>>>
good evening. it is a topic that won't go away. in the hands of the democrats, it has dogged
mitt romney
from the start and may follow him all the way to the finish of this campaign. after a successful life in business and a
private life
of great wealth,
mitt romney
in
public life
has been unwilling to go public with his
tax returns
beyond the past two years. it came up again today as did the broader policy discussion that now team
romney
is running on and we begin here tonight with nbc's
ron
mott on the campaign trail in the
critical state
of ohio tonight.
ron
, good evening.
>> reporter:
brian, good evening to you. today
mitt romney
broke out a dry erase board in trying to explain his plan for the future of
medicare
which has become a front and center topic in this campaign. but questions about his taxes and those
tax returns
just keep on coming.
mitt romney
's
tax burden
trailed him to
south carolina
today prompting yet another response to allegations he paid little to no taxes over the past decade.
>>
if you go back and look at my taxes and over the past ten years i never paid less than 13%. i think the most recent year is 13.6 or something like that. so i pay taxes every single year.
>> reporter:
in a recent interview with
brian williams
romney
said he was not going to provide more than the
2010
tax return
he's already released and an estimated return for
2011
. tonight in an interview on "rock center"
ann romney
defended her husband.
>>
we have been very transparent to what's legally required of us, but the more we release the more we get attacked.
>>
they want to turn
medicare
into a voucher program.
>> reporter:
in the wake of criticism from the president and democrats about
paul ryan
's
medicare
plan,
romney
went back to the
drawing board
at an impromptu news weekend with reporters today to define his plan.
>>
my plan presents no change.
>> reporter:
the
ryan
plan and the president's affordable
care act
both trim
medicare
by more than $700 billion, a point of contention surely to be debated from now until november, a battle
ryan
welcomes.
>>
this election presents so many clear contrasts. one of those contrasts is this.
mitt romney
and i will protect and strengthen
medicare
, leave it intact for our current seniors, and save it for the next generation.
>> reporter:
ryan
also delved into the
china trade
issue attacking the president for refusing to act against what many consider that country's currency manipulation.
>>
president obama
promised he would stop these practices. he said he'd go to the mat with china. instead, they're treating him like a door mat.
>> reporter:
now,
paul ryan
has crisscrossed america this week visiting
battleground states
he and governor
romney
hope to win in november. tomorrow he is back in virginia and on saturday, brian, florida.
>>>
ron
mott starting us off in ohio tonight.
ron
, thanks.
“ ”