Why Mitt Romney’s Taxes Matter

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Why Mitt Romney’s Taxes Matter

September 26th, 2012 4:20 pm Jamison Foser

CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo lashes out at demands that Mitt Romney follow in the footsteps of nearly every major party presidential candidate in modern history, including his father, and release his taxes:

“Do you think Americans will then care about Mitt Romney’s or any politician’s tax returns? No, most will not even remember this moment. […] We must come back to the facts and the issues that matter to the country. No matter how much the media pushes through these petty issues surrounding any candidate, if it doesn’t improve the needle on improving people’s life it will likely not be an issue, at all, in the ballot booth come November.”

Christian Heinze agrees: “Does anyone seriously think that Romney’s tax returns would have any bearing on the relative rise or fall of the economy during his potential first term?”

Several years ago, I would have agreed with Bartiromo and Heinze. I have a stubborn belief that even presidential candidates deserve their privacy, and that absent compelling evidence of corruption, it’s better to judge candidates by their policy preferences than their finances or other personal qualities. But back in January – long before Harry Reid made it fashionable — I raised the possibility that there was at least one year in which Romney paid no income taxes, and ever since, I’ve relentlessly insisted that Romney release his taxes. So why the shift? Because I’ve concluded that there is evidence of corruption that requires the disclosure of tax documents by elected officials and those who seek office.

The typical member of Congress is ten times wealthier than the average person he represents – and that gap has been growing. From 1984 to 2009, the net worth of the typical member of Congress more than doubled in inflation-adjusted terms; meanwhile, the media American family’s net worth decreased. Meanwhile, tax and economic policy — policy set, remember, by politicians who are far wealthier than their constituents — increasingly favors the rich at the expense of the rest of us. Top marginal tax rates and capital gains tax rates have been slashed, exacerbating the growing income gap between the rich and everyone else. And this isn’t an accident: Politicians who justified cutting the capital gains tax in the past by arguing it would primarily benefit the middle class have seen the data proving that it primarily benefits the rich, and want to cut it some more. Meanwhile, the governing class’s favorite solutions to the budget shortfalls that result from their eagerness to make sure billionaires pay as little in taxes as possible are all things that would hurt the middle class and poor, while the rich would never notice — “entitlement reform,” raising the retirement age, etc. And we’re just scratching the surface: We haven’t even gotten to things like policymakers’ preferences for low inflation and high unemployment, which rig the economy in favor of the already-wealthy.

So we have a governing elite that is far wealthier than the people it supposedly represents, and that continually enacts policies that favor the wealthy at the expense of the rest of the country. This governing elite gains and maintains office largely through the financial support of other people and corporations who are far wealthier than the rest of the country. It gets its news from media elites that are far wealthier than the rest of the country, and it relies on policy briefings from think tanks funded by big oil companies and tax-hating billionaires. Its statements are policed by “fact-checkers” who think the rich are the only taxpayers who matter. Without impugning the conscious motives of any individual policymaker, it’s clear that this is a corrupt system.

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Tags: Harry Reid, Mitt Romney, release, Tax Returns 2012

http://www.facebook.com/dominick.vila.1 Dominick Vila

In addition to making sure candidates for high office have not done something illegal or unethical, such as insider trading, the willingness of a candidate to make his/her tax returns available to the public is a manifestation of honesty and a demonstration they have nothing to hide. It would not surprise me if Mitt Romney did not do anything illegal, and that the reason he is so reluctant to release all his tax returns is because the deductions and loopholes he used to pay as little as possible in taxes are so outrageous – think Rafalca – that he would become a caricature of who not to vote for.

old_blu

More likely unethical rather than illegal, I don’t think anyone could “find” anything illegal in the taxes he shows, of what he does show anyway.

old_blu

I’ll tell you why I think Romney’s taxes matter, because if he pays his “FAIR” share he can expect me to pay my “FAIR” share. If he pays the bare minimum then he is working too hard to get out of them, and don’t really care about the country, I pay 28% to 33% and I’m happy about that it takes money to run a country, it’s too bad Romney and his cohorts don’t realize that.

neeceoooo

I am sure you are right, if there was anything illegal, I am sure someone would have found it by now. We do know that he has to weight the damage from either not releasing all of them or releasing them and have us find out what is really there. Must be pretty bad for him to have chosen the path he chose. It does bother me to pay my fair share (and then some) and have him get away with his 14%.

old_blu

I really think it is his off shore accounts that he dosen’t want us to see, because he is earning money on those and not paying any taxes, and it’s legal, but that don’t make it right.

ChristoD

I am a committed-to-the-cause Democrat but on this issue, I believe we are stretching the truth. He is not doing anything ILLEGAL. One could clearly argue that there are ridiculous tax laws that need to be repealed (hiding revenue off-shore is beyond absurd) but as long as stuff is legal, why not take advantage of them, I surely wood ? In addition many of the deductions are for the good of the country, such as charitable contributions. He deserves credit for being generous and should receive a tax deduction accordingly…..Enough of the nice guy stuff, it is time to BURY this Bozo and I mean B-U-R-Y him and the absurd Tea Party and their alternate universe mentality. ENOUGH already with the lies, E-N-O-U-G-H !

carsrus

Won’t happen WE, the REAL American PEOPLE are going to B-U-R-Y this marxist-maoist muslim shill, piece of crap Obama, in a landslide! GET USED TO President Romney and Vice President Ryan!U had enough? GET the HELL out of my Great Constitutional Republic!

ChristoD

You are THE classic example of a right wing dipso who is living in an alternate universe. You are right there will be a landslide but it clearly will not be Mitt the Twit and Lyin’ Ryan on the winning end. By the way, you wouldn’t know what a REAL American was if you stumbled over one unless of course you came upon a THINKING person unlike yourself.

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Chris, when they do come upon a thinking person, they close their mind as they don’t want to be confused with facts, their minds are made up. We have a large segment of the population who are proud of being ignorant. They never have an original thought. They are functionally illiterate, meaning they can read and write, but cannot understand what they read. They get their talking points from faux news and blogs that agree with them. They will never listen or study both sides.

ChristoD

Maggie, I believe that is true. There needs to come a time, and hopefully soon, when folks that are traditional Republicans will start to recognize that the party of today is not the party of their parents and grandparents. Today’s party is so far to the right that I am shocked that average folks who really mean well haven’t gotten it yet. Maybe they have and that is why Obama seems to be pulling away in the election. Maybe there is short term hope that many of our fellow citizens are STARTING to think for a change and see the GOP of today for what it is, Greed Over People. That is not what Republicans of yesteryear were. They simply believed in conservative values (working for a days pay, family, spirituality, living within ones’ mean, fairness and yes COMPASSION for those less fortunate). Today the GOP is all about greed and the leadership on the right has created an alternate universe where almost everyone is under suspicion for being a deadbeat, the have’s are sacred cow ‘job creators’ and not the greedy bastards that many of them they, government is evil and ALL programs except the military shoudl be privatized and demonizing your opposition is a glorious undertaking. Simply put, they are self centered narcisstic ass—–. The best way to see who they really are is to look at their so-called leadership: Gingrich, Santorum, Bachmann, Limbaugh, Armey, Trump, the Koch brothers, etc. THAT says it all, PATHETIC narcissists one and all.

http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5LCXMWHFPRMEYD4RWN56QE2FF4 Grunge45

Garbage comment
awakenaustin

Marxist-maoist seems like a redundancy suggesting you really have no understanding of what either term might mean. A marxist -maoist, whatever that is, would be an atheist and not going to be also a muslim. I understand that facts, reality, and truth have very little value in the universe you inhabit so I won’t make any effort to explain why your comments are merely idiotic ramblings. But, I just can’t resist asking, what exactly is an “unreal” American?

jarheadgene

I don’t know what an unreal American is either but here are some guys that are Americans that act un-American. THROW THEM OUT!!!
dtgraham

There was a recent Memo article on how Obama was viewed globally. carsrus was convinced that the world wanted Romney elected and used his Marxist Maoist Muslim description of Obama with some Kenyan socialist thrown in. I replied to him that Obama was awfully popular in Canada and they loved all of those things about him except maybe for the Maoist part. They had a few questions about that. I said I had to be honest. I think he took me seriously. (I was serious about the popularity though.)

