There may be something obnoxious about the way candidates for high office are supposed to do a strip-tease in front of the media. But if Mitt Romney’s advisers aren’t telling him it’s time to release more tax returns, he needs new advisers. Bill Kristol was the latest conservative to say what everybody knows is common sense when he called the refusal to release more returns “crazy” on Fox News yesterday. He’s right, and the longer the Republican candidate ignores such advice the less it looks like he’s got a handle on what it takes to get elected president. It’s true that after being pounded on the question in the primaries, he released his 2010 return and an estimate about his 2011 form. But that isn’t enough, and he knows it.
The Romney campaign has been operating fairly smoothly since the primaries ended with only occasional hiccups such as his zigzags about whether ObamaCare was a tax. But by digging in their heels on this point, they are showing they are not as light on their feet as they should be. The tax return story may be a deliberate attempt by the left to distract the country from a bad economy, but it is also about transparency, something every presidential candidate must demonstrate in this day and age. Like it or not, a presidential candidate must reveal all of his financial data or doom himself to be the focus of conspiracy theories. If Romney wants to counter the Obama campaign’s vicious attacks on his record, he needs to show that he has nothing to hide. Once he does that, he can return to making substantive points about the president’s philosophical commitment to big government and against economic freedom. In refusing to give in to political fashion, he is not merely making a tactical blunder. Doing so also lends credence to the Democratic narrative seeking to portray him as a heartless plutocrat.
Romney is very wealthy, and his returns from previous years probably contain information about all sorts of investments that will be mined by Democratic opposition researchers and their counterparts in the mainstream liberal press for items that will embarrass him. That won’t be pleasant. but it’s doubtful there is anything in there that would change many minds about the election. Some (conservatives) will admire him for his wealth and others (liberals) will despise him for it. Most will not care one way or the other. But by stalling, he gives Democrats a stick with which to beat him and feeds the faux controversies about his leaving Bain Capital and outsourcing.
Yet the main conclusion to be drawn from all of this is not the substance of this minor issue but what it tells us about Romney and his campaign staff. If they are so out of touch with reality that they think they can stall on this issue indefinitely without it hurting them, they aren’t as smart as they think they are. What’s more, it shows they are capable of making even worse mistakes in the coming months, a prospect that will encourage their Democratic counterparts. A bad economy and a weak incumbent give Romney a good chance to win in November. But if he thinks he is above petty concerns such as releasing his tax returns, that shows a degree of detachment and arrogance that bodes poorly for the GOP’s chances.
Reasonable people can disagree on this point, but I believe there is something unseemly about taking advantage of every tax break available. Someone like Romney became wealthy beyond his needs through the freedoms and societal structure of America. The tax system is structured in a way that allows those who can afford to to support the system. Taking advantage of every loophole, while legal, is not in the interests of the stability of the system. n nAs an example, consider the case of a local store that offers discount coupons. If a wealthy person from the community uses those coupons, all he is doing is taking money from the store owner. It transfers money from an entrepreneur to someone who needs it less. (The same, by the way, is true about using credit cards in small, local businesses. It simply transfers money from the community to a big bank.) n nThe point is, there is a sense in which Romney taking maximum advantage of tax loopholes, especially in the face of a weakened economy and rising deficits, is unseemly. Publishing his tax returns will be embarrassing, but it will also show him to be selfish in the face of a national economic crisis. These days, paying as much taxes as you can justify is, in a sense, patriotic. And hiding behind obscure loopholes is not.
Yes, gaming the system is not edifying.
Republicans need to sit down and shut up. They should not be demanding that Romney be more transparent without also demanding that Obama be more transparent.
