Another Mitt Romney election, another set of tax questions without answers.
The Republican candidate has been hammered in recent months for refusing to release more information about his tax returns. But as Rachel Maddow explained Wednesday night, compared to nearly being thrown off the ballot in the 2002 Massachusetts governor's race, this is nothing.
To explain: A decade ago, Romney was trying to prove his eligibility to run for governor of Massachusetts. The state requires candidates to be a resident for seven years before running for governor. Romney testified to a state panel that this wasn't a problem because he'd been paying taxes in Massachusetts for years, even while living in Utah and running the Salt Lake City Olympics.
But Romney hadn't been paying taxes in Massachusetts—he'd listed Utah as his primary state on several years of tax forms. When asked about this by Boston Globe reporters, he said he wasn't sure what was in his taxes but he'd be "happy to look into it."
But after the Globe then sent Romney specific questions about his Utah residency, his campaign declined to respond because "he values his privacy and his wife's privacy." When reporters asked for the forms with financial information redacted and residency information visible, a spokesman told the Boston Globe: "You're going to have to take my word for it."
Sound familiar?
It should, because a very similar scenario has played out this time around. On Monday, an ABC News reporter asked Romney if he'd ever paid a tax rate that was lower than 13.9 percent—the rate he paid in the one year for which he has so far released his return. Romney said he's "happy to go back and look." But just like with the Globe in 2002, when ABC followed up, they were stonewalled.
That's not all. The 2002 story gets even more byzantine: Once it was finally pointed out that Romney had filed as a Utah resident, and had even told a reporter in Utah that he had done this for tax reasons, Romney punted responsibility for it: The reporter was lying, a Utah tax clerk had made a mistake, and he hadn't read his taxes before signing them, he now claimed. At the same time, Romney noted he'd been trying to fix the error.
"He was trying to retroactively, essentially refile his taxes, so his Massachusetts taxes would be filed as if he was a resident of the state," Maddow said.
Of course, as Maddow noted, much of that 2002 testimony was focused on how much of Romney's business interests had him in Massachusetts in 2000 and 2001—you know, that time that Mitt was CEO of Bain Capital, but not really?
Leave a Comment:
Are we really going to elect a corporatist in this terrible time inhuman history- have we lost our conscious?
This is the country that voted in George W Bush two times in a row, so maybe there's no consciousness left to lose.
I think you both mean conscience, not conscious. There's another N in there. The former means your moral justifications for doing something and the guilt at falling short, and the latter means the awareness experienced by an awake, alive, non-comatose person.
No, they mean conscious. As in this whole country is brain dead
I think both are true. Many up at the top have no conscience, and the general public is not conscious of it. Yay America...
This is great! it sound like so so "crocrogee".- a Liberian local term for practicing deeds that questionable. I hope this is not true.
It is un-American for Romney not to divulge his taxes. He knows that he does not to abide by the rules like the rest of us. He is really not one of us.
As apposed to obama setting a goal of breaking every law ever written in one term.
What rule does he not live by, perhaps the one obama uses, let your mom die don't help her get medical treatment perhaps. Yes romney didn't care the insurance didn't cover the horse, he paid for it out of his own pocket.
Maybe it is you declare your income rule, no one in the white house would do that, tax cheating is the number one shaft the people sport for them.
Why not ask obama to publish romney's tax returns, whats one more federal law broken to him.
@ slackwarerobert
Whaaaa???
Look you all, this is just more evidence of what I have been suggesting this guy, Willard Romney is not his father' s son. I would suggest he has been let off the hook relative to his own misdeeds so many times that he can not grasp the notion that we all have responsibilities for each other's welfare in this nation. For Willard, there has never been a real "okay buddy now you have really crossed the line" moment. His inclination to see only his own self interest in any given situation is a function of his self image, which leads him to believe that he is somehow supposed to seek only what is best for him and his crony rich people, and it really does not matter what happens as a result of him taking his rather large piece of the pie. He has no moral compass, and he has no way to understand consequences of his choices, because he can't get out of the equation, it is all about, ME<ME<ME!
why is it that you scream for full disclosure from Romney when it comes to his taxes, but whenever onyone from the other side screams for disclosure of, i don't know, maybe a birth certificate or college records, that person screaming for it is derided as a "birther", a radical fringe conspiracy theorist, or a racist? There is zero evidence that Romney has "evaded" taxes. Remember, you are only REQUIRED to pay what the law requires, no more. The code is full of loopholes that anyone who is making significant money will use to their benefit because...you guessed it...the law ALLOWS it.
I don't think anyone is accusing Mr. Romney of Breaking the law (unless you count that 2009 Swiss Bank Account Amnesty thing), but I would be good to know what sort of financial ethics he practices given that his whole argument to get elected is that he knows how to make and keep a lot of money while running a corporate chop shop.
And really;
how does this give you confidence that he will be a good president and make decisions about complicated geo-political issues when he had to blame others for what was in the filing of the tax returns he signed?
read the title of the article. the words "a decade of evasion" sure seems to imply that Romney has been breaking the law for at least 10 years... Further, the Obama Campaign has continued to throw around the word "felon" alot. All unfounded.
