Why Won't Romney Release More Tax Returns (The New Yorker)

[Dalai_1]

July 16, 2012
WHY WON’T ROMNEY RELEASE MORE TAX RETURNS?
Posted by John Cassidy

“He should release the tax returns tomorrow: it’s crazy,” Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “You gotta release six, eight, ten years of back tax returns. Take the hit for a day or two.” Speaking on ABC’s “This Week,” Will, the veteran columnist, agreed, saying, “If something going to come out, get it out in a hurry.” And Dowd, who was the chief strategist for the Bush-Cheney campaign in 2004, said Romney’s refusal to release returns for the years prior to 2010 was a sign of his “arrogance.”

With even prominent Republicans saying that his current stance is unsustainable, the obvious question to ask is: Why is the Mittster being so obstinate? He surely isn’t standing on principle, for what principle would that be? The notion that very rich men running for President shouldn’t have to disclose as much information about their personal finances as less wealthy candidates? The principal that if your father also ran for President, and released twelve years of tax returns, then you can release just two and claim the family average is a respectable seven years?
No. It’s only fair to assume that Mitt is doing what he always does: acting on the basis of a careful cost-benefit analysis. Will’s comments on this were spot on: “The cost of not releasing the returns are clear,” he said. “Therefore, [Romney] must have calculated that there are higher costs in releasing them.” But what information could the earlier tax returns contain that would be so damaging if it were brought out into the open? Obviously, we are entering the realm of speculation, but Romney has invited it. Here are four possibilities:

More from Source:

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/johncassidy/2012/07/why-wont-romney-release-more-tax-returns.html

[livetohike]

1. Politically explosive investments is my guess

because the other things (tax rates, income, offshore accounts) people expect from the wealthy even if they don't understand it....

The GOP base will understand investing in a company that disposes of aborted fetuses.

[Dalai_1]

4. I would like to know

How much he would have paid in taxes in the USA if he
were not using offshore tax shelters, in addition to what he
invested in.

[msanthrope]

36. Post 9/11 investments that would be difficult to explain??? nt

[MADem]

40. His Bain portfolio included doing business with Iran.

He partnered with Haier (Chinese appliance company) to fuck over Maytag.

These are things we know from McCain's oppo docs. If we know these ghastly things, what don't we know?

[CBGLuthier]

2. All of the above

The article states each of the reasons alone should not be enough. But what if ALL or most of them are there. High income, low tax rate, outsourcing, and offshore bank accounts. Add them all together and you have one fine picture of Gordon Gekko II at his finest.

[Kablooie]

23. But that's the image that's being created anyway. If he made it official he could start defending it

[nc4bo]

3. Get them out. Get them out in a hurry. Hopefully stupid, gnat brained Americans will forget

it all by election time.

Except this entire fiasco will be rehashed over and over again by one Barack Obama.

And since O's campaign isn't dependent on making shit up, he has the ugly truth on his side.

[SDjack]

5. I'm not ready for it end. I like firing Republicans. n/t

[Live and Learn]

6. It wouldn't surprise me if he got a tax refund.

I am betting on all of the above too.

[Booster]

10. That wouldn't surprise me either. Remember Cheney getting a 2 million dollar refund his 1st year

as VP, a job that paid $240,000 yr? And the same year I think Dubya got around 1 million refund.

[Jim__]

7. What was his Bain salary from 1999 - 2002?

We know if was over $100,000/year. My guess, it was actually in the millions. He doesn't want us to know that.

[starroute]

8. Could America elect a president who would be that susceptible to blackmail?

It's possible that Romney is just afraid of being portrayed during the campaign as Mr. Evil McRichGuy and that if he actually became president none of this would matter any more.

But if there's something in those returns that's not just embarrassing -- something that was actively illegal or that would reveal him to have been been involved with criminal associates after he left Bain -- that would be knowledge that he could never allow to come out and that would leave him open to blackmail by anyone who knew the secret.

And that is not something America could afford in a president.

