Widgetized Section
Go to Admin » Appearance » Widgets » and move Gabfire Widget: Social into that MastheadOverlay zone
Mitt Romney Tells America His Finances are None of Our Damned Business
On Monday, New York Times Op-Ed columnist and economic guru Paul Krugman observed that “the contrast between George Romney and his son Mitt — a contrast both in their business careers and in their willingness to come clean about their financial affairs — dramatically illustrates how America has changed.”
George Romney unsuccessfully ran for President in 1968. At that time, the candidate got in front of questions related to his finances by releasing 12 full years of tax returns, a demonstration of transparency that ought to make those of us in 2012 nostalgic for a simpler time when the people who sought our vote actually treated us like adults. Instead this year, we have another Romney – Mittens – with a far more convoluted financial back story involving blind trusts, mysterious portfolios and offshore accounts, seeking to spoon feed the voting public a bunch of bull. Apparently if he tells America that “there’s nothing hidden there,” we should all act like the hypersensitized lemmings he believes us to be and take his word for it.
Romney has adopted the typical tactic employed by candidates who wish to dodge questions, calling repeated requests for information a mere attempt to distract voters.
Mittens, come on now: how could your refusal to come clean possibly be none of the voting public’s business? You are asking us to entrust you with our very nation and all its resources: military, financial, social and otherwise. Do we need to explain to you that in order to make the best judgment of your potential for stewardship, we need to understand your personal history in depth? If this is something your father understood, why can’t you?
And while we’re on the topic: can we talk about that blind trust? According to a report this morning from Yahoo! News, the “Republican nominee insisted he has little to do with his personal investments because they are managed by a blind trust.
‘I don’t manage them,’ Romney said. ‘I don’t even know where they are.’”
Can I see a show of hands from folks who find this credible? A man who has built a business empire and a Presidential campaign predicated upon his financial savvy, a quality that he claims is powerful enough to warrant the unseating of the highly-competent current Commander-in-Chief, would just love to have it both ways. He is both a wizard and a naive foundling, witlessly trusting those whose job it is to count his millions.
The Yahoo! Report goes on: “Responding to reports that some of his investments have been overseas, Romney insisted his ‘trustee follows all U.S. Laws.’ He added: ‘All the taxes are paid, as appropriate. All of them have been reported to the government. There’s nothing hidden there.’”
The double talk here is literally mind-bending. He is ignorant of his investments, can’t understand why we’re even interested, but rest assured, he hasn’t dodged any taxes. How do we know this? Because he says so. Stop it Mittens. Enough of this. Be a man and release ALL of your financial records and let us make decisions for ourselves, as we have been politically trained to do since we were old enough to vote. No one believes what you’re saying anyway – even the members of your own party. The best way to convince your constituents that you are not hiding anything is to stop hiding. It’s an idea that your father comprehended.
But what else should we expect from a man who has changed his tune on just about every issue before him? The Romney cynicism appears to know no limits.
Related Posts :
That didn't take long. Obama for America is already out punching with a new ad titled "Mitt Romney's Tax ...
How fitting that as we celebrate what makes America great, news is trickling out about Mitt Romney's fo ...
Mitt Romney delivered another trust me moment in South Carolina today by claiming that he has not paid l ...
Ann Romney couldn't keep the contempt off of her face in an exclusive interview with Natalie Morales exc ...
Obama for America puts out a new ad hitting at Mitt Romney's tax loopholes, using Paul Ryan to do it -- ...
26 Responses to Mitt Romney Tells America His Finances are None of Our Damned Business
Cheryl
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 2:24 pm
I have to ask, if he does not even know where they are invested, how does he take credit for making himself rich? Who is doing that work for him? So why would we think he could do anything like it for us?
Echelon
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Mitt Robme is always doing some kind of confusing double-talk when it comes to his finances and taxes. His entire approach to addressing the American people is confusing. So far the only thing I can decipher out of this dude is that he is eager and willing to use the five fingers on his hand to hold the pen to sign his name on the billionaire/millionaire agendas.
Kathleen
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
Mitt tells you to believe him, because it is how his “Church” handles their finances as well. They taught him the “there there little obedient follower, nothing to see here” mentality. Billions of dollars from the members, given each year, and the “church” doesn’t disclose to its members ANY information about what they do with it. City Creek Mall is a good start…then keep digging.
Kathy
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 2:47 pm
He knows precisely where his money is and how it is invested…which is why he’d prefer not to let the rest of us know. Even if everything he did was squeaky clean, we’d still see that he’s in the 15% tax bracket…twice what my husband and I are expected to pay. And we’re not wealthy by any means, we’re just the much put upon middle class that is expected to take up the slack for, well, slackers like Mittens.
Cassandra Vert
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 2:50 pm
And the trustee for his blind trust is his personal attorney, not the more common “disinterested third party institutional trust manager.”
