New Obama attack: Maybe Romney didn’t pay taxes
Last edited Tue Jul 17, 2012, 11:15 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: WaPo
President Obamas campaign is out with a new ad going hard after Mitt Romney to release his past tax returns.
The former Massachusetts governor has released his 2010 tax return and released an estimate of his 2011 taxes, with a pledge to release the full return. But he has resisted giving more information about his past taxes. Obamas ad seizes on that fact, saying it makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=uMo5pykT4uw
Tax Havens. Offshore accounts. Carried Interest. Mitt Romney has used every trick in the book, the narrator says. Romney admits that over the last two years hes paid less than 15 percent in taxes on $43 million in income. Makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all. We dont know because Romney has released just one full year of his tax returns. And wont release anything before 2010.
A clip plays of Romney telling an interviewer, You know what, Ive put out as much as were gonna put out.
The ad concludes, What is Mitt Romney hiding?
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/post/new-obama-attack-maybe-romney-didnt-pay-taxes/2012/07/17/gJQAKlEpqW_blog.html
Obama: No apology for Romney attacks
¬snip¬
Asked by an Ohio TV station on Monday if he stood by the charge -- lodged last week by deputy Obama campaign manager Stephanie Cutter -- the president declined to bite.
I think that the issue here is simply for Mr. Romney to talk about his business background in a way that jives with the facts, he replied in an interview with WEWS broadcast on Tuesday.
Obama also said he was not sorry for the harsh tone of his attacks on Romney's record or his campaign's relentless barrage of negative ads accusing Romney of being an outsourcing "pioneer" and trying to hide something by witholding tax returns.
Were not apologizing for asking Mr. Romney to tell the American people more about his business credentials because this is his main rationale for running for president," the president told WEWS. "He says hes a business guy and he suggests that he can somehow fix the economy because of that."
http://www.politico.com/politico44/2012/07/obama-no-apology-for-romney-attacks-129178.html
Control-Z
(15,682 posts)stomp his feet and demand an apology again. This is so much fun!
Great ad!!
Jeff In Milwaukee
(13,992 posts)A) George Romney died in 1995, and
B) As a presidential candidate in 1968, George released 12 years of his tax returns.
madaboutharry
(40,201 posts)My theory is that someone from McCain's presidential campaign has leaked copies of Romney's returns to the Obama campaign. In my opinion, there is no way in hell that President Obama would have "approved this message" without knowing that there were years where Romney paid nothing and that there is some very unsavory crap going on in those returns.
livvy
(6,948 posts)It would be far too risky. If Romney did release his returns and it showed nothing, it would make Obama look really bad. They have to have a real good idea of what's in those returns.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)If Mittens doesn't release his taxes, he's toast.
If Mittens releases his taxes, he toast.
Huntington's daughter wrote just the other day that she's heard from "insiders" that he'll drop out before he releases his taxes. Just don't drop out too soon, Mittens...keep trying to look like a "tough guy" and keep demanding apologies before you head off to the Olympics to try to look "presidential."
lonestarnot
(77,097 posts)Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)What is happening at the moment is a battalion of accountants and spinners are going through his taxes figuring out how to "frame" the returns if it becomes necessary to release them.
His only possible strategy is to sit on the returns until the day before the election and then dump them in paper form (no electronic media) to the media, saying, "There, I released them". Then he can claim he had nothing to hide, picks up low information voters, and by the time excperts ferret out the dirt he's president.
Don't say that will work, just my opinion of his damaged thinking.
valerief
(53,235 posts)smoke for Mittney, too. Or bodies will start piling up and tax returns will retroactively be rewritten.
GeorgeGist
(25,318 posts)valerief
(53,235 posts)People at the IRS will get offers they can't refuse.
Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)provide replacement copies of the tax returns. They keep files too.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)slutticus
(3,428 posts)Some one in McCain's camp blabbed. There is no doubt of this now.
