Obama taunts Romney for 'makeover'

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WASHINGTON, Fla., Oct. 11 (UPI) -- President Obama told a crowd at the University of Miami Thursday Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is trying an "extreme makeover."

"The centerpiece of Governor Romney's economic plan is a new $5 trillion tax cut that favors the wealthiest Americans," Obama said. "Now, Governor Romney has been pitching this plan for almost a year now. He stood up on the stage in one of his primary debates and proudly promised that his new tax cuts, on top of the Bush tax cuts, would include the top 1 percent.

"Now, you wouldn't know this from listening to the new, latest version of Mitt Romney," Obama said to laughter in the crowd. "He's trying to go through an extreme makeover. After running for more than a year in which he called himself 'severely conservative,' Mitt Romney is trying to convince you that he was severely kidding."

The president said what Romney was proposing was not working "because people understood his ideas wouldn't help the middle class. So these days, Mitt Romney is for whatever you're for. Suddenly, he loves the middle class -- can't stop talking enough about them. He loves Medicare, loves teachers. He even loves the most important parts of Obamacare. What happened?"

Obama, frequently interrupted by laughter, said all those things Romney promised to do if elected are on the back burner. "Now, what does he have to say, this new version of Mitt Romney, about all the things he's actually promised to do as president: Tax breaks for outsourcers -- never heard of such a thing. Saying we should cut back on teachers -- doesn't ring a bell.

"Kicking 200,000 young Floridians off their parent's insurance plans -- who, me? And when he's asked about the cost of his tax plan, he just pretends it doesn't exist -- what $5 trillion tax cut? I don't know anything about a $5 trillion tax cut. Pay no attention to the $5 trillion tax cut on my website."