Does it matter to you what taxes Mitt Romney paid?

[kentuck]

Or do you agree with those folks, like Romney, that there are more important issues to be concerned about?

Does it really have any bearing on what type of country we will have for the next four years or in the future?

Is it just a simple distraction??

[onethatcares]

1. yes it does.

mainly because for 45 years I've had skin in the game and to let someone with great wealth get into the highest
office in the land without having a bit of the same skin in the game pisses me off to no end.

[broiles]

2. Damn right it matters.

If people who can afford it are not paying anywhere close to their fair share, they are harming our country and should not be allowed to make the decisions. Plus it gives insight into his character and patriotism.

[Scuba]

3. If I learn that he paid 75% or more in taxes for each of the last 10 years I'll consider him.

[1KansasDem]

32. How the heck does

ANYONE pay 75% in federal income taxes?

[Scuba]

36. Patriotism.

[monmouth]

4. I am the interviewer, he is the interviewee. He wants to run my country and as a citizen of

this country I have requested certain paperwork to verify and help me decide if he is fit, honest and above-board. I need to be aware of facts relative to his character and his ability to work and compromise with other governments/nations. So far, he has not complied with all of the requested paper work, did not show well on his trip to Europe and has an enormous attitude problem. I doubt he would be a good fit. Employment denied....

[smirkymonkey]

24. +10,000

Good post.

[Arkansas Granny]

5. Yes, it does matter.

I also happen to think that there is more information in those returns besides his tax rate that Mitt doesn't want us to know.

[a la izquierda]

8. I am in complete agreement with you.

Something isn't right....
and it's not just that average Joes pay more of a percentage than he does.

[treestar]

6. Not really, it is more bothersome to me that it has become a tradition to release the

returns and he won't.

[russspeakeasy]

7. Character and honesty

are the concerns. Maybe after the rejection, I mean election, someone will show us where this jerk has been hiding his money.
It's not simple and not a distraction. It is central to his credibility. (he has none).

[JoePhilly]

9. I want him to compare his taxes to his proposed tax plan.

He says taxes are unfair to the rich. So prove it.

Show us how unfair your tax situation is and why it needs to be improved.

[Tx4obama]

10. There are bigger issues regarding the tax forms than only the amount of tax paid

1) Did Romney take advantage of the Amnesty program in 2009 in order to avoid a felony?

2) Did Romney commit a felony by listing his residence in one state while voting in other?

3) Are there other things in there that he is hiding from the American public?

[TheFarseer]

11. he doesn't care about tax cheats

do you want someone that doesn't care about enforcing tax law as president? Someone who thinks taxes are just for the peasants? Someone who thinks the rich need more tricks with which to not pay taxes? That's not what I want for my president!

[kentuck]

18. I agree with you.

I was being facetious in the OP. I think it matters very much. I think it may be a national security issue, as someone down the page noted.

[chowder66]

12. Yes and Yes

Yes it matters. It matters that a wealthy man is refusing to follow precedent of previous candidates, it matters because he asks us to "trust him", it matters because he has said himself it will open him up to attacks (why?), it matters because he thinks those who want him to follow the standard are "small minded", it matters because he still has not released the full details of a single return. It matters because he has to "retroactively file", it matters because he is a proven liar.

And Yes...It also is a distraction that he is perpetuating by withholding them.

[WillyT]

13. Hell Yes It Does !!!

Show 'em Mitt !



& Rec !!!

[yardwork]

14. Yes, it matters to me. The super rich are not paying any taxes and they want to steal our taxes.

Romney and his tax cheating ways is absolutely symptomatic of everything that is wrong with this country. The super rich are stealing us blind and they pay nothing.

[Gregorian]

15. Hiding. It's not what he shows, it what he hides. It's about transparency.

Is he legit, or is he a crook. That's the question. After all, we're only weeding out the chaff for what is the most important job on the planet.

[Zen Democrat]

16. It absolutely matters. It's a potential National Security matter.

And the foreign accounts indicate tax evasion.

[jberryhill]

17. To me, no. However....

...character matters.

You know, when Mr. Obama began his presidential campaign, the issues and policies that were his focus had little to do with the situation he confronted immediately upon taking office.

I know there are those who insist that the rational way to select a candidate is to look at their respective positions on policies and issues, and to determine which appears to have the most appropriate agenda.

But that doesn't cover the fact that you are going to have to trust this person to deal with unexpected circumstances and challenges.

Disclosing personal finances is very much a character issue. How has this person gotten to where they are and what does it tell us about their priorities and interests? Does this person play by the same set of rules as I do?

As with Paul Ryan, I want to know if this guy has been betting against America. I want to know, when everyone else was taking a loss, where did he get his gains?

My mind is, of course, made up. But if it weren't, I would definitely see Romney's evasiveness as red flag, and not just for what it tells us about his income, losses, and so on, but what it tells us about his character and respect toward the fairmindedness of the bulk of the electorate.

[annabanana]

19. His WHOLE focus has been on how to give back the LEAST possible.

That is all he knows. (That and how to squeeze pension funds for profit) YES I think it matters.

[kentuck]

20. It's very sad if that is the best the Republican Party has to offer...

Definitely not a patriot and definitely a lack of character for a person running for the highest office in the world.

[IggleDoer]

21. Betcha' he paid his taxes ...

... All of them

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Yes, because it shows the problems with the tax system

That is why it matters, at a policy level.