TouchOfGray
(82 posts)The President has access to any info that the government has. He cold certainly "push" the inquiry in the right direction.
He's also a lawyer, a good attorney never asks a question that he doesn't already know the answer to.
UCmeNdc
(9,600 posts)Mitt has to be hiding something from the public.
KurtNYC
(14,549 posts)this is a pretty interesting set-up.
sinkingfeeling
(51,444 posts)Botany
(70,483 posts).... markets.
Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)And no, I am not implying ANY conspiracy, just saying that if he "profited" from 9/11 it would not go over well.
I am also guessing that there would be a LOT of capital gains income made on insider information, where he was a "preferred" client, and thus let in on the CDO scam.
skydive forever
(443 posts)now Obama can't let him regain his footing.
bonniebgood
(940 posts)salt knows that you don't ask a question unless you know the answer. Obama and Rmoney are lawyers, went to the same school. This is why the Romney camp are running scared.
Romney ASSUMED that he was running against the 2008 nice guy Senator Obama.
Just Make/demand Obama apologize and the Bain Pain would all go away. Old Mit thought he would get a Hillary Rosen apology to Ann Romney. NOT
GeorgeGist
(25,318 posts)or he thinks he is.
Renew Deal
(81,852 posts)arely staircase
(12,482 posts)denverbill
(11,489 posts)All those companies they bought, if Rmoney invested some of his own money in them prior to Bain buying them, he would've cleaned up. That might help explain the $100 million IRA.
Kelvin Mace
(17,469 posts)I think we would see a suspicious pattern of "lucky" stock buys/shorts.
DallasNE
(7,402 posts)Unlike most of us Romney has homes in several States. That gives him the opportunity to pick and choose which State to choose for tax purposes. Did he, for instance, pay New Hampshire State taxes in 2010 while voting for Scott Brown in Massachuttes? The American people have a right to know if Romney is a crook before the election. Lack of transparency and regulatory oversight have been front and center at nearly every turn -- along with old-fashioned corruption -- so Romney needs to come clean.
ohgeewhiz
(193 posts)While doing his one day visit to Mass last November to vote in Belmont, Mass, Romney paid a visit to the Mass DMV to renew his driver's license. Thus, I think for all intents and purposes, Romney still considers Mass his "official" legal residence, and thus must have to pay taxes on "earned income", probably not on deferred compensation, interest or dividends earned in other states.
He might also give all of his "earned income" to the Mormon church in Mass, thus avoiding a tax liability. Of course, his "earned income" is about what $300K? He total income on the one US Tax filing for 2010 that we have claims he had an income of 15 million, so he still had another 1.2 million to give to other Mormon churches, after giving the big one in Belmont Mass, where he technically lives, all his $300K. or so in "earned income" from speaking fees and book royalties.
DallasNE
(7,402 posts)He seems to stay at his New Hampshire mansion the most, at least of late.
DallasNE
(7,402 posts)It makes no sense that he would be renewing a Massachuttes drivers license in November, 2010. It is both the wrong year and the wrong time of the year for that. It suggests that he turned in a drivers license from another State and took out a license in Massachuttes.
ohgeewhiz
(193 posts)They are good for FIVE years. They can be renewed by MAIL ONCE and then one has to show up in person and do the vision test, and get a new picture ID.
Romney was here in 2010, in January, to vote for Scott Brown, and again in November 2010, to vote for the Republican Governor and U.S. Rep from the Belmont district to Congress. (against Barney Frank).
In January, I was no where near Boston, when Romney came to vote, but we heard about it on national TV, since Romney no longer owns a home in Belmont.
In November, I was in Boston and saw all this about the voting and the driver's license renewal play out on TV.
When one renews a license in Mass depends upon the year in which you FIRST GOT ISSUED a license in Mass, and each succeeding five and ten year renewal cycle.