Marxist Maoist Muslim?

http://profile.yahoo.com/HGC4BGWVYXV76PHZBPSPOOU5GA Independent1

It’s hard for me to understand how people can think like you when to any rational person our president came to office faced with trying to turn the country around from the worst recession since the big depression..with almost virtually collapsed financial and housing sectors and an auto industry that was on the verge of bankruptcy, and a rapidly growing unemployment rate that grew to over 9% and an opposing political party that openly admitted it was going to do everything in its power to make him fail, and yet he’s managed to do a large percentage of what he promised.

.He promised to end the Iraq war and he did.
.He promised to avenge 9/11 and did…he got bin Laden and he’s continuing to destroy al Qaeda.
.He promised to follow through on the auto bailout and did..saving not only the industry but probably the nation from the GOP’s second created world depression and in the process brought in 92 billion in tax dollars that would have been lost if the industry had gone bankrupt like Romney wanted it to do.
.He promised to work to enact a better healthcare program and was able to when countless presidents have failed. And if Americans will give it a chance it could lead to premiums and a better system down the road. But the GOP insists on fighting it just as they did Social Security under FDR which certainly isn’t helping.
.He promised to do something about the immigration problem and although he wasn’t able to get meaningful legislation passed because the GOP blocked evry effort, his administration has deported more illegals than any other since Eisenhower and the immigration problem is really not a problem. Many records show that more illegals are leaving America than entering.
.Although he didn’t promise turning the stock market around after Bush’s policy trashed it, which is almost a GOP tradition, it has more than doubled since he took office despite every effort by the GOP to enact policies to trash it again.
(And just an aside on this, a study done around 2005 showed that stock market performance since the 1929 market harsh has been dismal during 35 years of GOP presidencies..the market return has been less than .5% whereas under 40 years of Dems it has been almost 10%…so if you have stock in the market, the last thing you want in office is a GOP President.)
.He promised to do what he could to reduce the fraud in the Medicare/Medicaid programs and although he may not have completely solved it, his administration has recovered more fraudulently collected medicare/medicaid monies than any other president. Several billion dollars during 2011.

Despite the above, their apparently are some things that he hasn’t done which you think are really meaningful the country. Would you care to share those with us??
Or are they like so many people’s gripes about things that are really very trivial but just enough to give you what you think is a right to be nasty??

fedupwitgop

Thanks Independent1!!! Very well put. I am a Democrat and will vote for President Obama. If Mr. Romney had something better to off I would vote for him but so far all I have seen from him is zero and flip flopping on every stance he has taken. The latest, appealing Obamacare and pointing out the bad things he thinks are in the law such as referencing wait time in seeing a doctor and then 8 hours later thumping his chest bragging about the healthcare plan he passed in Mass which Obamacare is a model. How can anyone trust him? Mr. Romney, I truely believe, think that the American people are too ignorant to see through his deceit. OBAMA/BIDEN 2012!!!
http://profile.yahoo.com/YBB4YJMQ6QRZD2JGMJZCXXRVMY Mary

Thank you for clearly and precisely explaining what President Obama has done for our country during his term . It is my hope and prayer that we will have him for a 2nd term so he can compitently continue to lead our country.

http://profile.yahoo.com/HGC4BGWVYXV76PHZBPSPOOU5GA Independent1

Sorry about the typos in my previous comment.
http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

ear, you have a lot of nerve! Actually, you have more nerve (annomymously) than you have intelligence. I don’t adhere to ignorant name calling and I am not of any political party. I consider myself a real American. I am more loyal to this country than the whack jobs who are trying to destroy the government, i.e., survivalist groups, neo=nazis and white supremists. You are either one of the subersive groups who want to destroy one party and take over the othr one, or you are one of their dupids.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_B6RROC4IUESHT322QS5VJVPYRM Lynda

There is indeed a divide in this country. It is between those who care to think and those who just listen to agenda driven talk radio. It’s obvious which side ‘carsrus’ has chosen. Better to be thought the fool than open ones mouth and remove all doubt.
BDC_57

if romney going to beat obama by land side why is obama 10% a head of tax dogding romney.
Cairndance

Carsus, You are an idiot. Maybe you could come up with a new message!
If the President is a Muslim then he must be a very, very bad one. He has finally given up smoking, He drinks and makes BEER and he attends Christian Church services! None of this would be acceptable behavior for a Muslim.
Obama will win this election and then you will have to go to your room and cry!

MRD1056

ChristoD no one is saying Mitt the Twit shouldn’t take every available deduction he can on his taxes. In fact i would say that most people do including myself. What concerns me is that he won’t release tax returns before 2010 so what is in them??? Did he do something illegal in the past? Did he participate in BUSH’s amnesty tax haven???? He released over 20 years to McCain in 2008, Palin was chosen!!!!!! Why wouldn’t he put this to rest with the American people unless the damage of seeing his returns would be worse than the damage by not seeing them.

Obama/ Biden 2012

ChristoD

I here ‘ya. My gut tells me that Mitt the Twit didn’t do anything illegal but paid very low to minimal taxes and even though they may be legal are embarrassing to disclose. I do not believe he in any way does anything illegal. I believe he is a man of honor except when it comes to serving in the military and politics, that is when he becomes the ultimate lying and flip flop machine EVER.

http://profile.yahoo.com/HGC4BGWVYXV76PHZBPSPOOU5GA Independent1

Sorry ChristoD but people don’t go to the expense and work at setting up offshore money accounts for no reason at all…it’s done for a purpose…to sheild income from their taxes. Offshore accounts don’t send 1099s to the IRS so there’s really no way for the IRS to check in a specific return if money earned offshore has not been included in a tax return. Mitt Romney is too much about money not to have done this in the past, not included money he’s earned in offshore accounts from his taxes. My sense is that what he fears is that should he release his tax returns, someone with knowledge of his offshore earnings could discover that he has in fact been a tax dodger and he should be put in jail instead of running for president. Or as has been noted by others, the returns may show that he’s taken part in a tax amnety program where he previously admitted doing just that. You are being too naive.

neeceoooo

He was a draft dodger so why not a tax dodger

neeceoooo

Just to remind you that the 10% he gives to his church, goes into the church to build massive temples all over the world. I am sure that some of it goes to the people but they have to be Mormon. I wonder if you will see any of it going to the homeless shelter downtown (unless of course it is a Mormon homeless shelter).

nlebou

The majority of his contributions went to victims of natural disasters. Do your own research. Don’t count on lap dog media.