[Jessy169]

9. Look out for a big surprise from Rove

This all seems too good to be true, doesn't it? How could Romney and his Republican handlers possibly have been so stupid as to not see the twin issues of Bain and the withheld tax returns coming? My own guess is that Karl Rove did see these two issues coming a long time ago and that he has a plan to deal with it. Never underestimate Karl Rove. Look at us now. We're feeling good, we're feeling like we've got Romney right where we want him and we're going to keep him in this choke-hold all the way up to election day. But don't be surprised if it doesn't go down that way. All of the Republicans going on record saying hey Romney, release your tax records, and all the apparant discord in the Republican Party over how Mitt is handling this could really be just part of Rove's grand scheme on how to put a nail through the heart of these two issues. Not that he could make them completely go away, but there's definitely a way to lessen the impact. Imagine that if this week, Romney finally concedes and releases tax returns all the way back to 2003, and there ends up being nothing of consequence in those returns. Democrats of course call foul, and demand the 1999 to 2002 tax returns. Romney response -- you Dems are on a fishing trip, same as you accused the Republicans of being with Fast and Furious. I'm no political genius, but I just can't see Rove not knowing this "disaster" was on the horizon, and not coming up with a plan to deal with it. Romney has 40% or more of the vote no matter what -- the "anybody but Obama" crowd will vote for him whether he's a liar, tax cheat, financier of abortion clinics or whatever. Romney just needs another 5% to 10% and a few hundred poorly calibrated voting machines to win this election. We should be careful. Enjoy the show, but watch out for dirty tricks from Rove, that's all I'm saying.

[magical thyme]

11. the only ways I can see that is if they 1. have a surprise candidate

in the offing.

But Jeb is still too close to the W years. Americans still understand that W caused the crash.

The crazies in the clown car can't do it.

Everybody else is a barely known. Not enough time to introduce.

It's entirely possible Rove saw this coming. It's entirely possible they're holding out for '16 and hoping to obstruct enough to sabotage any recovery and continue the looting until we're either on our knees or rioting in the streets.

2. October surprise of worst sort.

But I also think it's entirely possible that Rove got overconfident and miscalculated. Everybody does, sooner or later. Because they keep using their old playbook, assuming the other side will keep doing the same thing and hope for a different result.

Only Obama learned their playbook and isn't playing by their rules:

They expected Obama to apologize.

Instead, he baited Romney by saying he's "not satisfied" with Romney's explanations and demanded to see meeting notes from 1999-2002.

And pranked him with the release of the hysterical, 2 year old photo of Obama, with his trademark mischievous grin, holding up "No Apology" and Rove's book.

Next, they attacked Cutter for stating a fact, thinking she would be thrown under the bus.

Instead, Obama pranked Romney with a brilliant ad in which he is mocked in his own, off key voice.

And Cutter was sent into the arena with a sharp mind, very sweet smile and a finely honed, double-sided knife.

[Jessy169]

13. Most likely you are correct

It could definitely be that their long history of lies and dirty tricks has finally caught up to them. I say, let the party and the celebrations continue, but keep a close watch on events as they unfold, and don't let the celebrating keep us from doing what we still need to be doing.

[magical thyme]

14. agreed.

Never take victory for granted. And with Rove involved, always, always, always watch your back.

[calimary]

30. Best advice of all.

Remember how Mad-Eye Moody always warned Harry Potter: "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!"

DO NOT get complacent. This is only July. And kkkarl rove is just getting warmed up.

[JHB]

21. That's been my take too. They're accustomed to brazening it out

The Republicans have weathered any number of scandals by stonewalling and accusing the media of liberal bias and the Democrats of hyper-partisanship. And for so long they got their way by the other side caving that it's their reflexive tactic.

However, it works best when they are in power and can control the flow of information. Here' they're not in power (and it's a personal matter anyway, not an abuse-of-government-office matter), and Mitt pumping out the same plastic denials (complete with over-specific weasel words) works against him, not for him.

The documentation looks harder (him listed with several titles after he said he left), and his opposition (Obama) is much more aggressive in shaping the narrative than Gore or Kerry were.

Even if they change their tune, old habits led them to waste a lot of time going in the wrong direction.

[go west young man]

25. I also think they may pull out a surprise candidate.

We should be wary of a Chuck Hagel type that can win over the center. Rove knows the Tea baggers can't win. He also knows Romney is cooked goose already. When Bill "the dick" Kristol is already tossing the candidate under the bus that is a sign they all want someone else. We need to remember Faux is the head of the hydra and when they are turning against the candidate something else is coming on the horizon. If they pull out someone more centrist that isn't a Tea Bagger type and add Rubio from Florida they would have a chance at winning. I see an August implosion of Romney followed by a nomination for someone else.

[ThoughtCriminal]

31. The Rove strategy would be to leak something damning, but fake

A fake tax return from say 2004 with some politically damaging portions. But, within 24 hours, the document is proven to be fake - a page that was different or did not exist on the 2004 return. Something stupid like that. Suddenly, the whole issue is tainted and the media ignores it from that point on.

[MADem]

41. Rove's surprise could be to let RMoney crash and burn so Jeb can run in four years.

No one likes RMoney. No one. Not even Republicans. Not even.....KARL ROVE.

