Feb. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, barraged by months of questions from religious Republicans about his shifts on abortion and gay rights, is aiming to change the subject to economic issues.

In a speech today at the Detroit Economic Club, the former Massachusetts governor will call for making President George W. Bush's tax cuts, due to expire in 2010, permanent; new accounts that would let Americans shield savings and investment income from taxation; and a ``national tort reform'' drive to limit the power of trial lawyers.

Romney, who plans to formally announce his candidacy on Feb. 13, initially cast himself as a traditional-values Republican. Now he's styling himself as the heir to President Ronald Reagan's legacy of tax cuts.

``It makes far more strategic sense for him to focus on economic issues now than to try to continually explain his shifts on social issues,'' said Tony Fabrizio, a Republican consultant. ``You play to your candidate's strengths, not try to create a strength that turns into a vulnerability.''

Romney supported abortion and gay rights in an unsuccessful 1994 Senate race, and critics question how and why he came to change his views. In an online critique of a Romney speech last month, Rich Lowry, editor of National Review magazine, said the candidate's explanation of why he changed his views on abortion ``isn't very compelling.'' Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, has called Romney's 1994 comments on gay rights ``disturbing.''

Bain Founder

Romney's background as a founder of Bain Capital, a Boston- based investment firm, provides a more solid base for his efforts to woo Republican voters, said David Carney, a New Hampshire Republican activist and former White House political director for President George H.W. Bush. ``Romney has been successful and well-off, and has business acumen,'' he said.

Romney's Detroit address will be followed by other speeches that flesh out his economic platform. He is weighing a cut in the top individual tax rate from the current 35 percent; a reduction in the corporate income tax; and deep cuts in automatic-benefit programs such as Medicare and Social Security.

The new economic focus also gives Romney, 59, an opportunity to sharpen what aides view as one of the biggest contrasts with key rival John McCain. The Arizona senator opposed Bush's tax cuts because they weren't paired with spending reductions. Romney backed Bush and helped balance the Massachusetts budget without raising income or sales levies.

Hubbard and Cogan

Romney's economic advisers include former Bush chief economist R. Glenn Hubbard, dean of the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University in New York, and, informally, John Cogan, former deputy budget director for President George H.W. Bush and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California.

Aides say Romney is also intrigued by the ideas of Democrat Robert Pozen, chairman of Boston-based MFS Investment Management and a member of Bush's 2001 Social Security Commission. Pozen's ``progressive indexation'' plan would maintain the current Social Security benefit formula for the poor while providing gradual benefit reductions for wealthier individuals. People who receive reduced benefits would be able to put as much as 2 percent of their pay into private investment accounts, a favorite Bush idea.

Work in Progress

Romney's tax policies are still a work in progress. Aides say he was prepared to call for a corporate rate reduction in his Detroit speech and changed his mind. Endorsing a cut in the corporate rate would be controversial: Many Republican activists are more interested in cutting marginal rates for individuals than giving corporations tax breaks.

``The individual rate is where the priority should be,'' said Dick Armey, a former Republican representative from Texas and House majority leader, and currently chairman of FreedomWorks, a Washington advocacy group that favors lower taxes.

Backers of corporate tax relief say the high U.S. rate puts American exporters at a disadvantage. The U.S. rate is the second-highest among nations belonging to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Romney is studying another political hot potato as well: a cut in the top 35 percent tax rate for high-income taxpayers.

Accusations of a Giveaway

Such a step would be controversial, coming at a time when Bush is struggling to maintain his tax cuts. The Democrats who rule Congress would probably term it a giveaway to the rich, and budget-minded Republicans might also object. Aides say Romney hasn't yet made up his mind on the idea.

The cost of such a move would be considerable. Capping tax rates at 30 percent, for example, would cost about $222 billion, said Len Burman, a tax expert at the Urban Institute, a Washington research organization. If that's added to the cost of extending the Bush tax cuts, Burman said the price tag might run to ``about $1.9 trillion'' over 10 years. Even so, the call for additional individual tax cuts would be popular with Republican primary election voters, many of whom view continuous tax- cutting as essential.

Whatever he decides, Romney has a political incentive to come up with bold proposals, Fabrizio said. ``Given his choices'' of stressing social issues and fending off questions from religious Republicans, Romney ``needs to say something dramatic'' on the economy, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Heidi Przybyla in Washington at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: February 7, 2007 00:12 EST