# Why won't Romney release his tax returns? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 1, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085 "2012-08-01T18:35:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 22
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/421 "2012-08-09T00:02:17Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > So. He took advantage of legal loopholes. So what? Do you think Obama, Clinton, George Soros, etc. don’t take advantage of those deductions/loopholes that they are entitled to take? If they did, Obama and Clinton told us about them so we could take that into account before deciding if we wanted to vote for them. Romney, not so much. > [@magellan01](#): > > They do hate bullying, which is why this will be a win for Romney with Independents. It’s Harry Reid’s empty, lying accusations and the clamoring of the party faithful on the left to get in line behind him VS a guy who people view to be a devoutly religious man who, we can see from the return we do have, paid million in taxes and gave a butt-load to charity. You’re calling Harry Reid a liar. Prove it. As someone said, put up or shut up. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/422 "2012-08-09T00:02:58Z")
> [@Oldeb](#): > > Can’t comment on Soros, but no Obama and Clinton don’t abuse the system. Neither did Biden, Gore, both Presidents Bush, Reagan, Dole, or McCain. I know this because they all have released tax returns. There’s no offshore accounts, possible undervaluing of stock, questionable write-offs, suspiciously large IRAs, or odd investment practices. > > This would be more believable if the richest man in the US, Warren Buffett, wasn’t supportive of Obama and hadn’t been called upon to advise the president. Hard to argue Obama hates the rich unless you want to go the “exception that proves the rule” route. Well, if you use your wealth to further _The Cause_, all is good. Whether it comes from the Hollywood douches, Soros, Buffet, or the CEO of failed Solyndra, it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/423 "2012-08-09T00:06:50Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > If they did, Obama and Clinton told us about them so we could take that into account before deciding if we wanted to vote for them. Romney, not so much. > > You’re calling Harry Reid a liar. Prove it. As someone said, put up or shut up. Make me. In fact, call Harry Reid and have him make me. If you can’t see that Harry Reid is flu of shit that’s a problem for you, not me. But if you want proof, go to YouTube and watch his lips move. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/424 "2012-08-09T00:08:45Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > Just to ask, what do you think that vote means, in a practical and political sense? To the degree that he did it, that he is cowardly and unprincipled about doing the job he was elected to do. And more interested not leaving breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, the press gave him a pass in the last election. In that and a bunch of other stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/425 "2012-08-09T00:17:49Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Rich guys, like everyone else, use the tax code to minimize their taxes. News at eleven. Well, then, you should be pleased to see that I’m following your suggestion and [using the principle of tax minimization](http://www.romneyplan.org/) in figuring out for whom to vote… > [@](#): > > Tax Savings Under Obama > 2013 > $1,668 > > Tax Increase Under Romney > 2013 > $641 There, that was easy… ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/426 "2012-08-09T00:27:34Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Good point. He’s also an ex- State Senator with a penchant for voting “present”, a U.S. Senator who accomplished just about zero, and now, a President that hasn’t lived up to the parameters of success that he himself laid out. > > Thanks for the opportunity for clarification. > > Perhaps I was unclear. I don’t know if Obama was successful or unsuccessful at community organizing. The failure I alluded to goes to his role as President. But just for the heck of it, here’s a community organizer trying to do good work: [Here you go.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Hayes) Oh, so a good community organizer is a racist Tea Party nutjob? Glad to see that you don’t disapprove of the job, or the description, just the politics of the person who does it. You don’t know or care about his success or failure, you’re just spouting the tired old line that no longer applies ,and didn’t the first time you heard it. By “failed community organizer” you meant “failed President who was a community organizer thirty years ago”? You can’t even keep your pathetic lies straight. I only wish Obama really had in mind re-education camps for people like you–that would be your only chance to learn how to think for yourself instead of parroting the lines of your masters. ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/427 "2012-08-09T00:33:28Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > …a U.S. Senator who accomplished just about zero… As a United States senator, you don’t get to come in and be chairman of the Finance committee on your first day. And especially as a member of the minority party! Obama was in the [Senate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=660553) for just under four years before resigning to become president, and had a typical time there for someone newly elected to the office. I’m not going to bother linking to a list of Obama’s accomplishments as president, because you could do that for yourself, and if you were honest about it, you’d find that he has accomplished a lot of what he promised during the campaign. You might disagree with it, but that wouldn’t make it any less true. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/428 "2012-08-09T00:34:07Z")
> [@Oldeb](#): > > Can’t comment on Soros, but no Obama and Clinton don’t abuse the system. Neither did Biden, Gore, both Presidents Bush, Reagan, Dole, or McCain. I know this because they all have released tax returns. There’s no offshore accounts, possible undervaluing of stock, questionable write-offs, suspiciously large IRAs, or odd investment practices. Geraldine Ferraro had some weird stuff in her husband’s return - it actually wasn’t that weird when released, but the delay in release, plus a payment for back taxes that was discovered, created a perception issue. Then there is Spiro Agnew who pleaded guilty to tax evasion - but it wasn’t really his returns that were the issue, it was the bribes that he hadn’t bothered to report as income. Neither of these is really ancient history - certainly someone Romney’s age should be aware of both these occurrences. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/429 "2012-08-09T00:36:59Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Make me. In fact, call Harry Reid and have him make me. If you can’t see that Harry Reid is flu of shit that’s a problem for you, not me. But if you want proof, go to YouTube and watch his lips move. You seem upset that Reid made an accusation against Romney with nothing to back it up. But you’ve made an accusation against Reid with nothing to back that up. So I’m calling you on it. Sauce for the goose. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/430 "2012-08-09T00:39:10Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > So. He took advantage of legal loopholes. So what? Do you think Obama, Clinton, George Soros, etc. don’t take advantage of those deductions/loopholes that they are entitled to take? With Obama and Clinton, we don’t have to think; we’ve seen their tax returns. And more than just one with another on the way. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/431 "2012-08-09T00:40:48Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > It has nothing to do with being thin- or thick-skinned. It has to do with the nitwits like Maddow, O’Donnel and the other slightly more sane in the asylum demanding he deal with every fucking line item and every deduction. It feeds the machine that wants to keep the focus away from the failed community organizer in the white house. Everyone knows this. You know, if this was actually an argument, then Obama would never have to do anything. Ever again. Ever. Period. The dude could be against slaughtering puppies with industrial strength cheese graters and Fox would attack him for it. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/432 "2012-08-09T00:41:33Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > And more than just one with another on the way. One PARTIAL tax return, I think, is all Romney’s released so far–not even the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/433 "2012-08-09T00:42:42Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Well, then, you should be pleased to see that I’m following your suggestion and [using the principle of tax minimization](http://www.romneyplan.org/) in figuring out for whom to vote… > > There, that was easy… Why go through all that work. Just get fired from your job and go on the dole. Obama will definitely be your man then. Super easy. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/434 "2012-08-09T00:44:05Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > You know, if this was actually an argument, then Obama would never have to do anything. Ever again. Ever. Period. The dude could be against slaughtering puppies with industrial strength cheese graters and Fox would attack him for it. I’ve been kind of hoping Obama could be convinced to publicly endorse respiration. The Republicans would drop like flies left and right from refusing to breathe… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/435 "2012-08-09T00:45:12Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Why go through all that work. Just get fired from your job and go on the dole. Obama will definitely be your man then. Super easy. Anyone have a pitchfork? There’s an awful lot of straw in here… ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/436 "2012-08-09T00:45:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > You seem upset that Reid made an accusation against Romney with nothing to back it up. But you’ve made an accusation against Reid with nothing to back that up. So I’m calling you on it. Sauce for the goose. So anyone can just come out with any fact about someone else, with absolutely nothing offered to back it up, and whoever calls them on it is now somehow just as bad? Saying Harry Reid is “full of shit” may not be exactly how I would have phrased it, but it’s certainly fair to demand some proof from him, and in this type of situation in general. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/437 "2012-08-09T00:47:23Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > As a United States senator, you don’t get to come in and be chairman of the Finance committee on your first day. And especially as a member of the minority party! Obama was in the [Senate](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=660553) for just under four years before resigning to become president, and had a typical time there for someone newly elected to the office. I’m not going to bother linking to a list of Obama’s accomplishments as president, because you could do that for yourself, and if you were honest about it, you’d find that he has accomplished a lot of what he promised during the campaign. You might disagree with it, but that wouldn’t make it any less true. Saying his time there was typical is untrue. After about two years he hit the campaign trail. His accomplishments in the senate are nada. Now, you can’t blame a guy for leaving the senate if he thinks he can win the Presidential election, but the fact remains that his tenure in the Senate was 1) brief, 2) unengaged, 3) untypical, and 4) unproductive. ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/438 "2012-08-09T00:49:48Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > You seem upset that Reid made an accusation against Romney with nothing to back it up. But you’ve made an accusation against Reid with nothing to back that up. So I’m calling you on it. Sauce for the goose. I gave you a cite. I said go to YouTube and watch his lips move. But let me be more soporific. Watch his lips move when he says that Romney paid no tex for ten years. If you think his unsubstantiated accusation is true, prove it. I will then admit error. That seems fair, right? ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/439 "2012-08-09T00:51:39Z")
> [@magellan01](#): > > Why go through all that work. Just get fired from your job and go on the dole. Obama will definitely be your man then. Super easy. In my last post responding to you, I was going to say that you often have no idea what your are going on about, but I took it out as unnecessary to my argument. I should have left it in. You do know that if you get fired, it’s very likely you won’t qualify for unemployment, don’t you? Or were you just making a nonsensical argument, backed up by no facts or links to support it? ---
**Author:** ![magellan01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@magellan01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magellan01)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085/440 "2012-08-09T00:59:42Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > With Obama and Clinton, we don’t have to think; we’ve seen their tax returns. And more than just one with another on the way. There is no reason for him to release them. Everyone knows he’s a rich guy. He’s squeaky clean. That’s the reason they’re trying to fabricated this big hullabaloo. Most people admit that there’s not going to be any smoking gun there. —Oh my god, he contributed $2,000,000 to the Defend John Wayne Gacy Fund! :eek: No, it’s a game that is too transparent. He’s got a lot of stuff in his returns, some of it no doubt pretty complicated. But the reality is not what matters, it’s the way the dishonest asshole like Reid and Pelosi will attempt to paint things. A legal Swiss account, on which he paid all taxes becomes, “His secret Swiss Bank account. I guess America isn’t good enough for Mr. Romney.” “And what’s this $400,000 expense for treating horses? I guess Mr. Romney thinks horses are more important than people.” and there’s this other thing which I really don’t understand, you need a CPA to do it. So, Mr. Romney, why use all these complicated “tricks” that most people can;t even understand? What are you hiding?" Yadda, yadda, yadda… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085.md?page=21) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-wont-romney-release-his-tax-returns/630085.md?page=23)