Alex Robbins

I would, however, be IMMENSELY interested in finding out whether or not Mitt had to take advantage of the IRS amnesty program however, for Swiss bank accounts. Whether or not our presidential candidate should be in federal prison but for IRS’s amnesty is a BIG deal to me.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Joan-Maurer/100000910841619 Joan Maurer

There is evidence of fraud in his financial disclosures. He misrepresented his association with Bain Capital after 1999, this is a felony. No person convicted of a felony can hold the Presidency.

ChristoD

Joan, IF this were realistically true, the Obama teamor the DNCC would be on it in a heartbeat. They dipped their toes in the water but took ‘em out real quick. That tells me all I need to know, damn it.
nlebou

Really? Where is your evidence? Romney doesn’t want to release any more tax records because he doesn’t have to and if he did I’m sure it would only show just how generous he and Ann are. Why give people like you more fodder?

dggrundhoffer

well you are right but I do not like the board room mentality that lead to those tax loop holes. Fair is fair and it seems he is hiding something either way

ChristoD

What I suspect he is hiding is the ridiculously low federal tax rate he ends up paying. We saw that in his latest tax returns BUT, again it is legal so rather than pull a Tea Party/RNC/Trump ‘stay on it forever’ gig like they are doing on the birther issue, lets’ just move past this and concentrate on sending this guy and the Republican ‘intellectual’ Rep. Ryan (translation: ‘tell me what you want for results and I will adjust the budget to accomplish that objective’ making me look like an intellectual) packing 11/6.

carsrus

I demand that the fetid, LIAR in chief (soon to be defeated in a landslide) Obama,release ALL his university records, the reason both HE and Empress Michelle LOST thier LAW licenses, HOW he got to purchase the LOT next door to the Chicago (thug City) Mansion, from JAILED Resco, and WHO paid for his college degrees! NOW, TODAY, betcha it ain’t gunna happen u commie libtards!

http://www.facebook.com/dominick.vila.1 Dominick Vila

You may want to consider going to a different doctor and changing meds. The stuff Rush uses is not good for you…it turns you into an out of control inarticulate zealot driven by hatred and desperation. I guess that electoral college map must be driving you insane…
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5LCXMWHFPRMEYD4RWN56QE2FF4 Grunge45

Garbage comment.
jarheadgene

UHHHHHHHH MORON!!!!
http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

your name calling would be like I called you a fascist because you are a victim of hate groups that want to destroy Democracy. If you notice, intelligent people use facts not ugly or name calling. Tell me where President Obama lied. And, all the rest of your rant is lies. Are you so stupid you fall for everything that comes out of neo nazie and white supremisists mouths? According to the President, he and his wife took out student loans. And they did not lose their law licenses. Michelle Obams explained she thought there would be a lot of work for her in the White House so she chose not to practice. President OBama was teaching constitutional law at college.
Anybody who throws out that kind of rhetoric is…
BDC_57

Now I know that obama paid for his own collage he did’nt have rich father paying it for him. if you listen to the news him his wife paid off ther students loans I bet learned that on fux news.

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

If the poor, ignorance sap could research, he would learn it took Barak Obama and Michelle Obama ten years to pay off their student loans. I haven’t seen the president’s tax returns and neither have any of the radicals who post here.

Jim Gocht

When’s the last time anyone’s taken any advice, financial or political from Maria “The Money Honey”…

If I wanted advice; consulting Jim Cramer, would be a entirely better choice…!
bcarreiro

newsflash: mitt knows how to beat the system, not work for it. it does matter that he held back for a reason and that his intent to create a better day is only for the people making 250,000 yr+ and stomp on the people who make the rich who they are. we need to abolish the rep party altogether just because you have had the good life doesnt make you better than anyone. it only takes one person to screw in a light bulb and 99 others to take it out. in other words………the republican party only care about a selected few and will stop at nothing to keep it that way. theres no room for advancement because the window for opportunity has been closed.

http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

You Got That Right And The Fact That Romney Tax Returns Show How He’s Been Selling Out The American People And Gutting Out America, Making Lots Of Money Doing So, Just Like The China Company CNOOK He Had Ties With Then All Of A Sudden Dropped In June So He Could Release Those COOKED Tax Returns For 2011 This Company Also Has Ties With Iran!!!
http://www.facebook.com/fern.woodfork Fern Woodfork

Also GW Bush Is About To Stick His Head Up On November 1 2012 In The Cayman Island Head Speaker On How To Get More For Your Money Investing Offshore!! Shameful Romney Can’t Attend This Is Right Up His Alley!! More Selling Out America!!!

bcarreiro

bush suffered from shortman syndrome who drained the banks with his fatt ratt pack as he played the system to his advantage ……we the people know what another republican will do to protect only a selected few.

Jim Lou

Public officials are required by the City of New York to disclose if they are making above a certain amount or above a certain level of responsibility.

You will never see the members of Congress enact a law requiring them to disclose. It would be a embarassment.
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_5LCXMWHFPRMEYD4RWN56QE2FF4 Grunge45

It comes down to character and to future action. Romney has no character as he waffles every question he gets, and has demonstrated over and over that he will damage the middle class, in order to feed his rich buddies.
He has not wanted to reveal his tax return because it would hurt him politically, as it’s rate is way too low.
Now his heart “aches” when yesterday he dismissed what he called 47% of Americans (I think the actual percent is nearer 80%). It sure “ached” when he fired so many Americans.

http://profile.yahoo.com/HGC4BGWVYXV76PHZBPSPOOU5GA Independent1

You’re so right! I’m sure his heart ached really bad each time he shipped someones job overseas and pirated their pension money for his own pocket.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=704584370 Geraldine McBarker

When the issue is taxing my money, then it is also the issue of taxing his money. Is he not an american citizen? I agree that all of them are living in a closed, elite society (President VP, Senators and Congressmen) and don’t understand the situation of the average person. They should be open and honest, to us and to themselves.
BDD1951

I’m not saying that he did anything illegal, I just think that his tax returns would show that he was more involved with Bain than he wants the voting public to know. Longer than he says. Especially since there have been board members that said that he was seen at board meetings after he says he had left the company.
Jeansees

It is an issue to me. IMO.. Mitt Romney is using the premise that his business sense and experience is why he should be President. Really? I dont see his experience speaking to me on just the 2 years he released… I need to see history… IMO… he wont release them because it was reported that he had been audited during that time frame while he had that Swiss bank account.. That alone tells me he does not care about the US economy… He is making his money by outsourcing jobs and investments offshore.. Well with that resume he is NOT Presidential material.

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Jean, his selling point is supposed to be his business experience. As CEO of the United States will he expect 6 million dollar bonuses? Will he raid Social Security just as takeover capitalist do with retirement funds when they take over a business?

Jeansees

Romney’s predasessor BUSH raided Medicare…. so it would stand to reason Romney would do the same. Romney has been bragging that Staples and Domino Pizza is a success story of Baine. 2days ago Staples announced they are cutting 30,000 jobs… While the rest of stores are put out there they are hiring thousands for the holiday season… What’s up with that? Another company shifting to China? via Romney’s shareholder directions…IMO

BDD1951

They let their law license lapse while they are in Washington, D.C. They would have to be taking continuing education classes to keep them. I hardly think they would have time for that.
old_blu

Something interesting to play with, Is a site called “politify” if you go into that site you can check to see if you will be better off under Romney, or Obama, I was better under Obama, and I suspect most of us will.

