All Romney has to do is show us his tax returns.
btw I like the quiet Reid, a fellow Morman attacking Willard with such venom...
truly enjoyable...
US Presidential Election: Tuesday November 6th, 2012
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All Romney has to do is show us his tax returns.
btw I like the quiet Reid, a fellow Morman attacking Willard with such venom...
truly enjoyable...
Got to wonder if these leaks are actually coming from Bain Capital (and aren't made up) and someone there has a grudge against Romney. First there was the leak saying he wouldn't have run for president if he thought he'd have to publish his taxes, now there's this. I hope it continues! 
Got to wonder if these leaks are actually coming from Bain Capital (and aren't made up) and someone there has a grudge against Romney. First there was the leak saying he wouldn't have run for president if he thought he'd have to publish his taxes, now there's this. I hope it continues!
do you think this guy would have made some enemies with his business tactics?
Bainboat perhaps?
Hehe...
Hehe...
do you think this guy would have made some enemies with his business tactics?
well, you'd think so wouldn't you. I was going to say 'you don't get to the top without trampling on people on the way there' but he was born at the top so he's just spent his life stomping on them
All Romney has to do is show us his tax returns.
btw I like the quiet Reid, a fellow Morman attacking Willard with such venom...
truly enjoyable...
I'm with Jon Stewart on this one: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-1-2012/you--harry-reid--are-terrible
Jon Stewart is a bonafide genius.
Why Mitt screws up
http://www.salon.com/2012/07/28/why_mitt_screws_up/
Let's put Romney on the shrink's couch: His disastrous London gaffes reveal a deep-seated anxiety
BY JUSTIN FRANK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_A._Frank)
People are asking, “What’s with Mitt Romney’s trip to the London Olympics?” He has made so many gaffes that the Daily Mail’s political editor asked, “Do we have a new Dubya on our hands?”
That question is most important for the American voter. What drove Dubya were anxiety and fear, much of which he masked with his tough-guy swagger and rhetoric – and with his disarming sense of humor. When asked direct questions by the press, however, Bush would often freeze like a deer in the headlights. His slips of the tongue became the stuff of talk-show hosts, magazine articles and even books.
Now we have Mitt Romney, the putative Republican candidate for president in the 2012 election. His gaffes are different from the 43rd president’s; they don’t involve mispronouncing words or frequently issuing nonsensical sentences. They are more social gaffes, ones that seem to be made without much thought – if any. Bush was trying to say things he couldn’t say. Romney is not trying to say anything in particular, other than answer questions or make comments when called upon to do so. In fact he is too casual, and what comes out is often carelessly hostile.
When Brian Williams asked him what he thought about the London games, Romney first tried to answer the question directly – something most politicians usually don’t do. He said, “It’s hard to know just how well it will turn out.” He then began to talk about his own work running the 2002 SLC winter Olympics in what seemed like a canned response. What strikes me is the confidence with which he spoke and the remarkable lack of thought he exhibited. This has become a pattern for him, and not just on this trip. But it is more noticeable than before because he is largely left to his own devices, without prepared remarks that he could use in informal conversation.
That he was mocked and even rebuked by British leaders is less important to me than what lay beneath their criticism. Both the Mayor of London and the British Prime Minister commented separately about what they felt to be Romney’s insults regarding how Great Britain was running the games.
Psychoanalysts look for patterns of behavior and the meaning behind those patterns. But we also — especially in the case of public figures — look at the pressures brought to bear on the individual, both internally (what I do in my consulting room) and externally (social pressures that affect behavior). In Romney’s case, he is competing in his own Olympics against President Obama, who also happens to be the most internationally popular American leader in generations. So the pressure is on for him to prove himself.
Part of that pressure is self-generated, since a central component of Romney’s claim to greatness is that he ran the winter Olympics in 2002. Thus, he is under pressure to let people know that he can do it better – and he gave that impression in London. He has to prove to himself and others that he is indeed a superstar – especially since he knows he can’t touch Obama in a British popularity contest.
Salon’s Joan Walsh has remarked over the months about Romney’s seeming indifference to answering questions. His casualness led her to use the psychiatric term “dissociated” when describing his style. I think her observations are most trenchant, though it is hard for me to move into the territory of diagnosis.