Only 38 percent of the GOP--that's thirty eight percent of the voting GOP--can stand him. More Republicans are as likely to vote GOP to vote AGAINST Obama as they are to vote FOR RMoney. I don't see a lot of GOP enthusiasm right now. Even Rush Limbaugh (drug user extra-ordinaire) trying to flog up a little poutrage over Obama's youthful pot/coke shenanigans is just silly.

[MgtPA]

12. I think it's business-related deductions, as CEO of Bain.

So, did he lie to the American people? Or to the IRS (sa-WEET!)

[ejbr]

29. + 1 n/t

[uponit7771]

37. +1!

[Dalai_1]

15. President Obama continues

to campaign methodically, and his strategy has been unequaled in my opinion.
I feel confident his campaign has a lot more to come right until election day.

If rmoney did not have all the political donations he has had he would be less
than a blip on the radar ....he can not think on his feet...can not articulate
one thing that is not "on script".....he said in his horrid network interviews
there would be no more tax returns other than one more...I would imagine
that remark was one he decided to add ...he certainly is no "visionary"..
so now he has the likes of George Will and others in his party saying he
needs to release more...Rove is constantly having to gather the debris
and clearly not doing a very good job.

[Historic NY]

16. Its most likely his investments betray him....

Some of these companies were warned by the US and have been investigated or are currently under investigation by the State Department and the Treasury Department whether their business connections violate U.S. sanctions against trade with Iran.

Moreover, in August 2010, United Against Nuclear Iran, a non-profit organization dedicated to monitoring Iran, has listed many of the above companies as ones to be closely monitored for their business dealings with Iran.

In 2007, when he was running against John McCain, Romney promised his trust would sell off any investments that conflicted with Republican positions on hot-button domestic and foreign policy issues such as abortion, stem cell research and nuclear weapons. But according to a detailed review of Romney’s financial records by The Associated Press, trading went on until 2010 when those interests were finally sold off for more than $3 million.

When the revelations were exposed, a Romney campaign spokesperson, Andrea Saul, used the same line of debunked “blind trust” pretext to spin it. She said the former Massachusetts governor had no control over the investments made by his blind trust. Here is the link to another one of my reports where Romney clearly says –in a video- “blind trust is an age-old ruse. You can always tell the blind trust what it can and cannot do.”

http://www.datalounge.com/cgi-bin/iowa/ajax.html?t=11271667#page:showThread,11271667

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2012/01/28/romneys-blind-trust-in-collective-amnesia-video/

And as once Governor Huckabee said: “If a man’s dishonest to get a job, he’ll be dishonest on the job".

[eridani]

35. Didn't Cheney's Halliburton trade with Iran with no political repercussions whatsoever? n/t

[wiggs]

17. Premise is wrong. Not releasing could be a deliberate strategy

to deflect attention from his corporatist, elitist past that's already in plain view.

I believe this tax return issue can be intentionally left to fester, inflate, and become the focus of everything financial having to do with Romney. If the stupid tax returns can come to represent a nation's doubts about an arrogant out-of-touch corporatist then the GOP will have succeeded in rolling all the legitimate and complex angst about undemocratic corporatism into one giant ball...only to be knocked down all at once when tax returns are released showing nothing new.

Romney is only one corporatist and the tax returns are only a small (IMO) component of why Romney isn't fit for office...but the GOP has a long history of boiling down complex positions into one fragment than can then be made gray, confused, unclear, and dismissed. The whole issue of W's frat boy first 40 years went away when it was alleged that the document Rather used could have been forged.

If the returns were that bad, he would never have been allowed to run...especially since McCain's campaign saw them in '08. I'm saying this is much ado about nothing and that dem leaders should continue to make the easy overall case that the last thing we need for president is an car-collecting, arrogant, horse-riding, lying, out-of-touch, tea-partying corporatist who believes that America's strength is directly related to CEO pay....that austerity combined with trickle-down should start tomorrow...that 40 million people should lose health care access so that taxes can be lowered for the 1%....that historically low taxes and historically high debt are unrelated...on and on. Easy.

Obama should say he doesn't care about the tax returns...there's enough of a record to make this an easy vote for Americans.

[Dalai_1]

20. You make an excellent point...

this way rmoney doesn't have to do more than repeat his
talking points all over the country..(they know that is the best
he can do) this is a way of the republicans "controlling the
message"...it is an interesting strategy ..

[uponit7771]

38. rMoney took a deduction from a "dressage" horse..no way he's NOT going to take deductions as ceo

...of bain during 99 - 01 which would make him a felon for lying to the FEC recently or at the least a liar to the Americans people.