Romney's date of birth has nothing at all to do with what age he first obtained a Mass license. He was in Michigan when he was 16, at Harvard at age 22, so what?
Oh, one more thing, one can renew a license in person ANYTIME up to 364 days before the birthday upon which a license expires, so many senior citizens, who winter in FL, get their licenses renewed in the summer or fall when living in Mass. Renewing a license in November that expires the following March is not unusual.
DallasNE
(7,402 posts)Locally, your next birthday must be divisible by 5 -- no exceptions, so Romney would have been a year too early for that to happen.
ohgeewhiz
(193 posts)So there was reason for Mitt to come to his "home" in the basement of his son's house in Belmont to vote in November. Of course, Romney probably voted for the other two guys running in those races.
JBoy
(8,021 posts)TEDxmember
(6 posts)(Scene opens on a Colonial Home. A branching Elm stands in front. An actor playing Fred Thompson enters the scene).
Have you considered the benefits of Retroactive Retirement? Many Americans, just like you, are retired nowwhile theyre still workingusing the unique advantages of Retroactive Retirement.
If youre between the ages of 54 and 65, have a high tolerance for contradiction, and a flexible and adaptable sense of reality, Retroactive Retirement may be for you.
Why wait for all of the opportunities that retirement can provide you, when you can have them nowwhile youre still employed?
(Announcers voice speaking quickly: Retroactive Retirement may cause expulsive guffawing, moral fiber deficit and warping of the Space/Time continuum. Users should think before speaking while on Retroactive Retirement. If you find yourself holding a single point-of-view for more than four hours while on Retroactive Retirement, contact your campaign consultants immediately).
(Thompson): Retroactive Retirement. Where the pastdoesnt actually need to have quite passed at all. Do it today.
(Fade).
ohgeewhiz
(193 posts)Marthe48
(16,928 posts)Fred made me want to retroactively retire...or maybe not...or maybe
maddezmom
(135,060 posts)the actually ad is on my TV right now!
madaboutharry
(40,201 posts)I can so see this coming from Jon Stewart.
randome
(34,845 posts)Welcome to DU!
yodermon
(6,143 posts)Laughing too hard
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)He knows the business practices he employed. Additionally, he knows just how he skated around the edges, perhaps even bored some new loopholes, in the tax code to achieve what some have promised will be known as the most patently self-serving record of tax-dodging ever by a presidential candidate.
The problem may not be legal, but psychological.
"Back then" vulture capitalism and tax-dodging were 'best business practice', which have no congruence with current 'best political practice'.
Mitt may simply be too embarrassed to reveal his tax returns and his pirate past.
GeorgeGist
(25,318 posts)patricia92243
(12,595 posts)Romney is stupid enough to keep hiding his information.
Also, I wondered why this info is not "leaked" like everything else is - is the Internal Revenue really that secrative.
randome
(34,845 posts)All this chatter about the McCain camp is ridiculous. Obama doesn't need inside information. His ads are simply asking questions.
Give credit where credit is due. The re-election campaign is simply brilliant!
Auggie
(31,156 posts)ellie
(6,929 posts)Stonepounder
(4,033 posts)My personal theory (based on nothing but my gut) is that Romney doesn't want to release his tax returns because he hasn't been tithing all of his income. Remember, he is very high up in the Mormon church (something like the equivalent of a Cardinal in the Catholic church). I suspect, as another reply noted, he has been tithing on his earned income, not on his total income. If he has tithed on $3 million and actually shows an adjusted gross income of, oh say $15 million for a couple of years, he is going to be in deep kimchee with the church. He may actually be more afraid of losing his place in the church that he is of losing the Presidency.
siligut
(12,272 posts)Could Romney really betray the church in that way? It is a possibility.
Turbineguy
(37,312 posts)Make him deny it!
babylonsister
(171,050 posts)randome
(34,845 posts)Put the final touch on it by making it appear Romney has already 'gotten away' with something. People don't like someone who withholds information.