Romney’s Secrecy: Did He Get Away With It?

[Lakhota]

By Alec MacGillis

In January, in a South Carolina debate just before that state's primary, Newt Gingrich hit Mitt Romney hard for releasing barely any of his tax returns: “Look, he’s got to decide and the people of South Carolina have to decide. But if there’s anything in there that is going to help us lose the election, we should know it before the nomination. And if there’s nothing in there, why not release it?” The audience applauded, and when Gingrich proceeded to trounce Romney at the polls the following Saturday, voters told me that Romney’s secrecy about his tax returns was part of their decision—they didn't necessarily care what tax rate Romney paid, but they didn’t like his declaration that it wasn’t any of their business.

Back then, it seemed only a matter of time before Romney would buckle to pressure and release a critical mass of returns—if not the 12 years worth that his father released when he ran for president, then at least, say, five or six. But here we are, with just five days until the election, and Romney has released no more than the two years he agreed to release back during the primaries. This has left voters in near-total darkness about basic questions about his very recent past. As tax experts have noted, there are any number of reasons why Romney doesn’t want to release more of his taxes—it’s possible he participated in an IRS amnesty program for secret foreign bank accounts; it’s more possible he gamed the system to avoid taxes on his huge retirement account and his sons’ $100 million trust fund, or that he paid very, very low rates these past couple years as a result of a tax code that favors people like him whose income is mainly taxed as capital gains. (In releasing his belated 2011 returns in September, Romney asserted, without providing any evidence, that he had not paid an effective rate lower than 13 percent during the past decade.) Just this week, Bloomberg News offered a new shred of insight, into the way that Romney used the Mormon church to shelter some of his investment gains from taxes. But the fact is, barring some future leak, we're simply not going to find out what was so worrisome in Romney’s taxes from only a few years ago.

Not only that, Romney has—unlike candidates Barack Obama, George W. Bush and John McCain—refused to identify his “bundlers,”the hundreds of people who have each raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for him. This has, among other things, spared him the sort of stories that Obama's had to contend with, looking at the unsavory connections and interests of his fundraisers. And, of course, Romney has provided exceedingly scant detail on basic elements of his platform, such as how he proposes to replace the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank law, both of which he says he will do away with, and how he plans to make up the revenue lost from cutting tax rates by 20 percent across the board. The candidate has not answered any questions from reporters in the past three weeks.

More: Romney Got Through The Campaign Without Disclosing More Tax Returns Or His List Of Bundlers And Much More. Did It Cost Him? | The New Republic

 

[OKTexas]

 

[Cheddarmelon]

no. It didn't cost him. Because the partisanship wouldn't care if he was stealing from church collection plates. It's entirely irrelevant.

 

[syrenn]

it misses its twin, liesmatters. Someone has to keep up with the hack shit....... so its doing double time for both of them...

 

[buckeye45_73]

Are you still on the tax return.....that issue is just like you....a loser

God you just have to laugh at these retards

 

[Cheddarmelon]

Are you still on the tax return.....that issue is just like you....a loser

God you just have to laugh at these retards

I see your tax return and raise you a birth certificate and college transcript.

 

[tjvh]

Speaking of releases of information... How's that Trump thing going? Is Obama going to be charitable and release his transcripts, or is he going to remain fraudulently silent while charities miss out on 5 Million dollars? My money says he takes the silent road and cements the fact that he's a complete fraud.

 

[Cheddarmelon]

Speaking of releases of information... How's that Trump thing going? Is Obama going to be charitable and release his transcripts, or is he going to remain fraudulently silent while charities miss out on 5 Million dollars? My money says he takes the silent road and cements the fact that he's a complete fraud.

Talk to Trump about being charitable. He wants to give 5 mil to charity, do it.

I knew there would be some who bought in to this utter nonsense. Seeing it in black and white is really, really funny though.

 

[tjvh]

Speaking of releases of information... How's that Trump thing going? Is Obama going to be charitable and release his transcripts, or is he going to remain fraudulently silent while charities miss out on 5 Million dollars? My money says he takes the silent road and cements the fact that he's a complete fraud.

Talk to Trump about being charitable. He wants to give 5 mil to charity, do it.

I knew there would be some who bought in to this utter nonsense. Seeing it in black and white is really, really funny though.

So you think it's OK for Obama to turn his back on charities to hide his fraudulent past... Got it.

 

[Cheddarmelon]

Speaking of releases of information... How's that Trump thing going? Is Obama going to be charitable and release his transcripts, or is he going to remain fraudulently silent while charities miss out on 5 Million dollars? My money says he takes the silent road and cements the fact that he's a complete fraud.

Talk to Trump about being charitable. He wants to give 5 mil to charity, do it.

I knew there would be some who bought in to this utter nonsense. Seeing it in black and white is really, really funny though.

So you think it's OK for Obama to turn his back on charities to hide his fraudulent past... Got it.

I think it's OK for Obama to turn his back to ridiculous bullshit.

 

[buckeye45_73]

Speaking of releases of information... How's that Trump thing going? Is Obama going to be charitable and release his transcripts, or is he going to remain fraudulently silent while charities miss out on 5 Million dollars? My money says he takes the silent road and cements the fact that he's a complete fraud.

