The problem is that mere legality is not the only issue here, much as apologists for the status quo would like it to be. The larger issue is whether the laws that such people as Mitt Romney take advantage of are themselves equitable or good for society. I suspect that most people don’t know just exactly what variety and extent of creative tax shenanigans a guy like Mitt Romney is allowed to get away with – tax write-offs for dressage horses are probably only the showy, laugh-behind-your-hand tip of that particular rotten iceberg.
And then, if people were to learn what Romney and others like him are legally allowed to do to earn their low tax rates, will they think that’s right or good? Will they think it’s fair? Might they start wondering just who the hell writes these laws in the first place, and for whose benefit? Might they start questioning the honesty of the whole “job creator” justification for keeping the basic tax rate laws where they are now or making them even more regressive?
That’s the real house of cards Romney is trying to keep from falling, I suspect. It’s what he’s allowed to do, legally, to keep his tax rate very low, that the average working person would resent or find instinctively inequitable.
I can’t begin to guess the exact shape of what that might be, but the 2009 amnesty on earnings from certain formerly-illegal off-shore tax havens is the obvious first thing to wonder about, particularly since the forms he left out of his otherwise-released 2010 return also had to do with off-shore accounts. Did he apply for that amnesty and get it, figuring he could stonewall on ever releasing his 2009 returns without paying an electoral price, just as he’s done successfully in the past? I dunno, maybe. Maybe there’s nothing anywhere any worse than what he’s already released. But if that’s the case, then at this point he must be the stupidest candidate ever to run for high office in my life time, because the longer he continues to refuse what looks like an entirely reasonable request for more returns, the more it looks like he does in fact have something to hide.
Just in the terms of a gamble, it makes sense for him. “I may not want to run in 2012, I may want to run and get defeated trying for the Republican nomination, I could die by then, but RIGHT NOW I’ve got a chance for some tax amnesty that will save me serious IRS problems. I’ll cross the bridge when I have to–bullshit my way, divert attention, change the subject, catch Obama in a tax scandal, whatever.”
Well, he’s on the bridge right now. I’m hoping to keep him from getting to the other wide.
I don’t care about him releasing any more tax info. And I don’t care that he paid 13%, assuming it’s all legal.
As others have said, though, the real issue is that he supports things like long term cap gains tax rates on “carried interest” for hedge fund managers that allows them pay ridiculously low rates on huge sums of income. Someone needs to nail him on this in the debates and not get bogged down in whether or not he released “x” number of years of tax returns.
So, Mr. President. It seems that you believe that Mr. Romney did nothing illegal, he just took advantage of the tax code like all very rich people do. Two questions: while you may not be in Romney’s wealth category, you make millions of dollars in income and according to your tax return you use the tax code to reduce your overall rate quite a bit. Was that also “wrong”? If not how is what you did different? Second question, given that it is the tax code that allows wealthy people to reduce their overall tax rate, as you yourself have done, and you no doubt have been aware of this, what have you done during your administration to change the tax code to make it more “fair” , as you see it? I remind you that you had two years when Democrats controlled all three branches and you could have passed whatever you wanted.
Is your condemnation reserved for rich Republicans who use the tax code to reduce their over rate? Or do you extend it to rich Democrats, as well? Do you know what rate Obama paid? Did he use the code to reduce his overall rate? How about people like George Soros, John Kerry and his wife, Nancy Pelosi? Oh, how about John Corzine? Let’s forget the little fact that he should be heading to jail but instead he’s considering starting a hedge fund.
Ha. You’re desperate for cover on this. I’m giving the Dems the benefit of the doubt in assuming that if Obama put forth a sensible plan that would correct the tax code in favor of the people that at least every Dem would have been on board. Even so, that goes to why a bill might have been passed or not. Before we get to that, we have to evaluate all the work Obama did in pushing congress to fix the tax code so that super rich guys like Romney and super-duper Rich guys like Soros pay their “fair share”. So, what might that be?
In 2010, Romney had an AGI of $21,646,507. His taxes came out to be $3,009,766. Plug that into a calculator and amazingly enough, his tax percentage comes out to be 13.9%.
His 2011 estimated form shows an AGI of $20,901,075 with a tax due of $3,226,623. Plug that into a calculator and amazing enough, his tax percentage comes out to 15.4%.
So, technically, one might say you are correct: he didn’t pay 13% because he paid MORE than that. Gee, guess what, bozo? He’s not a lying scumbag and he’s not hiding anything. But hey, why let facts get in the way of a good rant, right?
Now, how do I know all this? Simple - Romney’s tax returns are up on his website, where anyone with common sense could go find them instead of spouting bullshit about how Romney “refuses to prove it”.
Yes, I know this is tu quoque-ish, but can you imagine if Obama didn’t release his tax returns? They wouldn’t accuse him of not paying any taxes, they’d accuse him of writing off donations to the Muslim Brotherhood and to his birth hospital in Kenya.
He has lied publicly about his tax returns before. When running for Governor he said he had lived in state for seven years, but actually his residence was in Utah and his tax returns showed this. After the truth came out he retroactively amended his returns.
So he’s a proven liar when it comes to his taxes. For me that’s enough to withhold the benefit of the doubt.