But what is not hard to do is to think about what most likely motivates this behavior that puzzles so many in the media – including supporters who are frustrated with Romney’s unwillingness to disclose more of his tax returns. I think the force behind this behavior is massive anxiety, pure and simple. He is anxious about revealing who he is and about interacting with people he doesn’t know. He appears to have much less experience than Obama in interacting with people from all walks of life. Basically, he is uncomfortable except within his own family and in the presence of those who share his wealthy background and Mormon faith. There are many ways to defend against overwhelming anxiety, one of which is to act certain about every answer given.
What comes out besides this sense of smiling certainty are signs of anxious contempt toward others – whether it is how the British run their Games or saying that kids who can’t afford college should borrow money from their parents. Put together, these and many similar statements – his pleasure at firing people or his belief that corporations are people (is that why he can comfortably bankrupt some?) – are all evidence of a hostility not dissimilar to stories about his bullying of others during his prep school days.
At this stage, I suspect Mitt Romney is too anxious to be an effective president.
http://www.salon.com/2012/07/28/why_mitt_screws_up/
Let's put Romney on the shrink's couch: His disastrous London gaffes reveal a deep-seated anxiety
BY JUSTIN FRANK (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_A._Frank)
People are asking, “What’s with Mitt Romney’s trip to the London Olympics?” He has made so many gaffes that the Daily Mail’s political editor asked, “Do we have a new Dubya on our hands?”
That question is most important for the American voter. What drove Dubya were anxiety and fear, much of which he masked with his tough-guy swagger and rhetoric – and with his disarming sense of humor. When asked direct questions by the press, however, Bush would often freeze like a deer in the headlights. His slips of the tongue became the stuff of talk-show hosts, magazine articles and even books.
Now we have Mitt Romney, the putative Republican candidate for president in the 2012 election. His gaffes are different from the 43rd president’s; they don’t involve mispronouncing words or frequently issuing nonsensical sentences. They are more social gaffes, ones that seem to be made without much thought – if any. Bush was trying to say things he couldn’t say. Romney is not trying to say anything in particular, other than answer questions or make comments when called upon to do so. In fact he is too casual, and what comes out is often carelessly hostile.
When Brian Williams asked him what he thought about the London games, Romney first tried to answer the question directly – something most politicians usually don’t do. He said, “It’s hard to know just how well it will turn out.” He then began to talk about his own work running the 2002 SLC winter Olympics in what seemed like a canned response. What strikes me is the confidence with which he spoke and the remarkable lack of thought he exhibited. This has become a pattern for him, and not just on this trip. But it is more noticeable than before because he is largely left to his own devices, without prepared remarks that he could use in informal conversation.
That he was mocked and even rebuked by British leaders is less important to me than what lay beneath their criticism. Both the Mayor of London and the British Prime Minister commented separately about what they felt to be Romney’s insults regarding how Great Britain was running the games.
Psychoanalysts look for patterns of behavior and the meaning behind those patterns. But we also — especially in the case of public figures — look at the pressures brought to bear on the individual, both internally (what I do in my consulting room) and externally (social pressures that affect behavior). In Romney’s case, he is competing in his own Olympics against President Obama, who also happens to be the most internationally popular American leader in generations. So the pressure is on for him to prove himself.
Part of that pressure is self-generated, since a central component of Romney’s claim to greatness is that he ran the winter Olympics in 2002. Thus, he is under pressure to let people know that he can do it better – and he gave that impression in London. He has to prove to himself and others that he is indeed a superstar – especially since he knows he can’t touch Obama in a British popularity contest.
Salon’s Joan Walsh has remarked over the months about Romney’s seeming indifference to answering questions. His casualness led her to use the psychiatric term “dissociated” when describing his style. I think her observations are most trenchant, though it is hard for me to move into the territory of diagnosis.