Obama/Biden 2012

ALLLLAMERICAN

YES—-if you answer yes to allll the questions:
Do you want FREE food???
Do you want FREE phones???
Do you want Free Education????
Do you want Free Healthcare?????
Do you want Free daycare????
Do you want more money with each and every baby you have?????
Do you want Free Vacations?????

WHO IS PAYING FOR THIS????? WHERE DOES THE MOENY COME FROM????
The bottom is falling out and the US is broke!!!!!!!!!

jarheadgene

Mainly because the RICH have not paid their fair share in taxes since Baby Bush took office. You GOP TROLL!
http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

You dipped in stuff, There are many hard working people out here who are not rich. They keep your lights on and your water running. They sealcoat your streets, they pick up their garbage and they pay 31 percent in taxes. If all the super wealthy died tomorrow, it wouldn’t make that much dent. If all the trash collectors died tomorrow, it would.

If you had studied the welfare reforms that were enacted during Clinton’s adminstration you would find they don’t get more money with every baby. They are given a flat grant and can only be on welfare two years unless they have disabilities that keep them from working. We can fix that by using Hitler’s method. He was rounding up disabled and gassing them. No freeloaders in his administration.

I know with your diminished capacity, you won’t be able to understand this:
We are in dire straits for several reasons: 1. wars that we cannot afford. 2. tax breaks that cut out a large chunk of revenue. 3. Deregulations that allowed banks to indulge in unfair practices and we bailed them out.
http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Allfullof….I forgot to mention another cause for the economical trouble we are in. The works in India making 83 cents an hour is not paying taxes or purchasing from this country.

Cara Bell

Dear National Memo: I will read more of your articles if you increase font size, shorten the line width, and expand the leading. It’s not easy to read, you would do good to hire someone with typography skills.
http://www.facebook.com/people/John-Zimmer/1023595196 John Zimmer

MITT ROMNEY & PAUL RYAN EMBODY EVERYTHING THAT IS WRONG WITH AMERICAN POLITICS AS IT EXISTS TODAY !!!!!
turnipgreens

Mittens RoMoney is favored by many percentage points by the middle class, but the problem is the number of Middle Class is shrinking faster than the GOP is willing to admit. After all the voter reforms, they will only be able to vote once.
coxel

Do you want to put into office some won that cheats on there tax returns and that same person is asking you to pay more, I don’t think so lets have some honesty here.

Tom_D44

OK. So can we please fire Timothy Geithner? And the rest of congress while they are engaging in inside land deals and insider trading?

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Tom, I remember that scandal.
grammyjill

that would be nice

OakenTruncheon

Baggy trousers, full of wind, are marching thru the streets again.
SaneJane

If Romney’s tax returns were not important he would not be refusing to provide them. His very refusal makes them even more important.
http://profile.yahoo.com/DJM7UFOCTUFZEMPSTQE2XZIWCE Mike

Holding back information has proven to work for Republicans. Remember the allegations against “W” that he had a history of drug and alcohol abuse. everyone of his age I know in Houston laugh about how the Repubs. keep all that quiet by simply refusing to acknowledge that the reporters were asking legitimate questions. Evidently that reckless attitude should have been more at the forefront as that “drunken sailor” took us into 2 unfunded wars, presided over a bevy of unfunded tax breaks primarily benefiting the rich, and generally ran to the hills leaving an unregulated TORP at the feet of the new President. Those characteristics were present in “W” but were never properly exposed to the general pubic.

Besides all that that, who are these folks who report the financial streams as if they are some sort of sporting event to try to dictate what is and what is not important to those of us who have real jobs, when we can find them?
TheOldNorthChurch

Why don’t you conclude your article by insisting that we make the tax code fair? We should not favor one American over another. Tax all income evenly. No matter what anyone in the “Political Class” wants to say to the contrary, Social Security and Medicare is a tax. The monies collect today pay for the people on the system today. There is no magic fund that you paid into. It was just another form of taxation. So let’s get real. Take the total Income of American’s, take the Total Spending of the Federal Government and collect what is needed.

All Income should be Taxed. Up to $50,000 tax at 8.5% (That’s 1% more than today). All income from $50,001 to $100,000 tax at 14.5%, $100,001 to $200,000 at 20%, and all else at 25%. No deductions, no exemptions, no corporate welfare, no individual welfare. If we want to have welfare we budget for it and it is transparent. If we want to go to war, we budget for it and its transparent. If a State wants money from the Federal Government, it borrows it, taxes its own citizens and pays it back.

Fair!

Justin Napolitano

Ok. Then a person earning just $10,000.00 a year would pay $850.00 which might cause them to not be able to pay for their medicine, rent or electric, while a person earning $100,000.00 would not be affected, in their ability to pay their bills by paying $14,400.00 a year.
You have to remember that much of the tax code is there to encourage or discourage certain behavior. As an example, the home mortgage interest deduction is to encourage people to buy a home which helps the construction, home improvement and other industries. Many state and local governments use the tax code to encourage businesses to relocate or expand.
It is hard to separate the incentive to do or not do something from the single most enticement; avoidance of paying taxes. I can not imagine a capitalistic tax system where incentives are not a part of it.

TheOldNorthChurch

A person earning $10,000 today pays $765.00 (SS+MC) they would pay $85.00 more for income tax. While the tax code maybe written to encourage behavior it is still welfare for those who can take advantage of it. To make it fair to the person earning $20,000 per year who will never buy a house, they should not subsidize some who can. What local and State Governments do is not my concern. It is the concern of people who live there. I am talking about Federal Taxes.

Incentives are a form of welfare for someone, subsidized by someone else who can not take advantage of them. Ending the interest deduction for a home will not stop the buying or building of homes. I do not want a Federal Government to try to influence some sort of behavior, they are really bad at it.

I was once told by a Judge that if both sides don’t feel a settlement is fair to each of them individually, it is most likely the best settlement.

http://www.facebook.com/toddamanda.jones Todd Amanda Jones

If Mitt has done so much wrong on his past taxes, why has he never been charged, or even investigated by the IRS? They have his returns-he doesn’t have top release them to the media before the IRS can review them you know. Or are you saying they are looking past his illegal activity because he’s rich? Hilarious-just like Pelosi and Reed moaning and groaning about all of this, up until it was uncovered that they both do the very same things as Romney-and legally like him too. He knows the system like the back of his hand-you will need to wait to see if his promise to overhaul this system is carried through on…or will he simply forget about the promises he made in the campaign and follow up on nothing, just like obama did with his promises(lies) of 2008?

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Actually, Todd, Mitt Romney did not do anything illegal. The tax code allows the rich to screw the government.

BDC_57

Because it was set by the congress.

