8%, 12%, 20%, 22.4%, 26 Wholesale Lululemon.4% and 28%. The former Massachusetts governor said his plan would be revenue neutral, by limiting deductions, particularly for the wealthiest. Among deductions he planned to limit are charitable contributions and relief on mortgage interest payments. Mitt Romney and his magic underpants in Chandler, Arizona. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP 4.56pm:Slate's William Saletanhas taken an indepth look at when, and how,Mitt Romney changed position on abortion

When you see the story in its full context, three things become clear. First, this was no flip-flop. Romney is a man with many facets, groping his way through a series of fluid positions on an array of difficult issues. His journey isn't complete. It never will be. Second, for Romney, abortion was never really a policy question. He didn't want to change the law. What he wanted to change was his identity. And third, the malleability at Romney's core is as much about his past as about his future. Again and again, he has struggled to make sense not just of what he should do, but of who he has been. The problem with Romney isn't that he keeps changing his mind. The problem is that he keeps changing his story.

FLASH: US law enforcement officials probing letters sent to TV personalities Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert that threaten attacks on senators. 5.31pm:New Mexico governor Susana Martinez has lost her hair stylist due to her opposition to gay marriage,according to kob

Antonio Darden, a popular stylist who runs Antonio's Hair Studio in Santa Fe, said he cut Martinez' hair three times, but that's it - unless she changes her mind about gay marriage. "The governor's aides called not too long ago, wanting another appointment to come in," Darden said. "Because of her stances and her views on this I told her aides no. They called the next day, asking if I'd changed my mind about taking the governor in and I said no again." The governor has said she believes marriage should be between a man and a woman, and that does not cut it with Darden. "I think it's just equality, dignity for everyone," the popular hair stylist said. "I think everybody should be allowed the right to be together. My partner and I have been together for 15 years." Could there be a wave of politicians and their associates being refused services due to controversial stances? How wouldCallista Gingrich 5.46pm:More from Reuters on the letters sent to Stephen Colbert and John Stewart

Other letters to a number of news organizations and postmarked Oregon warned that 100 letters had been sent to the Washington or home-state offices of U.S. senators and that 10 of those contained a deadly pathogen, a law enforcement source said. At least two of the letters already received - one to the home-state office of a senator and the other Define Jackets to the district office of a member of the House of Representatives - contained a powdery substance. Tests found the substance to be harmless, according to a statement by Senate Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer, the chamber's chief law enforcement officer. 6.14pm:Mitt Romney's tenure as a Marriott board member鈥?which included a six year spell as chair of its audit committee saw the company "repeatedly utilize complex tax-avoidance manoeuvres, prompting at least two tangles with the Internal Revenue Service",according to a Bloomberg report

A federal appeals court invalidated the maneuver in a 2009 ruling, siding with the U.S. Department of Justice, which called Marriott's transaction and attempted tax benefits "fictitious," "artificial," "spectral," an "illusion" and a "scheme." Marriott had argued the plan predated government efforts to close such shelters. Employing another strategy, Marriott legally avoided hundreds of millions of dollars in income taxes thanks to a federal tax-credit program criticized and allowed to expire by Congress. Marriott has also shifted profits to a Luxembourg shell company. During Romney's years on the board, Marriott's effective tax rate dipped as low as 6.8 percent, compared with the federal corporate statutory rate of 35 percent.

The Marriott chain was founded by a Mormon, of course, and you can find the Book of Mormon alongside the bible in Marriott hotel rooms. Bloomberg point out that Willard Mitt Romney was actually named after the chain's founder 鈥?J. Willard Marriott, who was a friend of Mitt's father. 6.30pm:Arizona fingerwaggler and governor Jan Brewer and her tourism officials have splashed out $300,000 on advertising over the next couple of weeks,according to azcentral "The ad, which features Brewer in a white suit against the backdrop of the Arizona desert, will air 44 times on CNN this week and next week 鈥?the week of Arizona and Michigan's primary," the report said. 7.15pm:That's it for today 鈥?joinRichard Adams here for our live blog of tonight's CNN Republican debate in Arizona Sign up for the daily emailGet the Guardian's daily US emailOur editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.Enter your email address to subscribe. Sign up for the daily emailSign up nowGet the Guardian's daily Australia email