Pepper17
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
I don’t care if all his investments are above board. He’s putting a lot of his money somewhere other than the United States of America. If he doesn’t think the country good enough for his money, why should we think he is good enough to be president.
Diana Baskin
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 3:22 pm
OK so he doesn’t know when asked one question. When he is asked another he says everything was done legally. How does he know if he doesn’t know. Why would we trust this lying flip flopper. This man is hiding something.
James
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
If there was nothing to hide here, he would’ve already disclosed this information. After all, he’d have nothing to lose and everything to gain by doing so. My guess is that there is something fairly damaging that he is trying to keep from the American voters. I’m afraid it is our business if he wants to be our public servant.
Shiva (Moderator)
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 4:20 pm
Myth uses anything to say that Obama is trying to distract from things. Which is exactly what he is doing.
He bet against America for greed. We are not his first priority
Paws
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 4:25 pm
“Can I see a show of hands from folks who find this credible?”
Pardon me if I don’t believe the liar, liar whose pants are perpetually on fire.
jrumor
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 4:28 pm
if he won’t tell us, assume the worst.
He is no doubt invested in weapon manufacturers who deal with the taliban, north korea, al queda and iran.
figure he finances drug cartels in mexico who murder, rape and kidnap the children of political figures.
Similarly, if campaigns won’t divulge who is contributing them money (crossroads gps, for example), assume their money comes from out of country businesses who are trying to undermine and buy american land, treasures, national parks, and historic sites.
Gindy53
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 4:53 pm
John McCain knows where his money goes. He knows and was so horrified he chose Sarah Palin as his VP instead of RMoney. That alone tells you something.
Debbie Clark Gulledge
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 4:55 pm
bet his money is 800 billion dollars and 3 cents…
Mrs Gunka
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Just like Sarah Palin. Show us Trig’s birth certificate that you birthed that child. So simple. Nobody believes that Wild Ride! Show us your diploma from Journalism School. We have heard you talk and you speak Word Salad! So easy to prove us wrong.
Show us your finances Mit. We are tired of lies. We suffered thru George Bush’s lies for 8 years and don’t want to go back to what got us into this mess. Why do you think you don’t have to pay your fair share to be a part of our country? Who said you were GOD and could ship all the jobs overseas and leave your own country in poverty? Is that what your church taught you to do? Do you think you are better than anyone else? Do you think the poor and hungry are less in the eyes of God than a heathen like you? We don’t want a dictator running our country. Anyone that think likes this is mentally ill. You do not deserve to even walk on the same ground as the poor, sick, elderly and children who need a roof over their head and food in their stomachs! We need health care for everyone, not just the rich. You and your ilk are destroying America and we will fight to keep you and anyone like you out of office. If you have nothing to hide, show us the truth!
Ken
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 6:43 pm
If he doesn’t know where his money is, he would make a great President like Bush who forgot where the $8.8 billion in Iraq went, or the Fed not mentioning it gave $16 T to banks and big corporations about the time of TARP. I’ll bet Bush told them to do it, since they don’t auit the FED. Yessiree, Romney is the man for the job of stealing the rest of the wealth in the nation for the top 1%. I can’t stand to listen or look at this piece of slim now. It took about 10 months into 2001 to see thru the post turtle from Texas. So I already have a year’s worth of outright disrespect and hatred for the Mitt from MA.
Obbop
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 10:50 pm
All multi-millionaires and billionaires must vote for Mitt Romney (kind of rhymes with hominy).
The huge mass of regular folks…. well, since the president is the main politician figurehead of the ruling elites, corporate USA, special-interest groups etc. it really doesn’t matter who becomes the next figurehead lackey.
“There’s class warfare, all right, Mr. (Warren) Buffett said, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning”
There has been class warfare going on,” Buffett, 81, said in a Sept. 30 interview with Charlie Rose on PBS. It’s just that my class is winning. And my class isn’t just winning, I mean we’re killing them.”
“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks,” Buffett wrote in a Sunday New York Times Op-ed.
One reason companies are so profitable is that they’re paying employees less than they ever have as a share of GDP. And that, in turn, is one reason the economy is so weak: Those “wages” are other companies’ revenue.
In short, our current system and philosophy is creating a country of a few million overlords and 300+ million serfs. Blodget
TS
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 10:57 pm
OK, so let me get this straight. Mitt Romney is a brilliant business man, a true patriot, and “real American”. However, he keeps his untold millions in various offshore accounts and blind trusts, managed by other people, and he really knows nothing about them – except for the fact that they are all on the up-and-up, all taxes paid, everything perfectly legal, etc. So, giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming this is *all true*, I just have a few questions:
1. If he’s such a great business man, then why isn’t he managing his own investments? Either he can’t or doesn’t want to I guess, which leads to the next question…
2. If he can’t manage his own investments, why would he be qualified to managed the country? If he doesn’t want to manage his own investments, why does he want to manage the country?