Jeansees

It is my understanding Mitt Romney cut a deal with IRS!!!

http://www.facebook.com/msweddingplanners Lynda Jones-Owings

I need to know the person that Mitt knows, I need a deal. LOL

Piper18

It is about time for term limits for all, much higher pay for our reps. and no super pacs. We own the aisways and it should be part of the terms for license that Media net works be required by law to give equal time to the candidates at no charge ,no pacs,only the candadates. Our elected officials are broken as well as the system. REFORM IS CRITICAL!!
kevsmith213

I agree with the article; i have said time and time again if you are making 10m,20,30,m a year a small tax increase would not effect your quality of life. However when you are only making $50,000 and have a family their is a big difference.
docb

Think George R. was prescient in anticipating his sons duplicity!

It matters because mitt is hiding them prior to 2011..We do not have a complete 2010,,,,FBARs are missing! He was caught cheating on his Mass /Utah taxes and had to amend and pay penalties and interest!

It goes to character..mitt exhibits none on the and many other issues!
http://profile.yahoo.com/E3QXTIRQLGO3MROOP2T64HDLXI wayne

I was born during the great depression. I remember the hardships of doing without. The sorrow the family felt for years over loosing the family farm in 1929. The moving from place to place in hopes of finding a job with unemployment at 24,9%. I remember my dad complaining that he had ended up “trying to sale apples on a street corner – to a man that was trying to sale apples” The GOP’s message was the same then as now, “prosperity is just around the corner” We hear it today. The “GOP” is going to make it all better. But, Just like Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover, Mitt Romney is another poppet for the supper rich and big corporations. That’s where all his support comes from, and if Romney makes it into the White house,.. they, will own it! Bought and payed for! I don’t agree with our president on every issue. But I don’t agree with Romney on any issue. I suspect that he is a fun and likeable guy, just not presidential material. If you don’t remember, first hand, the days of Herbert Hoover and the great depression, Google it up. That way, you will be an informed voter.
daniel bostdorf

Todd Amanda Jones:

This about “Why Romney’s Taxes Matter”, not your statement, which is factually incorrect: “If Mitt has done so much wrong on his past taxes, why has he never been charged, or even investigated by the IRS? ”

Well—-what is the point? Romney released only 2 years returns instead of the usual 10 years. This is an issue of tax fairness, not an investigation. This article also has nothing to do with Pelosi, Reid or anybody else. It is about Romney. Nothing more.

You also state: “-just like Pelosi and Reed moaning and groaning about all of this, up until it was uncovered that they both do the very same things as Romney-and legally like him too. He knows the system like the back of his hand-you will need to wait to see if his promise to overhaul this system is carried through on…or will he simply forget about the promises he made in the campaign and follow up on nothing, just like obama did with his promises(lies) of 2008?”

If I am not mistaken, Limbaugh and Foxnews had similar commentary about pelosi and Reed.

Jamison Poser who wrote this article states it best:

“I raised the possibility that there was at least one year in which Romney paid no income taxes, and ever since, I’ve relentlessly insisted that Romney release histaxes. So why the shift? Because I’ve concluded that there is evidence of corruption that requires the disclosure of tax documents by elected officials and those who seek office…..So we have a governing elite that is far wealthier than the people it supposedly represents, and that continually enacts policies that favor the wealthy at the expense of the rest of the country. This governing elite gains and maintains office largely through the financial support of other people and corporations who are far wealthier than the rest of the country.”

Todd Amanda Jones: Stop listening to the propagandists like Rove, Limbaugh, Foxnews, Beck and the right wing racist fascists OK? Quit spreading their lies and distortions or views of of Pelosi, Reid….You are nothing more than a propagandist.

Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels (like Linmbaugh, beck and Rove believe) said it best:

“If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

or as Adolph Hitler stated:

“Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it”

Keep the lies coming Todd Amanda Jones….we know who you really are.
AMADAL

Exactly—like his “therapy horse” deduction along with the trip to the olympics

daniel bostdorf

You got it! It’s not illegal….simply immoral and unethical….the tax code therefore is immoral and unethical because it slants the money to those 1% who already have it…not the 47% who don’t!

montanabill

Just a few key points to think about:
1) Mitt Romney became rich before running for office. Barack Obama and Harry Reid (along with a lot of others) became millionaires because of holding public office.
2) Romney’s effective tax rate was 14.1%, even at the lower capital gains rate but still higher than what 97% of Americans pay.
3) the money paid to Romney had already been taxed once, as high as 35%
4) the average of people making between $50,000 – $75,000 pay an effective rate of 7.8%
5) the average of people making between $100,000 – $200,000 pay an effective rate of 12.1%
6) 47% of the population pay an effective rate of 0%.
I suspect that most of the illiterate comments are made by the latter.

old_blu

Hello bill, I was wondering who paid the 35% so you could deffend Romney, I really don’t know. Was it Romney? Or was it Romney in a round-a-bout way? Or did he just pay the 14% he says he did?

montanabill

Romney paid 14.1%. The money he received was from dividends from corporations. Dividends can only be paid if the company declares a profit. By declaring a profit, the corporation must pay corporate taxes of up to 35% on that profit before the remainder of it can be distributed as dividends. I would suspect that the money came from a number of corporations, mostly likely each with a different effective tax rate. If some was received from a company that was taxed at 35%, then, including Romney’s tax rate, that money would have had a total tax of 49.1% paid on it.
In the case of S-corporations, partnerships, LLC’s, no corporate tax is paid, but all taxes on profits from those types of companies are paid at the owners’ personal tax rates. In my case, my effective tax rate is 33%. I also have to pay state income taxes to six states. I have not included any consideration for personal Social Security or Medicare payments, but remember, an employer pays 7.65% on top of payroll to these programs and a self-employed person is required to pay 13.3%. To the corporations, that is an incremental tax above the effective corporate tax.

old_blu

I think I got it bill thanks. So we got corperations paying maybe 35% and Romney paying his 14% on top of that, so we are talkling how much was paid on the same money? But not how much Romney paid on it. I wish I knew more about it.

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

If you are smart enough to run a business, you should be smart enough to check your facts with reliable sources. I make $50,000 and pay 31%.

montanabill

How about the IRS? If you are single, your top tax rate on $50,000 would be 25% and your effective tax rate lower.
If you are married, filing jointly, your top tax rate would be 15% with a lower effective tax rate. Under no circumstances with that income would be required to pay more than a 25% top rate and, again, your effective rate would be lower.
The numbers I was using are the published averages of taxpayers in those brackets.
If you are paying 31%, get a new accountant.

ALLLLAMERICAN

The harder you work,
the more money you make,
the richer you get—-
The more taxes you pay and the more they want to steal from you
and THE MORE YOU GET PUNISHED FOR BEING SUCCESSFUL!!!!!!!!!!!

Soooo, why do it? Just stay home on the couch!

BDC_57

I worked all my life and the more I make the more taxes they take but they did’nt take more out romney pay when he made more.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Myers/100001512942781 Jim Myers

Replying to ALLLLAMERICAN -

YOUR COMMENTS ARE IDIOTIC!!!!

TELL A COAL MINER, WORKING UNDER SOME OF THE WORST POSSIBLE CONDITIONS, THAT THEY ARE GETTING RICH BECAUSE THEY ARE WORKING SO HARD. OR A MAID WORKING IN A HOTEL THAT THEY ARE GETTING RICH BECAUSE THEY WORK HARD.

The reality is this – HARD WORK RARELY LEADS TO RICHES!!! Getting OTHER people to work hard for YOU will make you rich far more often than hard work itself.

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Definately idiotic.