I think the idea of personal responsibility is a key factor in this race. If you compare the two candidates, Mr. Obama is well versed at blaming others, be it Congress, Bush or the boogeyman... It is also telling that Mr. Obama is really not running on his achievements, but rather attacking Romney's and making it look like a sin to be successful...
But you liberals are more them willing to take Obama word on his years in college with out questioning any of it so don't hand me this bull crap
What Romney needs to do to shut Obama and his koolaid drinking lackeys up is to say i will trade you more of my tax returns for your college transcripts the conversation would end right there
Also Harry Reid should be charged with a crime it is illegal for a government employee to release information that is deemed private by the government and tax returns are deemed private
Harry Reid is a degusting despicable little man
Ask Nancy for her returns...she was two heartbeats away from the presidency. Oh yeah, you already did and she declined as well...
You want to talk about evading taxes? Talk to Tim Geithner...he knows a thing or two about not paying his...
Hypocrits...
I'm sure many of you didn't pay any federal income tax last year you used the many loopholes like the child earned income credit so you don't have too
Should Harry Reid release your tax information to prove as much
...soo this man just signs off willy nilly on legal documents without bothering to read the items in question first? He's a pathological liar and a greedy bigot. This man wants to run to be commander and chief of one of the more powerful and dangerous countries on this planet.
Scary
Yes, I also remember a clinton saying he wouldn't release his medical information, unless he was elected, still not available.
This country isn't dangerous unless obama wins reelection. Then it will be a full fledged syria within a year.
Tim ain't running for presidency so who cares, there are others worse than him. Paying your taxes is the most patriotic thing the average person can do, short of joining the military and jury duty, there's no question about that. What gets me though, is that even if he is paying his taxes, he has deliberately chosen to pay the lowest tax percentage he can get away with. He's got more private assets than most people and he chooses to share as little of his wealth as the tax law will let him get away with.
Oh… but if we're all hypocrites, Romney is the worst one.
Also, Obama did release his birth certificate. At least he was born in the US...
Again, and I'll say it s l o w l y... you are under no obligation to pay more in taxes than the law requires. paying more does not make you patriotic, it merely means you paid more than you were supposed to.
I care that Tim Geithner did not pay his taxes. As Sec.Treas. he is in charge of the IRS and his tax record is fair game.
If you want to look at who has shared his wealth, lets compare Romney's charitable contributions to Mr. Obama's. Yup, that's right, over the years, Romney has "shared" his wealth to a significantly greater degree, both in terms of actual dollars and as a percentage of his income than the President.
The fact that many "evil" conservatives choose to direct their $$$ to causes that they hold dear rather than giving it to the gov't does not mean that they don't care about the poor, it actually shows that they care enough to make sure more of their dollrs actually make it to the intended beneficiary, not some bureaucrat or boondoggle like Solyndra.
@Taxdawg - how do you know Romney's charitable contributions when these are listed on the tax forms he's refusing to make public???
Obviously, without his returns we cant see what he has contributed in the years prior to 2010, however, we are able to see what his Foundation has given and we can, more than likely, accurately surmise that he has continued to give at least 10% to his church as he did in 2010 and 2011.
My point is that Romney was giving before he was in the political limelight. Obama, on the other hand, only started giving when he was thrust into the limelight and therefore politically expedient to do so. All you have to do is look at his giving prior to 2006. The idea the the Obama's were "poor" prior to 06 is BS. They made a very comfortable living prior to his book royalties with income in excess of $200K per year, and they gave less than the average American (who, by the way, does not make in excess of $200K)...
Further, it is mind numbing that the Obama Campaign believes the issue of "non-disclosure" of anything is a winner when this President has not only refused to disclose ANYTHING about his past, but has also spent millions on keeping it a secret.
Should Romney disclose his tax returns? Sure, but he is not required to do so. It is likely that we would see that he has paid less than 15% as a result of the vast majority of his income has come from capital gains. It may not "look" good, but it is not evasion by any means. Rather it would make a great soundbyte for the opposition, which is why he is likely hesitant to disclose.
Should Obama disclose his college records? Sure, but he is not required to do so. What would we find out? Who knows, but it doesn't take a conspiracy theorist to think that there may be something damaging in it or why would he not just release them???
@taxdawg - How does anyone know how much Romney has donated to charity - when that info is on your tax returns (that he refuses to release)?
And how do we know that Obama deserved to go to Harvard and not on the coat tails of affirmative action and how do we know he didn't apply for and received a foreign student loan with out him releasing his college transcripts
You could write the morman church. Unlike obama's church they have no problem outing deadbeats who do not meat their obligations.
But while we are at it, which SS number does obama file his taxes with?
If he had not payed taxes he owed for ten years, then one of two things would happen.
He would be in jail for tax evasion, or obama would appoint him to his cabinet. Tax cheating is the number one requirement to get a job with obama.
So have you read the return he released? How many pages was it? What lines were falsified?
If he can build a multi million dollar house with an elevator in the garage tax free in california. Then he must be made president at all costs. That man will squeeze every screaming penny of our taxes instead of using the peoples money to party and go on vacations.
You're @!$%#ing crazy.
Just like for 3 1/2 years we had to 'take his word for it' that Obama was a USA born citizen. Liars, thieves, evaders both of them. God help us no matter which of these bozos win.
NO WILLIE, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT.
AND OUR WORD IS NO.