After accusing Mitt Romney of being a tax cheat failed to get results, the Obama campaign has written an open letter to Mitt Romney asking very nicely to see the last five years of his tax returns. Maybe they should have tried this approach in the first place. At this point, it’s hard to blame the Romney campaign for telling them to take a hike:
“Thanks for the note,” [Romney campaign manager Matt] Rhoades wrote. “It is clear that President Obama wants nothing more than to talk about Governor Romney’s tax returns instead of the issues that matter to voters, like putting Americans back to work, fixing the economy and reining in spending.”
Rhoades wrote that Messina and his campaign could continue talking about Romney’s tax returns – but that his team would focus on the economy.
“If Governor Romney’s tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will be ample time for President Obama to discuss them over the next 81 days,” Rhoades wrote. “In the meantime, Governor Romney will continue to lay out his plans for a stronger middle class, to save Medicare, to put work back into welfare, and help the 23 million Americans struggling to find work in the Obama economy.”
Rhoades’ point about Obama wanting to make the tax returns the top election issue is probably spot-on. Obviously Romney has no intention of releasing his tax returns, or else he would have done it already. The only chance the Obama campaign has of getting those documents is if the media pressure forces Romney into it. But with the media tsk-tsking the Obama campaign’s mudslinging, and the Romney campaign acting righteously indignant over Harry Reid’s accusations, a polite open letter is the only way it can hope to get any results.
Is this a sign the Obama campaign is going to lay low with the over-the-top attacks for a while? Or just a last-ditch effort from a campaign that’s running out of ways to change the subject?
sure, I'll release 5 years worth of taxes if you unseal your birth certificate , college records, passport info and let us all know why you have a ct ssn number…that'll shut them up!
Mr. Romney is running for President of the United States. nAnd he is asking voters to trust him. nRonald Reagan said, "Trust but Verify." nThat is all I want. nI want to see Mr. Romney's tax returns.
As Newt Ginrich himself said, "If Governor Romney has nothing to hide, he has nothing to fear." n nIt is passing strange that Mr Romney continues to keep open this line of attack. The smoke = fire boys are having a field day.
A recent Washington Post editorial while simultaneously criticizing and echoing Harry Reid's despicable charges bundled in a complaint about Romney's secrecy regarding his bundlers. There's MSM myth about the importance of transparency. n nOf course, Obama has released a list of his bundlers. One was George Kaiser, who invested in Solyndra. But when the government was pouring money into Solydra, no reporter acted on the information questioned whether it was a good idea for the government to spend that money or if it was possibly being done as a favor (even an unasked one) for a supporter of the President. Now that it's reported that GM may well again be headed for bankruptcy, it may be a good time to look at the record of Steven Ratner the car czar, who likely got his job because he was a bundler for the President. But there was no media curiosity into Ratner's fitness for the job. n nIf the MSM wants us to believe that openness in politics is a virtue, their own lack of curiosity in these cases shows that it is more of a charade than a principle. Romney owes the MSM nothing. They have done nothing to earn his trust. He is right to refuse to play their game. It would be a distraction or misdirection from the President's record.
wrong answer, Romney campaign! you should have said "We'll release one year of tax returns in exchange for 4 years of college transcripts from Obama." n nI know that's not taking the high road, but…well…sometimes you just have to take the lower road.
LOL, I like it.
I don;t understand why Romney doesn't just say: n n"The IRS accepted my tax returns. Never a problem. Unless the Obama campaign has turned into legally authorized tax auditors, they can go jump in the lake. "
"Or, they can abuse their power and ask the IRS to investigate me, like they did to Sheldon Adelson."
All this reminds me of a bit of old Bill Cosby. When he and his brother would get into trouble, his dad would yell at them to get him something he could use to beat them. Cosby's brother would dig up a tree; Cosby would tear off the corner of a piece of paper and say "go ahead and wail away." Essentially, Obama wants Romney to dig up the tree, while Romney rightly hands him the corner of the paper.
Good for Romney of doing the palatable thing of telling Obama to “stick it where the sun don’t shine.” And he should get some props too for sticking to his guns on the point.
Tax Returns, Please.r nIt was Ronald Reagan who said, “Trust, but Verify.”r nRe his tax returns, Mr. Romney has said, “Trust me.”r nOK.r nNow for the “Verify” part.r nRelease the tax returns, Mr. Romney.r n63% of American voters want to see them.r nAnd so do I.