So Romney’s plan would lavish tax breaks on the richest Americans and increase already sky-high defense spending, while gutting some of the core functions of government: public safety, education, and infrastructure. As the Economic Policy Institute noted, the current level of domestic discretionary spending — which is comprised of the programs listed above, among many others — “is 4 percent of GDP, about equal to the historical average since the early 1960s.” Last week, Romeney orchestrated an event with some “real Americans,” who told him it might be necessary to raise their taxes, rather than cut priorities like education.