But what is not hard to do is to think about what most likely motivates this behavior that puzzles so many in the media – including supporters who are frustrated with Romney’s unwillingness to disclose more of his tax returns. I think the force behind this behavior is massive anxiety, pure and simple. He is anxious about revealing who he is and about interacting with people he doesn’t know. He appears to have much less experience than Obama in interacting with people from all walks of life. Basically, he is uncomfortable except within his own family and in the presence of those who share his wealthy background and Mormon faith. There are many ways to defend against overwhelming anxiety, one of which is to act certain about every answer given.
What comes out besides this sense of smiling certainty are signs of anxious contempt toward others – whether it is how the British run their Games or saying that kids who can’t afford college should borrow money from their parents. Put together, these and many similar statements – his pleasure at firing people or his belief that corporations are people (is that why he can comfortably bankrupt some?) – are all evidence of a hostility not dissimilar to stories about his bullying of others during his prep school days.
At this stage, I suspect Mitt Romney is too anxious to be an effective president.
Too psychoanalytic. He knows if he releases his tax returns, he is completely screwed. He is anxious, because he knows deep in his heart that he is a prick and no one will want him for president if he lets it slip out.
At the end of that Obama ad, showing Romney signing God Bless America it says
"Mitt Romney is not the Solution. He is the problem."
That is it in a nutshell.
"Mitt Romney is not the Solution. He is the problem."
That is it in a nutshell.
Dem Lawmakers Want Answers About Romney’s Enormous IRA
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/mitt-romney-ira-taxes-retirement.php?ref=fpb
Leading House Democrats want to turn Mitt Romney’s enormous IRA into more than just a political problem.
Romney’s most recent financial disclosure form revealed that his tax-deferred individual retirement account holds upwards of $100 million — an amount that awkwardly showcases his enormous wealth but also raises legal and ethical questions.
IRAs are intended to allow workers to put away modest sums of money each year in order to help finance a middle class retirement. The savings are tax deferred, but there’s a legal limit — now $6,000 — on how much each IRA holder can contribute annually.
Now top Democrats on the Budget, Ways and Means, and Education and Workforce Committees want to know how people of Romney’s wealth can end up with 100,000 times that much money in a single IRA, and how much the tax and investment strategies they employ cost the Treasury in revenue every year.
In a letter Thursday to senior officials at the Treasury and Labor departments, Reps. George Miller (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) want to know: Is this legal? How easy is this strategy to get away with? How much does it cost the government every year? And what can be done to end the practice?
“[W]e are alarmed to learn that wealthy taxpayers may be taking advantage of a tax subsidy that is designed to provide for retirement to instead accumulate massive amounts of tax-sheltered assets,” the lawmakers write. “Given your commitment to the rule of law and equitable treatment of taxpayers, we hope that you will evaluate this issue carefully to ensure that a select few are not being provided with a loophole that allows for wrongful tax evasion.”
The lawmakers’ inquiry have a substantive, policy basis — but the politically charged questions are also a shot across Romney’s bow.
“[R]ecent news reports indicate that Bain Capital allowed service partners and employees to co-invest in investment deals via tax-preferred retirement accounts … in some cases providing one-fourth of the total capital in the investment deals,” the lawmakers write.
They go on to speculate about how it worked.
“Some experts have expressed the view that the investments made through these accounts and plans may have been assigned a nominal value that was significantly lower than the fair market value of the investments, perhaps using a liquidation value methodology. In particular, this strategy has been cited as one explanation for how presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s IRA is valued at between $20 and $101 million despite the annual contribution limits that apply to tax-preferred retirement accounts and plans.”
To translate, Romney could have skirted the annual contribution limit if his IRA invested heavily in Bain projects by dramatically lowballing the value of the stakes.
If the administration is forthcoming — and why wouldn’t it be? — its answers to these questions will be general, not about Romney specifically. But those answers will broadly apply to Romney and his IRA, and could bring some clarity to one technique people of Romney’s wealth can use to amass even more.
bet Willard wished he had not run now
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/mitt-romney-ira-taxes-retirement.php?ref=fpb
Leading House Democrats want to turn Mitt Romney’s enormous IRA into more than just a political problem.
Romney’s most recent financial disclosure form revealed that his tax-deferred individual retirement account holds upwards of $100 million — an amount that awkwardly showcases his enormous wealth but also raises legal and ethical questions.
