I was beginning to think that the GOP had taken Citizen’s United very literally and decided to run a corporation as President. Mitt Romney has all the charm of a stuffy conference room. He has the courage of conviction of the most dynamic of PR departments. He looks like he came out of an art department, circa 1995. He’s clearly far more comfortable with corporate lingo than actual people speak. He might have more money than most corporations, but Romney wants you to believe that even though “corporations are people, my friend,” he, unlike a corporation, is not required to show his taxes.
In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek:
Bloomberg Businessweek:
Let’s frame the issue around your tax returns in a slightly different way. If you’re an investor and you’re looking at a company, and that company says that its great strength is wise management and fiscal know-how, wouldn’t you want to see the previous, say, five years’ worth of its financials?
Romney:
I’m not a business. We have a process in this country, which was established by law, which provides for the transparency which candidates are required to meet. I have met with that requirement with full financial disclosure of all my investments, but in addition have provided and will provide a full two years of tax returns.
While there is no law that says a presidential candidate has to show his tax returns, the precedent was arguably set by Mitt Romney’s own father, George, who showed 12 years of returns, claiming, “One year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show.” At this point, Mitt has shown only one partial year of tax returns.
Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid (R-NV) claims that he has credible evidence that Romney paid no taxes for 10 years. Romney did offer tax returns to John McCain’s camp in 2008 during the vetting process for a running mate. Ultimately, McCain felt Sarah Palin was a better choice. Both Reid and Romney are high-ranking members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, which strongly encourages members to provide tax returns, so it is highly probable that Reid could have access to Romney’s tax information. Dana Bash of CNN has confirmed Reid’s story, but the source remains anonymous.
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