The assumption here is that nothing discoverable in years of tax returns would prove really damaging to Romney's chances, so it is stupid for him and his team to refuse more than the 2010 one he released, which is 11 fewer than his father released when running for president. (And he turned over returns for 20 years to McCain's campaign when he was being considered for the VP spot on the ticket?) I think it very unlikely that any of his returns would show that he ever evaded taxes, that is committed a crime, but I think it likely that they would tell us a good deal more than we have ever been told up until now about how great a fortune he has amassed, how he managed to do it, and how he avoided taxes through the use of off-shore tax shelters and complex strategies like "blocker corporations" to finesse UBIT/UDFI. n n"If Romney wants to counter the Obama campaign’s vicious attacks on his record, he needs to show that he has nothing to hide. Once he does that…", if he can do that… n n
I have really grown to find Bill Kristol be smug and insufferable. n nThe question is not what Romney has done with his own money, but what Obama has done with ours. n nP.S. Where are Obama's college and law school transcripts?
My Feet have more transparency when they are in double socks and high-top boots in the cold of winter than Obama has… Obama has sealed his ENTIRE history, and you want to see Mitts tax returns??? Hogwash… Get real… Obama hasn't got a leg to stand on in terms of who should reveal what!!!! If I was Mitt, I would tell Obama he can see my returns, when he unseals ALL of his records…
Mitt should release his records and then counterpunch by demanding the Obama come clean about his fictionized history. But surely Romney knew this would happen. Is he prepared or not?
Romney to Obama, I'll show you my last 10 years of tax returns, if you show your records that have never been released.
Why doesn't he release his tax returns? What does he have to hide?
Why doesn’t Obama release his college records? His whole reputation is built on his intellectual ability. But maybe his grades don’t reflect it.
I fervently hope that Mitt Romney will not be elected the GOP's standard bearer next month, and that an experienced, talented, energized Republican team will take the fight to Barak Obama and trounce him in November.
You're right, he should release them if he really wants to put the issue behind him. I imagine he took advantage of every tax loophole he could find, but I doubt any of his reports were false or will reveal any foul play. He should not suffer for what the fools in Washington permitted on tax filings. n nWho really cares that he's a millionaire or billionaire? Anyway, I'm taken aback by all the rich Democrats who are crying, wailing, and gnashing their teeth about a rich Republican running for President. At least, he made his fortune legally, I assume. Obama made his by writing his fictional life story and passing it off as autobiography. n nNow, who do we trust?
If that is your earnest wish, you must start praying at once to St. Jude, the patron of lost causes. (You haven't heard that Romney has a dead lock on the Republican nomination just as Obama has one on the Democratic nomination?)
Frankly I don't care about their tax returns but if you're going to run for office, especially the White House, you should know it's going to come up. I'm voting for Romney (not my first choice) but did he really think this wouldn't come up? If you don't want to release stuff like this then don't run. That said, why doesn't Obama release his medical records, his college records, etc…?
ROMNEY WILL RELEASE EVERYTHING AS SOON AS OBAMA SUBMITS VERIFIABLE INFORMATION AS FOLLOWS: n n1. GIVES A COMPLETE ACCOUNTING OF HIS UNIVERSITY FINANCING. n n2. GIVES A COMPLETE ACCOUNTING OF HIS 2 SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS. n n3. GIVES A COMPLETE ACCOUNTING INCLUDING FINANCING OF ALL HIS FOREIGN TRAVELS BEFORE HIS TENANCY IN THE WHITE HOUSE. n n4. GIVES A COMPLETE ACCOUNTING OF THE COST OF ALL VACATIONS TAKEN BY HIM AND HIS FAMILY SINCE HE HAS OCCUPIED OUR WHITE HOUSE. n n5. GIVES A COMPLETE ACCOUNTING OF ALL FUNDS GIVEN UNDER STIMULUS, TARP, LOANS, ETC.TO COMPANIES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. n n6. GIVES A COMPLETE ACCOUNTING AS #5 INCLUDING LOANS MADE TO COMPANIES AND THE RECORD OF POLITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS MADE BY THESE COMPANIES AND THEIR EMPLOYEES TO POLITICAL PARTIES. n n7. DISCLOSES ALL HIS UNIVERSITY TRANSCRIPTS.
Ouch, Arthur, why do you have to shout?
I think it's fair to half-way. Ante up, Governor Romney, if you please. If President Obama wants to play this hand, he can throw one foregone Executive Privilege for spurious cause into the kitty.