IRAs are intended to allow workers to put away modest sums of money each year in order to help finance a middle class retirement. The savings are tax deferred, but there’s a legal limit — now $6,000 — on how much each IRA holder can contribute annually.
Now top Democrats on the Budget, Ways and Means, and Education and Workforce Committees want to know how people of Romney’s wealth can end up with 100,000 times that much money in a single IRA, and how much the tax and investment strategies they employ cost the Treasury in revenue every year.
In a letter Thursday to senior officials at the Treasury and Labor departments, Reps. George Miller (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) want to know: Is this legal? How easy is this strategy to get away with? How much does it cost the government every year? And what can be done to end the practice?
“[W]e are alarmed to learn that wealthy taxpayers may be taking advantage of a tax subsidy that is designed to provide for retirement to instead accumulate massive amounts of tax-sheltered assets,” the lawmakers write. “Given your commitment to the rule of law and equitable treatment of taxpayers, we hope that you will evaluate this issue carefully to ensure that a select few are not being provided with a loophole that allows for wrongful tax evasion.”
The lawmakers’ inquiry have a substantive, policy basis — but the politically charged questions are also a shot across Romney’s bow.
“[R]ecent news reports indicate that Bain Capital allowed service partners and employees to co-invest in investment deals via tax-preferred retirement accounts … in some cases providing one-fourth of the total capital in the investment deals,” the lawmakers write.
They go on to speculate about how it worked.
“Some experts have expressed the view that the investments made through these accounts and plans may have been assigned a nominal value that was significantly lower than the fair market value of the investments, perhaps using a liquidation value methodology. In particular, this strategy has been cited as one explanation for how presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s IRA is valued at between $20 and $101 million despite the annual contribution limits that apply to tax-preferred retirement accounts and plans.”
To translate, Romney could have skirted the annual contribution limit if his IRA invested heavily in Bain projects by dramatically lowballing the value of the stakes.
If the administration is forthcoming — and why wouldn’t it be? — its answers to these questions will be general, not about Romney specifically. But those answers will broadly apply to Romney and his IRA, and could bring some clarity to one technique people of Romney’s wealth can use to amass even more.
bet Willard wished he had not run now
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/senate/in/indiana_senate_mourdock_vs_donnelly-3166.html
Here is an interesting one.
Indianna Senate race. The teabagger won the primary taking out Luger a moderate long time Republican.
He is facing a moderate Democrat.
That Rasmussen poll probably means Donnelly is ahead.
btw this Murdock always wears a Confederate Tie...Indiana is true Blue Color State. Donnelly has a good chance I think.
Here is an interesting one.
Indianna Senate race. The teabagger won the primary taking out Luger a moderate long time Republican.
He is facing a moderate Democrat.
That Rasmussen poll probably means Donnelly is ahead.
btw this Murdock always wears a Confederate Tie...Indiana is true Blue Color State. Donnelly has a good chance I think.
I've always wondered what draft dodgers like the confederate tied Mourdock and seasoned draft dodging race baiting patriots like Beck and Limbaugh would say to guys like this:
they'll tell him to get off his ass and get a job.
You mean he didnt spend the entirity of WWII capturing nazi machine gun nests?
He baits draft dodgers while ignoring Romney's dodgems.
All Romney has to do is show us his tax returns.
btw I like the quiet Reid, a fellow Morman attacking Willard with such venom...
truly enjoyable...
Why? Obama took forever to show the long form of his birth certificate which cost $25 and he decided to hire lawyers which cost a lot of money, not sure who paid that bill.
Yeah, you're right. Shoulda looked that one up. Good one. Had it in me gulliver he was with the Limbaugh/Cheney/Dubya/Nugent crowd. I stand corrected. Still wonder what Beck'd say to him.
Showing your tax returns is a traditional, routine disclosure for US Presidential candidates. Showing your long-form birth certificate isn't, and doing so meant pandering to a bunch of flakes.
Yeah, pride and civil rights and soul and outrage and not-sitting-at-the-back-of-the-bus had nothing to do with it. The colored guy should've kow towed to the tea party extreme at once. After all, it was an issue every president had to deal with before him.
