Back in January, Mitt Romney drew a hard line in response to questions about releasing his tax returns: no. He might "consider" it after the election, but not before.
The winds shifted a bit when New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), one of Romney's most notable surrogates, sold him out. Appearing on MSNBC and NBC, Christie said he releases his returns, and it "would be my preference" if Romney did the same thing: "What I would say to Governor Romney is, if you have tax returns to put out, you know, you should put them out."
Soon after, Romney released some limited tax materials for one year, which hardly constituted disclosure. Now that questions about his finances are back, the Republican candidate is once again finding one of his own high-profile allies undermining his message.
For those who can't watch clips online, former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) was on CNN yesterday, and Wolf Blitzer asked, "Yes or no, tax returns, should he release the tax returns?" Barbour replied, "I would."
In fairness, it's worth noting that Barbour, in the same appearance, went on to say that he doesn't think the returns should matter. Still, the Mississippi Republican believes Romney would be better off disclosing the materials, rather than keeping them secret.
For his part, Romney told an Iowa radio station yesterday about his finances, "I don't manage them. I don't even know where they are. That trustee follows all U.S. laws. All the taxes are paid, as appropriate. All of them have been reported to the government. There's nothing hidden there."
There are several unanswered questions about Romney's offshore investments, and I'm afraid "I don't manage them" isn't much of a response.
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Romney is the most arrogant and privileged character imaginable. Romney is a man that made hundreds of millions of dollars in bankrupting companies and laying off American workers for profit, shuttled most of his fortune to offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands in an un-American scheme to avoid taxes we all pay, and then has the temerity to thumb his nose at voters when and huff that he "doesn't care" about the poor. This has made Romney uniquely unqualified to be commander in chief. He is a disgrace. http://www.sunstateactivist.org
Chris Cristi talking about compromise, when did he ever start doing that? Chris Cristi has showed how he can be just a mean mouthed bs’er and screw anybody over just for his own personal gain. He treats the very people he serves like crap. Unless you are some wealthy person than he’ll bend over and kiss their butt. And Chris Cristi probably has internal thoughts of how high he can serve his wealthy dark overlords. Chris Cristi is nothing but full of crap and how fast he can line his pockets. If Chris Cristi actually did something that would serve all people and humanity, I think I would fall over in shock.
Well you know what Romney just tell your trustee to release all your income tax returns and than have your trustee answer any questions about those income tax returns. It is that simple. No problem a very simple solution, since you know how to flap your mouth so well.
Oh wow common people don’t understand these extreme rich people. Or do you mean these blood-sucking leeches that just keep taking and taking from people without caring about anybody, except themselves. In addition, these very same blood-sucking leeches that would go to the point of destroying the world just so they can continue to crave power, be corrupt, be hypocrites, be arrogant, be greedy, and deceive everybody they want to screw. Yep, I guess I can understand what Jesus meant about these people and probably why these people would go to hell. Way too much proof exists of what these very people have been doing in the world and they just cannot escape the facts and truth of what they are. Now you extreme rich people, who says I and all the other common people don’t understand what you are. We all know your types too well, totally worthless to what is right and for humanity.
If you have done nothing illegal, you have nothing to hide.
The Republican argument is that wealthy people are the "Job Creators". The more money they have - like from tax breaks (they get to keep more) or keeping labor costs and regulations down (increased profit) - the more they will invest in their companies to expand (adding more jobs) or if they don't run a company the more they will spend (supporting businesses who will then add more jobs to keep up). [Please correct me if I have this wrong.]
Some wealthy people do exactly that, I suppose. Isn't this the way it used to be?
But every dollar that is stashed in foreign tax shelters or Swiss bank accounts or used to hire workers outside of the US is just flushed out of the economy. The only benefit is to the wealthy person and beneficiaries. We are trapped in a downward spiral!
How about only giving the "Job Creators" the tax breaks if they --- I don't know --- CREATE JOBS!!
For once I am going to (gasp) stick up for Christie and Barbour, truth be told while they may be "comfortable" in their wealth, even they haven't a clue about how the 1% lives, invests, hides their money! So while they might wish Mittens would release his taxes the truth is Mitten cannot - he cannot because over the years there has been a bit of legal shifting of money into "trusts/tax shelters/etc." that have enabled him to pay probably less than the 14% he says he paid last year! 14% at a time when Americans have been losing their jobs, homes, not receiving wage increases, yet the price of everything has been going up! Mittens is already on shaky ground with GOTP base voters, if they find out about how much he's finagled the tax system to avoid paying and further lowering his tax rate - I'm kinda thinking they would flee from him altogether, and he knows it! So no, Mittens will surely not be showing anyone else his taxes!
this is a great issue to just hammer Willard, because of it's simplicity.
WHAT ARE YOU HIDING IN THE TAX RETURNS
can't be spun away
Everybody wants an egg from the golden goose Mr. Rmoney!
Republicans are the party of personal responsibility, aren't they?
Maybe Mittens did or did not evade taxes (legally or illegally). I still expect a dump of tax returns late in October. Then the RMoney campaign will say any analysis by democrats is politically motivated and the Corporately Owned Media will not say any damn thing (for fear of being partial to the truth).
The Big QUESTION still is How did he turn a max yearly IRA contribution of $6,000 into $100 MILLION.
Romney as president: "What war? I don't manage that! What budget? I don't manage that! What killing of a mass murderer by special forces? I don't manage that!"
Willard Romney will henceforth be known as "Dodger" Romney.
He dodged the
draft.
He dodges taxes.
He dodges questions.
He dodges
investigations.
He dodges all media this side of FOX News.
He
dodges his religion.
He even dodges his recent past
statements.
Ergo, he is the ultimate Dodger.
.
Romney could just nip this controversy in the bud if he did the following:
He might lose some money along the way but he can easily afford it. Besides it would cast him as one of the great patriots of our time. He could become "one of us"!
I might consider voting for him. But I feel quite safe that it will never happen.
Do you Americans want Willard Romney as your president seeing that he is a draft dodging, tax dodging, unscrupulous, lying, conniving capitalistic con artist? Why would Romney put most of his holdings in off shore accounts if it wasn't to avoid taxes. Why wouldn't Romney release all his tax returns unless he has something to hide. Read www.mybetteramericaplan.com to see why Romney and the Republicans are bad for America. Info is on the Current Events section and half way down the Home section.