3. If he’s such a great patriot, why did he take his massive pile of capital out of the country to various foreign banks? He’s already said that it wasn’t to avoid paying taxes, so does he just hate American banks?
Now, I can already hear the conservative non-answers to these questions: “class warfare”, “stop attacking the job creators”, “none of your business pinko commie”, etc. Of course, these aren’t answers at all. Really I’m not attacking Romney on this, I’m not accusing him of breaking any laws, and I’m not even suggesting that he’s attempting to mislead anyone. I’m just very simply saying this:
Although there may be nothing illegal, or even immoral about the way that Mitt is handling his money, it’s perfectly legitimate to ask the simple question of whether or not this is the type of guy that we want to run the country. I’m not saying that he ought to be ashamed, or that he ought to be arrested, or anything of the sort. I’m just saying that maybe he ought not be president if he cares so little about his country that he invests a large part of his vast fortune elsewhere. I’m not suggesting that he needs to give away his money, but for crying out loud, at least invest it in America. Put your money where your mouth is Mitt!
Albie Pabon
Jul. 10th, 2012 at 11:54 pm
In the era of demands for transparency, he is flaunting his arrogance by hiding his “papers.” On what record does he purport to run? Running a state government. No, for he won’t discuss Romneycare and the deficit of jobs during this four years. We cannot divine his record for his staff erased the State’s computer hard drives.
So we are left with his longest record – his years in investment capitalism. First, he, contrary to his word, did not create jobs rather he and his peers at Bain bragged about being pioneers in outsourcing … devastating communities creating areas of blight.
Second, he invested in companies, thinned the herd, charged excessive fees for service, bankrupted most and still managed to score millions. But again … imagery: areas of blight.
He placed personal funds in foreign banks, created shell companies, investors funds were placed in those banks. And he is telling us to mind our own business. He wants the Presidency. He is the same as any other candidate: he needs to be vetted. Through access to those tax records, he will be vetted. He is richer, but he is no better.
Geek Hillbilly (@GeekHillbilly)
Jul. 11th, 2012 at 9:10 am
Romney-when you decided to run for President,your finances became our business.Last thing this country needs is another RWNJ Con man to finish the job the Texas Idiot George W.Bush started,namely running this country into the ground
A Walkaway
Jul. 11th, 2012 at 10:40 am
I’m reminded of Rick Scott. With all of the evidence that the man is a crook and has broken the law many times (financially hurting American citizens in doing so), he still won the election and is our governor. The same thing can happen in the upcoming election. We HAVE to get people out and voting, but I don’t know how to do that.
The best thing would be for the Republicans to do something so really over-the-top that people cannot help but see how evil they are. That’s counting on miracles, however, and miracles are rare.
Maybe if something exposed the “man behind the curtain” as it were… the dominionist churches and the uber-rich who fund the attempt to overthrow our government (by changing the laws or by force – as far as they’re concerned, both are valid means). That’s needed anyway to stop them, but if it happened in time… (but I admit I’m dreaming).
Barry Roope
Jul. 11th, 2012 at 11:35 am
What mindless voter would actually push a button for Romney over President Obama? There is no comparision between the two men, President Obama is a calm, levelheaded, and wisethinker, where decisions are made based on facts, reality and humane compassion. Mitt Romney is exactly the opposite, he flagrantly lies on topics, that have been proven false months if not years back. Changes positions on core beliefs for political advantage. will not answer a question directly or indirectly. His worst trait is he reeks of entitlement, everything about him says, your lucky to even be around me, to vote for me is a previlege, He acts as though we have no right to ask questions about his policys. A person who has lived a life of previlege, really can’t relate to the average American, and that is so obvious with Romney, His smug laugh and trifle answers to questions, he dosen’t like. He treats people liked shit, and he’s not even President, Imagine what a Massive asshole, he will be if he ever makes it to President.
A Walkaway
Jul. 11th, 2012 at 11:45 am
Look to Rick Scott (or Scott Walker) if you want to get an idea of what he’d be like.
I’d quickly agree that Romney would be worse, however.
Lee Ann
Jul. 11th, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Quite simply, if he doesn’t even know where they are, how can he guarantee he knows the are above-board and all taxes have been paid? He can’t have it both ways, it defies logic.
Inez
Jul. 11th, 2012 at 11:04 pm
what is the primary reason to have monies deposited in swiss banks and banks in the bahamas….? seems to me that lower taxes is the answer. i was under the impression. that these off shore investments(?) were being observed by the irs i think i’ll transfer my $2,500.00 to an off shore bank.
Gary Vaughn
Jul. 13th, 2012 at 11:49 am
No wonder his boys were too busy being patriotic and helping dad run for office. They had to rent backhoes to keep all the skeletons buried.