WASHINGTON — Paul Ryan says it would take too long to explain the numbers behind the tax plan that he and Mitt Romney are proposing.

The Republican vice presidential nominee says he and Romney want a 20 percent cut in all income tax rates. He says they would pay for those cuts by closing loopholes and deductions.

President Barack Obama and Democrats have hammered Romney and Ryan for refusing to say until after the election which tax loopholes they would close.

Ryan told “Fox News Sunday” that “it would take me too long to go through all the math.”

Ryan said he and Romney would start by closing loopholes for higher-income Americans.