Felix Harris

A candidate’s taxes matter because the president is running for the highest office in our country. The person running for the president needs to be transparent. The republican seems to be hiding something.
ALLLLAMERICAN

Heeeeeyyyyy allllll you OBAMA LOVERS—-
We knew it would come out—-
Obama Administration Knew Libya Attack Was Terrorism Within 24 Hours—-
He was trying to cover it up!!!!!!!!!

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

All full of, and your proof is? There were some nuts who said President Bush was in on the attacks of 9-11 and being a decent person with a triple-digit I.Q. I chose not to believe that.

old_blu

I know where he got it I was thumbing through channels this morning it was on Fake news, and I’m sure the GOP blow up doll Rush couldn’t wait to jump on that bandwagon.

msrita

Know they are panic mode. I don’t blame them I would fell the same if I was Voting for this man and his running mate. Something Mitt seams fake snake oil salesman. He does not like negative comments. He is yes Man. He does not look happy anymore and you can see in his face.
http://twitter.com/Carolbaut Carol Dijkhuyzen

The Romneys will always LOSE!Mitt has been running all his life and LOST.An animal corporate offshore attacking less privilege Americans must not run on anything..hiding dough & taxes is all his goal.He profited at Bain,feds Bush’s bailout money ,in 2007!he kept outside America…They are beyond Marcosses!when it comes to greediness.
http://www.facebook.com/GARY.DA.BOSS Downing Gary

Mittens has a way to turn everything around.. including his tax forms. He says the President is wrong when he puts high tariffs on China and its products.. now why would any American say that? Why would any American want to make sure China created more then the United States ?? Well maybe it’s because Romney has invested in banks and even invested in oil companies, but the big problem is…THEY ARE IN CHINA..Not the United States.. and he has given China the technology for appliances he has had made over there and invested in that factory.. A FACTORY THAT IS MADE UP OF FEMALES..

FEMALE SLAVE LABOR
This is the guy many think is so great for America. I don’t think so. While many of us ran down after graduation and enlisted in the service, Romney got four deferments and then ran away to France to avoid the draft for four years.. there he enjoyed the parties and knocking on doors so they say to convert the French to Mormons.. What an American..

This is the guy who bought, and took out huge loans on companies that needed help and he put the money in over seas accounts and invested in China.. then he let those companies go bankrupt. Over a dozen companies with thousands of workers were put out in the streets.. Romney made over $20,000.00 on every one of those workers.. there were 20,030 workers in only five of those companies. Do the math.. An American.. I don’t think so.

Those who were the Americans lost jobs, income, health care, vision, dental, pensions savings, homes and ended up on unemployment or on welfare.. Thank you Mitt.
American..?? I don’t think so, because if he was really there to help those people that company would still be running to day.

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Remember one of Romney’s talking points was that President Obama was not tough enough on China and what he would do. Then, when Obama raises tariffs on China, he screams bloody murder because he has businesses in China. The reason the President raised tariffs on China was to bring business back to this country.

The other thing that makes me uncomfortable about Romney is what he told Netanyahu of Israel. If Israel decides to attack Pakistan or Iran, if he is president he will go to the aid of Israel. Netanyahu is a hawk that appears to like nothing better than war. Hence, his red line.

http://www.facebook.com/people/Jim-Myers/100001512942781 Jim Myers

GROW UP!!! ROMNEY ONLY CARES ABOUT THE RICH AND POWERFUL.

IF YOU ARE NOT IN THAT CATEGORY, HE COULD CARE LESS IF YOU HAVE FOOD, MEDICAL CARE, OR ANYTHING ELSE, JUST SO LONG AS YOU DON’T COMPLAIN WHEN THE CRAP HITS THE FAN.

OF COURSE, HE DOES WANT YOUR SONS AND DAUGHTERS TO JOIN THE ARMED SERVICES SO THAT THEY CAN PROTECT THE RICH AND POWERFUL. (NOT THAT HIS CHILDREN WILL BE EXPECTED TO JOIN THE SERVICE.) 

He will make George the Second look like a saint.

The 47% that Romney refers to are comprised, in large part, by the working poor. As a percentage of gross income, the working poor pay about 6% to 8% of gross income in Social Security, Medicare, etc. It may actually be a higher percentage than that.
IN PERCENTAGE OF GROSS INCOME, THAT IS ROUGHLY HALF OF THE TAX RATE THAT ROMNEY PAYS!!!!!
And he does not have to deal with THOSE taxes, because the vast majority of his income is derived from dividends, etc.

I WOULD RATHER PAY 14% ON GROSS INCOME OF TWENTY MILLION DOLLARS THAN PAY 6% TO 8% ON $25,000 OF GROSS INCOME!!!!

SO DON’T CRY OVER THE FACT THAT THOSE WHO ARE FAR LESS FORTUNATE THAN ROMNEY PAY NO “INCOME TAXES.”

THEY ARE NOT ”LUCKY DUCKIES,” NO MATTER WHAT THE WEALTHY LIKE TO THINK.

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

He’s makingPresident Gearge W. Bush look better all the time.

BDC_57

good one maggie.

howa4x

If the capital gains tax is slashed again Mitt will pay almost nothing in taxes. He pays no federal tax now only capital gains. He dosen’t want to release his taxes because he wants to cover up his investments in China and India, and which companies that were put out of business for him to make his fortune. We can also find out when he hid his money in Switzerland, the Caymans and learn more about teh company he started in Bermuda. Was it just a shell to cover investments in companies that were outsourcing? When did he close those accounts, if ever? These are questions that need to be answered to show his honesty. He was a shrewed and calculating business man, but was everything he did legal and above board? These are the questions that if you’re not a die hard republican that need to be answered.
Republicans have been playing the racial game for the last 40 years. Reagan presided over one of the largest transfer of tax dollars from the middle class to the wealthy and pointed the finger at a black women in a cadillac he termed a welfare queen. Remember trickle down economics? He had 10% unemployment so not much trickling was done. Republicans stir racial hatred to keep white men looking the other way while they transfer money toward the weatlhy. During the Bush tax cut years the wealth of the upper 1% went up 256% while middle class wages were flat. The wealthy didn’t create any jobs and exported 2.9 million of them during this period. They did what Romney did and that is hide the money overseas. It is estimated that they have over 1 trillion stashed abroad. The House and Senate won’t do anything about that even though it’s illegal. This is criminal activity and the IRS shouldn’t audit another middle class person until they get this money back. They should send agents to the Caymans with search warrants to see overseas accounts and and the buildings where it’s estimated that over 1700 business are registered in 2- 4 story buildings. If the Caymans refuse, Break off diplomatic relations and treat them like Cuba making illegal to do busines there. Then you will see how fast these companies come running back to America and pay their fair share of taxes. All those patroits with american flags in their lapels.
Why is it that it always takes an Atty General from NYS to bust it open, as they have supeoenas out against Bain capital for taking wages and counting them as capital gains to pay lower taxes. I wonder if their former CEO Romney taught them that trick and maybe that is why he is so rich, and that is why we need to see his taxes!!
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_B5C2KUNLMX7K5WTRPLURTYNMIU Regina M

Are you all nuts? Your worried about corruptionin politics..like that has never happened before! I am sick of hearing about Romneys 47 percent ( when it is so close to true it pains me) when NOTHING is said about Obams new bills he signed that are SSSSOOOO anti-constitutional and scary it is amazing. Google it and look it up yourself! He is giving himself the right to confiscate property, make detainment camps, remove personal liberties, etc. Are you all freaking ostriches? How he gets away with this is a liberal media and a damn cowardly congress! The man has dumped “old Glory” and created a new flag! he didnt even salute our real flag! His flag…his picture and 5 blood streaks from the muslim agenda. You all had better open your eyes and smell the communism,the lies and the treason! you can scoff all you want, but ask yourself if you want a kenyan commie in the white house again and do YOU want to end up being a “bump in the road”? His changes are going to be drastic and not good at all! He is making the same promises he did 4 years ago and still blaming others! Are you all freaking brain dead!??? he has admitted being a muslim and clearly told us in his own book he would side with the muslims if the political winds shift and get ugly, and still you think he is good for us.The terrorists call him their “messiah”.Do some damn research and be a patriot instead of a staunch political party clinger! Or get ready to be enslaved by the creeping sharia and Obama thugs! They are getting rid of all the pork here now so they can be comfy in our government seats..go ahead laugh about it or scoff. But use some damn common sense!