Very slight chance this turns out positive but it's slight

[wiggs]

42. He'll release a few more years' worth of returns and that

will be it. He won't go all the way back to 2000 or before like he did with McCain.

There will be some discussion of how much money he's made, how much wealth he has in various places...It won't look good for him, but I doubt there will be a bombshell. He's been running for office for a while...I bet his returns are as clean as a vulture capitalist/corporatist can get with a couple hundred attorneys as his disposal. His 'bedwetting' republican friends are calling for 4, 6, 8, 10 more years to be released...my uneducated guess is he'll release returns that go back to 2004 or 2006 and then ask if we can move on from the Bain stuff and stop attacking success.

Even more than before, the last couple of days have seen the gop camp hammer Obama on allegedly 'attacking success' or 'attacking capitalism' or even 'attacking America' with his comments. I can envision a scenario wherein they've decided to release some returns and are preemptively innoculating themselves against criticisms of how much Romney has made, how much he's worth, and how little in taxes he has paid. Watch for Friday dump?

[DallasNE]

18. With Romney The Possibilities Are Endless

There is a paper trail on all of this. Where is the leave of absence form Romney submitted to Bain when he took the Olympics job and what were the terms and conditions. What were the conflict of interest requirements imposed by the Olympic Committee on Romney. Since Romney was getting paid in two different States by two different companies for at least 1999-2002, how were the State taxes handled. What did Romney's resignation letter to Bain say? And so forth.

Romney has released no State tax returns. Why? What State did he file in for 2010? New Hampshire has lower rates than Massachuttes so did Romney file in New Hampshire while voting for Scott Brown in Massachuttes?

There are so many easy ways Romney could have been gaming the system for a number of years. Did he resist the temptation or is he a crook? I would think it would be in Romney's own best interest to have that answered in a favorable light. Right now things aren't looking good in that regard.

[Ganja Ninja]

19. It's really anybody's guess so we're free to speculate until he releases his returns.

I'm going with what I said the other day. It's fair & balanced speculation.

Mitt and his cronies at Bain were working with Chinese government officials in relocating businesses to China and getting compensated for it in some way. Perhaps they were even using Chinese investment money to buy the companies they later bankrupted and relocated.

Until someone is willing to provide information to the contrary that's as good a theory as any.

[KurtNYC]

33. the Obama campaign likely knows exactly what is in the returns

and Mitt is predictable. They are dripping out documents one by one and making Romney dance. That's what makes this so interesting to watch.

McCain knows why Romney won't release them. The IRS knows, The SEC knows. Mitt knows, and I have to think Obama knows too.

[wiggs]

43. Yes. Assume the worst and let them show otherwise. That's what they do...

...only in their case assuming the worst about the gop may actually be closer to reality.

I'm for it.

[disndat]

22. Forget the '12 presidential campaign

The Repugs have no chance with Romney or anyone else against Obama. We should watch the Congressional races which will be harder to beat against the Koch money, Jim Crow voters suppression and their control of the electronic voting machines. Even Paul Krugman thinks the Republicans will control both houses, In that case we will be back to square one, an impasse for the another 2 years, at least.

[red dog 1]

34. Excellent point!

Source:
Alternet.org
July 12, 2012

"Not Again! How Our Voting System Is Ripe For Theft and Meltdown in 2012"


The Republican war on voters is only the start of really big problems voters face in the 2012 presidential election.

http://www.alternet.org/story/156252/not_again!_how_our_voting_system_is_ripe_for_theft

[uponit7771]

39. +1!

[Kablooie]

24. Could he have funded Al Qaeda?

It could be that a company he invested in was a secret front for Al Qaeda or other anti-American groups.

He wouldn't have known at the time where the money was going but it still could be a campaign killer if it got out.

[HereSince1628]

26. There's Romney's escape hatch! It's so obvious!

Claim that as a family Romney presidential candidacies release an average of seven years of tax records!

BRILLIANT!

[Geoff R. Casavant]

27. One possibility they missed

Could the Romneys be on the list of folks who took advantage of the amnesty for hiding income in Swiss banks? In other words, lying to the IRS for years, only coming clean when there was no chance to escape prosecution and a better chance of keeping it secret?

[n2doc]

28. That, or a variant on tax evasion

I think they are afraid, with good reason, that if his returns were released and gone over by a Tax specialist, they would show that he illegally avoided taxes. And he would be both on the hook for paying back taxes and fines (boy would he hate that) and prosecution (less likely, but just the possibility would be hugely damaging).

[ThoughtCriminal]

32. Could be all 4, but here's #5

Romney was screwing his business and investment partners. He clearly doesn't give a shit about the "Common" serfs. But if the other 0.1%'ers find out he was scamming them, that's really serious.