[FirstLight]

23. YES

not so much the what or how much of it ...but the sneaky tax dodges and shelters, the possibility that he is perjuring himself/or committing a felony by saying he wasn't part of Bain on his FEC filing, and then signed the SEC filings and 'retroactively' retired...which is it? I personally would like to see how many felonies are in those pages....

that is the sticky point for me, the fact that he is obviously trying to hide something. Not to mention a dangerous precedent as someone posted here earlier today... this is an indication of CHARACTER, and Romney needs to cough up or get out.

[1KansasDem]

25. No, It really doesn't matter much

to me. There are much bigger issues, that this election should be about.
BUT..If we can score a couple of political points...GO FOR IT!!!

[Odd Won Out]

26. Since it takes 3 years of tax returns to get a home loan

of course it it relevant to ask for at least 5 years to be the President.

Ms Romney is under the illusion that she is royalty.

Mittens just never had the feeling that he isn't above any rules or ethics.

They are Thurstan Howell the 3rd and Lovie from Gilligans Island.

[reflection]

27. For a guy trying to help set fiscal policy?

You're damn skippy it matters.

[ejpoeta]

28. Well i think the reason it matters the most is because he comes out and says

i paid x amount. trust me! when in fact he has done that before and has been proven to have lied. so therefore you can not just trust him.

[Politicalboi]

29. We all deserve to see them

But what's more important is can he go to jail for what he's been doing? Can he be blackmailed? Would a person who is having an affair be eligible? Yes they would legally, but not morally, so they probably wouldn't get elected.

Rmoney's taxes should be looked at as affairs. He shouldn't be nominated till he proves himself.

[LiberalEsto]

30. Yes because if he's getting away with paying little or none

then I want EVERYONE to get the tax rate he's got.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

31. It's relevant to his eligibility to be president.

He's running for president on his business credential. His personal ability as a business man.

As such:

If he's been circumventing tax laws to assure a lower rate. He's should not be considered eligible.

If he's in bed financially with unfriendly foreign interest he should not be eligible.

If, in the course of his business dealings, he's been promoting individual wealth over the good of the American worker, he should not be eligible.

That's how I see it. He's the one touting his business experience as making him a superior candidate. He needs to prove to the voters what he's talking about, and stop expecting us to believe he's honest without proof.

[pnwmom]

33. Yes. He's not above every other President who's released several years.

He just thinks he is.

(McCain doesn't count because he was never elected.)

[lunatica]

34. Well according to some myth somewhere we're all supposed to be equal in this country

But it seems some people are more equal than others.

[noise]

35. Perpetuates authoritarian mode government

whereby trust in certain people is sufficient instead of one standard for all.

There is a misleading notion in the US that powerful, wealthy people are somehow inherently trustworthy.

[djean111]

37. Yes it matters.

It is a matter of character, of support for the country - and now, since Romney says he has paid "taxes", not "income taxes",
it pisses me off that avoiding federal tax is glorified for the wealthy, but when poorer people, who pay sales tax, gasoline tax, real estate tax, whatever, make so little money that they LEGALLY (just like Romney) pay no federal taxes - they are reviled by the righties.
So - yes, the tax thing is a reflection of Romney on a couple of levels.

[shraby]

38. It does matter..muchly. Someone who wants to run this country, should be able to

show that he has contributed to it in the form of taxes he should rightfully pay and that it is a truthful accounting of what he owes.
8-10 years of tax returns should give the people he's asking to vote for him a pretty good idea of how he has accounted for himself. Anything less is tantamount to lying if he doesn't show he voters what he paid and what he should have paid.
He has a history of lying not just now and then but all the time over things he doesn't even need to lie about..that has a name and I just can't bring myself to believe what he says about the tax rate he paid.

[GaYellowDawg]

39. Yes, because it gives an indication as to his basic ideology.

Do we trust part of the 1% who is all about getting out from under taxes to fix a country that has been brought to its knees by wealth redistribution upwards? You bet your ass it's relevant. It couldn't be more relevant.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

40. Not in the least...its not like I was going to vote for him for any reason

I also am yet to talk to anyone outside those who are left and politically active that care about them. IME, Joe Sixpack does not seem to give a rip

[kentuck]

41. What if...?

He has invested some of his money in the defense industries of Iran or China?? Would that make a difference? Of course, we don't know for sure what he has done with his fortune.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

42. Tax return may or may not show that

Depends how it was done.

[reformist2]

43. He's had 5 years to clean up his finances. The fact that he couldn't do this proves he's a moron.

[quinnox]

44. no, definitely not

I already know the guy is mega rich, and has high priced tax experts working for him who know how to finagle the system with fancy tricks.

As far as scoring political points, ok, sure, that makes sense from a campaign strategy perspective, but it doesn't mean I personally am interested in such minutia and triviality. It does show how boring and bland and like a boy scout Romney is as a person, that the biggest dirt and controversy they can find about him is his taxes. I usually hide all the threads on DU concerning the matter, mainly out of boredom.

[jwirr]

45. His taxes are part of his business back ground and that makes it important to me.

[spanone]

46. the President & Vice President both released 12 years of tax returns

no one has used it against them....so what has he done?

[D23MIURG23]

47. Its an illustrative non-troversy.

In and of itself it means little, but it speaks volumes to Rmoney's personal integrity and his patriotism. There is also a useful subtext about how the richest people in the country are shirking their obligations, and leaving the rest of us to pay the price of a functioning society.