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

I hope the acidic and untrue vitrol that comes from your mouth doesn’t eat you up You are strong partisan and, worse, you might be one of those trying to destroy one party and take over the other one. It is not a new concept. It worked before. All of what you say is lies that cannot be proven. I have seen President Obama salute and say the pledge of allegiance to the flag. When he is giving a speeth, the flag of the United States is behind him. Ugly uninformed zealots are the ones desecrating the flag. By ugly, I mean rhetoric. Liar, he has never said he was a Muslim. He, and his family attend a Christian Church. He cannot be a Muslim and a Communist. Which terrorists call him Messiah? Maybe, you should do some research. I read his book and I did not see what you seen, you lying sack of stuff.

BDC_57

he won’t read it becuase he probly believes what he says and he wants you to believe he does. he lies like romney does.

http://twitter.com/MortAlcoil1 Mort Alcoil

He has gone to the same CHRISTIAN Church for the last 20+ years and that is a FACT.. Any dimwit can look it up, including YOU.

It’s funny when Republicans attack Obama for going to a Church with a RADICAL PASTOR and then accuse him of being a Muslim !! All I can assume is that Republicans are schizophrenic and can hold two opposing views simultaneously, even when BOTH views are factually wrong.
dtgraham

I’ve heard about Megyn Kelly actually comparing Obama’s campaign logo with the blood streaks on the embassy in Bhengazi that housed Chris Stevens. Not withstanding that those “streaks” on the embassy were actually bloody hand prints that bore no “eery resemblance” whatsoever to the stylistic red stripes on Obama’s logo, do you really believe that he would pattern his logo from those gruesome blood stains?

That this came from the top rated cable news network and not from some obscure far right website is mind boggling.

Regina, you seem like an earnest sincere person who’s just been saturated by Fox News, talk radio, and the conservative internet. That there are probably lots of voters who have your far out nutty beliefs is one hell of a scary proposition for any country let me tell you.

http://profile.yahoo.com/QQJ46QFCTLYVSOPO3FR2DRMN7A stugatz

mitt is unfitt
http://profile.yahoo.com/QXUFSMTKTK3UCL3ZFPJPONXAVM mac macey

Mitt believes in himself and the other 2%. But only the 2% because they are as ruthless as he is. If you lie down with Dogs you get Fleas.
http://profile.yahoo.com/HFYZP2APYPP7H6PWS2ZDQRWFEQ Hillbilly

Anyone running for office and in office now should have to show how their money was made, what they were worth before taking office, show all not just what they show now that does not include all real estate owned and lots of other things that increase what they are worth in regards to all wealth, and do it each year they are in office and when they leave office. They should have to explain how their wealth got to be so much more each year they were in office and how it was so much much more when they leave office and show their increase in wealth was legal not money for special favors for big donors in their election campaigns. Also when campaigning for office , campaigning begins the year of the election not right after they are sworn in office. That way they can work on running and improving the Country instead of raising reelection funds from day 1 on the job. This ban on campaigning also covers people planning on running against people that are already Congress and the President. That way Congress would be in Washington and hopefully working for the good of the USA and not political donors.
http://profile.yahoo.com/VTGPZOEAKBAFBFID332EEM7C2M Wallace64

Ok, this is where the tires hit the road. This is not about Democrats or Republicans but about the wealthy making decisions about everyday people. This is why you should start looking up words like plutocracy, oligarchy, banana republic. If you think this can’t happen in America, think again. We seem to be in the last stages of a winner take all Monopoly game. Obscene amounts of money are spent putting the 1% in office and then it will be over for the rest of us. Thay’ve been telegraphing their plans all along- get rid of social security, medicare, medicaid, less funding for schools (Mitt Romney telling a teacher that class size doesn’t affect teaching), smaller government. You have a computer in front of you- look it up. That way you won’t look so surprised when the 1% have 100%.
onedonewong

It only matters when a Republican does it not when a dem does it. You have barak paying a 19% tax rate with NO , NONE Zero tax deductions how can that happen????
The left didn’t care about barak’s BC that even the Israeli SS has said is a phoney and he has never released his college records that would identify that he was admitted as a foreign student. Nor are they concerned that he was a drug dealer
http://profile.yahoo.com/PMVMZMDLRQL3TRK5RNOHJVZPHU stoptheinsanity

If it were President Obama who had not disclosed ten years or more of tax returns, you would hear Republicans screaming “bloody murder.” Whenever Democrats or the media demand that Romney provide more than two years of returns, right-wing zealots rush to his defense and try to downplay it and call it a non-issue. Even before the president took office, the right was demanding that he produce a birth certificate. The president and the state of Hawaii have produced legitmate copies. To this day, right-wingers still don’t accept it as legitimate. They are also demanding that the president produce copies of his college transcripts, when no other presidential candidate in the history of our country has had to do so. It all boils down to one issue: the president’s race and the hatred and prejudice that these right-wingers hold toward him based on his color. What blatant HYPOCRISY!!! Sane Americans see through the thin veneer of lies and deceptions that these haters hide behind. That is why Robot “Etch-a-Sketch” Romney and Lyin’ Ryan are so far behind in the polls and will lose the November election. When a candidate like Romney refuses to release at least ten years of tax returns like his father did, that tells us a lot about his character. A candidate who is very secretive and not fully transparent to the American electorate is someone who is not worthy to sit in the Oval Offfice as president. He must have a lot to hide that could be catastrophic to his campaign but Romney chooses not to disclose the information but risk it as being a factor that will decimate his run for the presidency.
carsrus

My, oh my, Maggie the only one who is trying to, and succeding in DESTROYING the government is the evil, marxist-maoist muslim shill of a president, Barack Obama!HAVE no fear, sweetpea, WE, the PEOPLE, those of US truly LOYAL to this Great Constitutional Republic are in the process of THROWING evil incarnate, aka obama, OUT of the White House FOREVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Not me, you jerk. I probably studied history more in depth than you have. You need what I call subversives to tell you what to think.

carsrus

Cair……………Start crying NOW in or out of your ROOM January 20,2013
PRESIDENT ROMNEY VICE PRESIDENT RYAN
carsrus

GRUNGE sure FITS the name GARBAGE preisdent
OBAMA
carsrus

lynda the divide has widened in the 3+”annus horribilis” that we have had to SUFFER with this inept community agitator, aka barack obama. It is those of u who are unable to think CRITICALLY! U are driven by the pied piper as he happily takes u over the cliff. NO doubt u libtards don’t have the power to see through koolaid’s snake oil!
carsrus

BDC he’ isn’t, it’s the LIES of the biased dear leaders media minions trying to make those who can’t think criticall, that Obama’s won President -elect Romney will take two terms to FIX the devestation this marxist,maoist muslim snake left him!