Talk to Trump about being charitable. He wants to give 5 mil to charity, do it.

I knew there would be some who bought in to this utter nonsense. Seeing it in black and white is really, really funny though.

So you think it's OK for Obama to turn his back on charities to hide his fraudulent past... Got it.

He's a dumbfuck liberal he hates charities....he wants the government to dole out all the goodies......because they are soooo much better than regular folks....yeah he actually believes that

 

[Lakhota]

I will be devastated if Obama loses to Romney. Not because I think Obama is so great - but because I think Romney is so bad. I honestly believe Obama deserves a 2nd term. I believe he's earned it.

 

[American_Jihad]

I will be devastated if Obama loses to Romney. Not because I think Obama is so great - but because I think Romney is so bad. I honestly believe Obama deserves a 2nd term. I believe he's earned it.

Hey LakiHola are you and melon brain going to burn it down???

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=f17fWth3YgA]A Message from The Greatest Generation (NSFW) - YouTube[/ame]

Dreams from My Real Father

Watch Full Dreams from My Real Father (2012) Movie Online - SolarMovie

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...

 

[Shelzin]

By Alec MacGillis

In January, in a South Carolina debate just before that state's primary, Newt Gingrich hit Mitt Romney hard for releasing barely any of his tax returns: “Look, he’s got to decide and the people of South Carolina have to decide. But if there’s anything in there that is going to help us lose the election, we should know it before the nomination. And if there’s nothing in there, why not release it?” The audience applauded, and when Gingrich proceeded to trounce Romney at the polls the following Saturday, voters told me that Romney’s secrecy about his tax returns was part of their decision—they didn't necessarily care what tax rate Romney paid, but they didn’t like his declaration that it wasn’t any of their business.

Back then, it seemed only a matter of time before Romney would buckle to pressure and release a critical mass of returns—if not the 12 years worth that his father released when he ran for president, then at least, say, five or six. But here we are, with just five days until the election, and Romney has released no more than the two years he agreed to release back during the primaries. This has left voters in near-total darkness about basic questions about his very recent past. As tax experts have noted, there are any number of reasons why Romney doesn’t want to release more of his taxes—it’s possible he participated in an IRS amnesty program for secret foreign bank accounts; it’s more possible he gamed the system to avoid taxes on his huge retirement account and his sons’ $100 million trust fund, or that he paid very, very low rates these past couple years as a result of a tax code that favors people like him whose income is mainly taxed as capital gains. (In releasing his belated 2011 returns in September, Romney asserted, without providing any evidence, that he had not paid an effective rate lower than 13 percent during the past decade.) Just this week, Bloomberg News offered a new shred of insight, into the way that Romney used the Mormon church to shelter some of his investment gains from taxes. But the fact is, barring some future leak, we're simply not going to find out what was so worrisome in Romney’s taxes from only a few years ago.

Not only that, Romney has—unlike candidates Barack Obama, George W. Bush and John McCain—refused to identify his “bundlers,”the hundreds of people who have each raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for him. This has, among other things, spared him the sort of stories that Obama's had to contend with, looking at the unsavory connections and interests of his fundraisers. And, of course, Romney has provided exceedingly scant detail on basic elements of his platform, such as how he proposes to replace the Affordable Care Act and the Dodd-Frank law, both of which he says he will do away with, and how he plans to make up the revenue lost from cutting tax rates by 20 percent across the board. The candidate has not answered any questions from reporters in the past three weeks.

More: Romney Got Through The Campaign Without Disclosing More Tax Returns Or His List Of Bundlers And Much More. Did It Cost Him? | The New Republic

Well... If he would have released them then he would have obviously lost. So... If he wins he got away with it. If he loses... Well... He still got away with it.

 

[Chris]

Romney is a loser either way.

He is a liar and a thief.

The biggest liar I have seen in 50 years of watching politics.

 

[Lakhota]

Romney is a loser either way.

He is a liar and a thief.

The biggest liar I have seen in 50 years of watching politics.

Amen! History will be very, very unkind to him.

 

[tjvh]

Talk to Trump about being charitable. He wants to give 5 mil to charity, do it.

I knew there would be some who bought in to this utter nonsense. Seeing it in black and white is really, really funny though.

So you think it's OK for Obama to turn his back on charities to hide his fraudulent past... Got it.

I think it's OK for Obama to turn his back to ridiculous bullshit.

I doubt charities seeking 5 million dollars think it's ridiculous. It reveals that Obama puts himself above the welfare of those in need... Sorry, but Trump was smart enough not to leave Obama an out if he doesn't come clean.

 

[Rat in the Hat]

I will be devastated if Obama loses to Romney. Not because I think Obama is so great - but because I think Romney is so bad. I honestly believe Obama deserves a 2nd term. I believe he's earned it.

 

[LadyGunSlinger]

I will be devastated if Obama loses to Romney. Not because I think Obama is so great - but because I think Romney is so bad. I honestly believe Obama deserves a 2nd term. I believe he's earned it.

 

[Soggy in NOLA]

I will be devastated if Obama loses to Romney. Not because I think Obama is so great - but because I think Romney is so bad. I honestly believe Obama deserves a 2nd term. I believe he's earned it.

Better get out your Xanbars and a hanky.... you're gonna need them there Shitting Bull.