Utah political reporter/editor: Is Mitt Romney Hiding Something About His Tithing?

[highplainsdem]

I don't believe this is the main reason Romney is refusing to release those tax returns, but it could be one aspect, and an interesting one, given Romney's background and status in the Mormon Church.

http://utahpolicy.com/view/full_story/19867431/article-Is-Mitt-Romney-Hiding-Something-About-His-Tithing-?instance=top_story_policy

Many Americans may not understand why Romney, or any other Latter-day Saint, would be hesitant to release tax returns that showed they had not paid their church all that they may have intended, or believed, they had.

But those folks don’t understand the Mormon culture – especially the culture among the elite levels of the church, the area that Romney and his current family and his forebears have lived in their whole lives.

-snip-

And if a faithful member is outed publicly as not paying a full 10 percent on all of his gross income, well, that puts that person, his family and his reputation on the line.

-snip-

But if he’s down around 7 percent or 8 percent or, Lord forgive (and He might have to) even 5 percent, then while the rest of conservative, non-Mormon voters may not care much, inside the LDS culture that Romney and his family moves that would be a big deal.

-snip-

This would help explain Ann Romney emphasizing (without proving) that they tithe 10%, a detail that doesn't seem relevant to most people interested in those tax returns.

[jsr]

1. So the Mormon bishop has been cheating his church too?

[uponit7771]

2. YES!! He can hide his INCOME off shore...his INCOME can be deposited where

...the IRS doesn't know about and not reported by Bain on his W2....

Boom, hidden

[nc4bo]

3. I'd really like to see the entire Romney campaign go up in flames....

and as long as the alleged facts are TRUE, it doesn't to me which match sets off the fire.

They are chipping away at the D base using sleazeball tactics so it's perfectly acceptable (to me) to expose his cheating on the LDS church as a means to chip away at one of his bases.

As Tweetie would say, "Let's play hardball".

[bushisanidiot]

5. I hate when people refer to them as "LDS"

they are self proclaimed "saints". Sorry, but you don't get to be a saint simply because you were baptized into "the ONE TRUE church". It doesn't work that way.

[bushisanidiot]

4. I believe Romney made a deal with the mormon church to say that he tithes more than he does

in order to get a huge tax break. In other words, I think they are helping him commit tax fraud and therefore, Romney cannot show his taxes because people will want to look into the mormon church's finances to see if they actually received that amount of money. That church has "investments" all over the world. I would not be surprised if Mitt's fingerprints aren't all over them.

[knitter4democracy]

6. It's not just a big deal to Mormons.

It's a big deal amongst evangelicals, too. While many evangelicals don't tithe, they all know they should, and I could see this being huge with them. They already have an issue with him being Mormon (hearing bits and pieces from evangelical friends and family), but then you add this in, and that would make them question him entirely.