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

So, you poor ill-informed and not well read person, I see no proof of anything you say. The Bible does not say, “Thou Shalt Not Lie.” It says, “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” At the end of the 10 commandments it also says, if you have broken one of the commandments you have broken them all. You are carrying lies, whether you made them up or whether you initiated them, that is bearing false witness. If you weren’t biased against the president, you would study and find something he did good. You can’t do that as your keepers won’t let you.

carsrus

asleepinaustin people such as U and the fetid marxist-maoist muslim shill, Obama
carsrus

Independent1 He didnt’ do well, he has not competely destroyed US, yet! Do u not see his agenda? To make US a non-world power. To divide Us among race, creed and financail status! To leave Isreael hanging out ther as the only TRUE democracy in the middle east. To allow Iran to get the nuclear bomb. He has run up the debt so it is unsustainable. This man made on true comment, and it was to tell Joe, the plumber that he planed to re-distribute OUR wealth. He is trying to do so, taking the hard earned money I made and wish to leave to my children and Grandchildren, and making the DEATH tax so large that they will wind up with little! Do u not see how he HATES those of us who have MADEsomething with our lives. How he plans on taking from us and giving to his worshipers, those who are on the dole! His Obsamacare WILL cost many to be OUT of the system, and seniors, such as myself, will have an overseer, saying, STOP, that old manneed not receieve a heart transplant, I have a medicaid patient, 35, who is a drug addict in need of it, and he goes FIRST! Cost efficent? AT my cost, and someday yours.

No, Barack Obama is on an agenda to diminish this once Great Nation. Take a look at his rejection of the Constitution. He spits at it every way he can. Freedom of religion, of speech and many more we take for granted, under a 2nd Obama reign, will come to a hault! WAKE up and smell your Framers RIGHTS burning in Obama’s oven!
carsrus

ms croft u drank Obama’s koolaid, so live with it

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Your digestive system is upside down.

carsrus

DV Juat reading your bile makes me know how desperate democRATs are, seeing Obama’s internal polls and knowng, as did Jimmy Carter, he’s going out in a landslide. I suggest you prepare, now, by seeing your MD for a new prescription for anxiety! President Romney will have 2 full terms to redo the devestation that this one man made in 4 “annus horribilis”! God bless America, and our new President and Vice President!

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Carsus, You are the typical ideologist. Just noise and no facts. Why should Romney have more time to fix the economy than President Obama? President Obama ,inherited an economy on the verge of collapse. The stock market was falling more everyday. 750 thousand jobs a month were lost. Banks were being bailed out due to bad practices and then they continued the bad practices. We have had 30 months of straight job growth. Insurance companies are not required to put 80% of premiums back into health care instead of it being the bottom line on the stock market page. Their shareholders were more important than their subscribers. At the hearings, there were former insurance executives who said that they were supposed to deny a percentage of claims. One woman who had cancer that needed extensive and espensive treatments was denied her coverage after they discovered she had forgotten a trip to the doctor for infected sinuses when she was 17. I don’t think healthcare should be the bottom line on the stock market page of the Wall Street Journal.

We have become narcissists and care only about outselves.

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Typo, that sentence should read, insurance companies are now required to put 80% pof thier claims back into healthcare.

barbarahugh

There should be NO reason that a person running for such an OFFICE to keep anything Secret all
should be released to the public if you are running for public office you should tell all , no matter what you say while looking for votes we should know you your life and how you act is very important and you should say who what when and how , so people can decide if you are good enough to represent the USA .This Romney is a fake even his laugh is fake , all he wants to be president just to see how far and what he can buy without no limits .How can giving tax breaks to the rich helps the 99% of us ? Millionaires are cold hearted people very few are caring people
giving money to the poor they are just making sure “NO TAXES!!!” is applied to them
carsrus

ms crof, we have a narcissist in the White House, a pathological meglomaniac, Mr. Obama. IF this man were not half black and half white, he’d be losing in double digits! Truth be told, he will LOSE, because the color of his skin has nothing to do with his inablity to govern or lead! Indeed, perhaps, had he many more years in the Senate, tather than really only 2, as he was running for President even then, maybe, he’d have been more capable of being what the msm call our 1st black President! However, given the fact he never DID anything of substance in the Illinois Legislature I doubt it. Given the fact HE said himself, I am lazy , well, sweetpea, why don’t u put 2 and 2 together and figure out the end of his story? I already know it, a ONE term FAILURE!

http://www.facebook.com/maggie.croft.92 Maggie Croft

Carsus, you sound like a dumb ass. Unless you can provide substantiated facts, everything you say is just words that someone else gave you.

firedup49

Obama’s classic class warfare. Shame on Obama. As a democrat I never heard such commotion over the John F. Kennedy’s tax returns, John Kerry one of the wealthiest, married to Heinz Ketchup heir, Roosevelt. So why now???

It doesn’t matter what Romney does with his money. . As long he isn’t breaking any laws..
What matters is what the government is doing with our tax dollars,

Obama it would be nice to get our green energy money back billions back, that you invested and failed
JeanBruce

Was he turned in by his Swiss bank? We should know that.
nlebou

Remember, the tax rate he pays now is the 2nd bite of the apple. He has already paid taxes on his earnings when it was earned. He now pays capital gains taxes. So in reality he pays taxes on it twice.
carsrus

ms maggie, have I gotten ur panties in a bunch, my r u an angry non-historian! Betcha I have more advanced degrees IN HISTORY than do u, lovie!Jerk, no sweetpea, it must be the tight panties making u a foul mouth!
carsrus

Maggie, dear, dear girl have u forgotten to take ur meds today! Did the Health Care aide NOT show up?
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ellery-Tuck/100000121509965 Ellery Tuck

What Romney’s taxes would most likely demonstrate:

1) He was employed by Bain as CEO and or “Decider” (Thank you GWB II) and such will show as income subject to withholding, and in demonstrating that, prove that Mitt has been less than honest with us about the actual terms of his “retroactive resignation” from Bain Capital.

2) His tax returns thoughout the Bush II Adminsitrations years will clearly demonstrate the abject failure of “tax cuts for job creators”, but prove instead, that the “infamous” job creators, of which Romney is one, do not take their tax savings subsidized by the tax payers, and place it in investments which “create jobs”, but only choose to put it in financial investments which are “high return”, and not job creating investments, –or to put it as Mitt likes to say — his investments were not in “shovel ready” jobs.

3) Finally, they could show that Romney availed himself of “tax holidays”, or forgiveness of under reported, or non reported off shore accounts which were in fact subject to taxation.

What we, the Voting Public need to see are the returns, togther with all scheduals. So far, Mitt’s “disclosure” or tax rates are somewhat “pathetic” and force an observer to conclude that Romney does in fact have “something to hide”.

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Why Mitt Romney’s Taxes Matter

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