It's not just presidential candidates. The local congressional race has both candidates banging on about the other showing their tax returns. And it's becoming clear that both have "misled" the Internal Revenue Service over a number of years. One has just amended her tax filings and the other has applied for a filing extension so he can fix his. The irony about Romney's situation is that if he has done his tax returns correctly and legally he's probably in the minority of candidates for high office. Not that it will help him.
Actually I think the Obama camp dragged that as long as it did so the GOP looked flaky to the independent voters. I'm sure they love it each time the birthers stick their head up again. Now they are calling him to release his high school and college records..
you can imagine the moderates just holding their heads in their hands.
you can imagine the moderates just holding their heads in their hands.
I believe Harry Reid must be right on this. Romney probably has not paid Federal tax for some years. The other issue now getting a lot of attention is his massive 401k account.
Its obvious he valued his initial investments at nominal amounts. 401k accounts are meant to help ordinary people to retire with some money on top of their social security. Not as a way to avoid paying taxes.
This is not going away.
And Romney is Not going to release his returns because they are toxic and releasing them is going to be a lot more painful than not releasing them.
Oh boy, 2016 might be fun.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zack-exley/glenn-beck-surprises-at-d_b_1733191.html
In other words, Glenn Beck is preparing a run for president as an independent in 2016. If he does it, he'll be the first American political leader ever to be backed by a well-prepared, well-educated and ideologically-coherent following.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/zack-exley/glenn-beck-surprises-at-d_b_1733191.html
In other words, Glenn Beck is preparing a run for president as an independent in 2016. If he does it, he'll be the first American political leader ever to be backed by a well-prepared, well-educated and ideologically-coherent following.
Bwahahaha. I commend your bravery in refusing to use white text.
Umm, that exert below the link is from the article.
Really? No one has asked for a Presidential candidate's birth certificate except for the black guy. Did anyone ask to see John McCain's birth certificate? Had they done so, they would have seen he wasn't even born in the US. He was born in Panama.
jesus fecking christ
Beck v Clinton in 2016 then
And whomever the GOP elect.
Skank Clinton, Loudmouth Beck, and a Fat Christie.
Beck does have a big tea party following.
Clinton looks the obvious Democratic nominee. But I think she will fade...again.
I have no idea who the GOP will nominate. It will depend on the GOP remaining a center right party.
Clinton looks the obvious Democratic nominee. But I think she will fade...again.
I have no idea who the GOP will nominate. It will depend on the GOP remaining a center right party.
Romney told Reid to "put up or shut up."
I believe the appropriate response from Reid would be "No u."
It's underhanded of Reid to do, but if it gets Romney to release his taxes, then it would be worth it to him.
It's playground theatrics from Reid, but honestly what's left to use against the GOP? Reason?
"Let me also say categorically: I have paid taxes every year. A lot of taxes. A lot of taxes."
- Mitt Romney
I just don't get it. Isn't this the perfect moment for him to open up and show the world what all the conservatives having been whining about forever, that the wealthy are horribly over taxed and are footing the bill for the government. This is the moment, Mitt. Show us how much you've sacrificed over the last ten years. Might make at least a soldier amputee feel a bit better that the sacrifice has been a shared one. Don't tell us you didn't save and make a bundle on the Bush tax cuts . . . and stashed donkey loads of it away from the taxman. This is the moment to show the world, Mitt.
- Mitt Romney
I just don't get it. Isn't this the perfect moment for him to open up and show the world what all the conservatives having been whining about forever, that the wealthy are horribly over taxed and are footing the bill for the government. This is the moment, Mitt. Show us how much you've sacrificed over the last ten years. Might make at least a soldier amputee feel a bit better that the sacrifice has been a shared one. Don't tell us you didn't save and make a bundle on the Bush tax cuts . . . and stashed donkey loads of it away from the taxman. This is the moment to show the world, Mitt.
I for one believe Willard when he says, he has paid a lot of taxes.....
.....in Switzerland, Bahamas and the Caymans.
.....in Switzerland, Bahamas and the Caymans.
Sales taxes maybe.
Mitt Romney is here to be generic, not specific.
"No Country For Bold Men"
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-august-1-2012/no-country-for-bold-men
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