Obama Campaign On Tax Returns - ‘Honesty and Transparency’ Matter

[Segami]

The Obama campaign tweeted out a graphic this morning, showing the number of tax returns President Obama and Mitt Romney have released so far. “Honesty and transparency matter,” the campaign tweeted.


This should be produced as a billboard:





http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/obama-camp-hits-romney-on-tax-returns-transparency

[FirstLight]

1. wow

...if *that* isn't a graphic to make viral!

[Laura PourMeADrink]

2. Perfect ! Everyone into Twitter here should retweet !

[Laura PourMeADrink]

3. Maddow's 5 Reasons he won't

Clearly, answering the question is speculative for those of us outside Romney's inner circle, but I think there are probably five main possibilities to explain this strange secrecy.

1. Romney may not have paid any taxes. As Kevin Drum suggested yesterday, "[T]here are probably multiple years in which Romney paid no taxes at all. This would very definitively be a Bad Thing, so he really doesn't have any choice but to take the heat instead." This would also apply if he paid almost nothing in taxes, thanks to various tax-avoidance schemes.

2. Romney may have made even more money from Bain. Before his "retroactive" retirement, Romney made "more than $100,000" a year from his firm for, according to him, doing absolutely no work whatsoever. But as Michael Tomasky noted, we don't know how much more than $100,000 he made in compensation. If it's significantly more, that could be awfully embarrassing.

3. Romney may have had to pay fines. If he tried to skirt American tax laws in the past and got caught, the returns might show penalties, fines, and/or back tax payments.

4. Romney may have additional offshore investments. We know about the shell corporation in Bermuda, the cash in the Caymans, and the Swiss bank account because of the one year's worth of returns. If Romney considered himself an International Man of Mystery for a long while, there may be other foreign holdings he'd prefer to conceal.

5. Romney may have taken some problematic deductions. Did he give money to controversial charities? Did he take deductions on his family's fancy horses? Something else?

Of course, it's worth noting that these aren't mutually exclusive -- the returns, if we ever see them, may include some combination of these concerns, or perhaps even all of them.

http://maddowblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/07/17/12790075-romneys-rationale-for-his-hidden-tax-returns

[Segami]

4. The rhetoric from BOTH campaigns could get quite intense and ugly before the Republican Convention.

I doubt Romney will be able to withstand a daily barrage of Tax return calls from democrats and some republicans implying he is hiding something. That would be quite a stretch and feat.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

8. wouldn't it be a wild backfire if he did and they were squeaky clean? Na,

too improbable.

[Segami]

13. Well, in that case, what does that say about his tactical skills?

In a nutshell, If Romney were so " squeaky clean " (hypothetically), then why would a smart ' business man ' allow himself to be framed by the Obama campaign?

The truth ( retroactively) LOL, is that Romney DOES have something to hide on some level.

[Marr]

14. I definitely think it's the "no taxes" thing.

Hard to go into a tax policy debate arguing that the economy would be great if only taxes were lowered on rich people even more, when you're a rich a guy who is not paying any taxes, in the middle of a crap economy.

And how could they use that old chestnut about "half the people not paying any taxes", when the crowd could just respond, "yeah, you mean guys like YOU".

[Segami]

15. The is more speculation that maybe Romney took advantage of the IRS Tax Amnesty Program.

Last edited Wed Jul 18, 2012, 08:25 PM - Edit history (1)

What is the IRS Tax Amnesty Program?

".. The IRS Amnesty program is the IRS' effort to collect the tax on previously undeclared income from various sources, with the payoff being that the taxpayer that discloses the account will not be prosecuted criminally, as well as potentially receive partial clemency on the taxes and penalties. The Optional Voluntary Disclosure Initiative program was offered by the IRS in 2011 and the same program will likely be offered in 2012

A tax amnesty program can provide full tax relief, but typically such a program has a very short window of opportunity. The goal of an amnesty program is for the government to collect as much tax revenue as possible within a short window of time. Typically this timeframe is 2-3 months. The program is also an opportunity for taxpayers to file late returns, make revisions or pay off a balance in full.

During the most recent tax amnesty program over 15,000 Americans took advantage of this tax relief, enjoying a limit on penalties and fees for failing to report offshore account and assets, or for failing to submit returns or submit returns in a timely manner. Collectively, this program saved tax payers millions of dollars and alleviated unnecessary stress and headache from dealing with IRS collectors and more severe penalties. "

[kentuck]

5. Has anyone here seen what is in the 2010 tax return??

Me either. And the 2011 return has not been released yet. Nobody has seen anything as far as I can tell??

[B2G]

6. Here you go...

Have a strong cup of coffee before embarking on this mission.

http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2012/president/candidates/romney/romney_tax_return_1040_2011/

[kentuck]

7. I notice that....

The Ann Romney Blind Trust and the Mitt Romney Blind Trust and the Mitt and Ann Romney Family Trust have no numbers ???

[Laura PourMeADrink]

10. ah so blind you can't see them. hey.

[kentuck]

11. I also notice that pages 2 thru 5 are for Goldman Sachs Hedge Fund Partners LLC??

on edit:

He has a lot of money.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

9. Mitt Romney to release another tax return!

He's announced that he's releasing his 1968 tax return from when he was 20 years old. He pre-emptively tried to justify taking a $20,000 deduction for the purchase of 168 different uniforms including all the armed services, policeman, fireman, forest ranger, wabbit hunter, Mormon Bishop, naughty librarian, corporate raider and Presidential candidate, claiming they were all work related due to his chosen profession of man of a thousand faces and positions.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. LOL

Clear and concise!