Reid: Bain Investor Told Me That Mitt Romney 'Didn't Pay Any Taxes For 10 Years'

[Landslide Lyndon]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/31/harry-reid-romney-taxes_n_1724027.html?1343764012

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has what he says is an informed explanation for why Mitt Romney refuses to release additional tax returns. According a Bain investor, Reid charged, Romney didn't pay any taxes for 10 years.

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"Harry, he didn't pay any taxes for 10 years," Reid recounted the person as saying.

"He didn't pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that's true? Well, I'm not certain," said Reid. "But obviously he can't release those tax returns. How would it look?

"You guys have said his wealth is $250 million," Reid went on. "Not a chance in the world. It's a lot more than that. I mean, you do pretty well if you don't pay taxes for 10 years when you're making millions and millions of dollars."

The highest ranked Democrat in Congress, Reid is known more as a back room brawler than a public flamethrower. So his willingness to throw this private conversation into the media frenzy over Romney's taxes underscores the low opinion he has of the Republican candidate.

Tellingly, neither Reid nor his office would reveal who the investor was, making it impossible to verify if the accusation is true. And as his quote makes clear, he's uncertain if the information is accurate. The Romney campaign's press secretary, Andrea Saul, has previously denied rumors that Romney didn't pay "any taxes at all."

But there is limited political downside to the type of open speculation that Reid is making, so long as Romney refuses to budge on the issue of his tax returns. Increasingly, other Democrats are growing more assertive in their goading. In an appearance at the Center for American Progress on Tuesday, former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland argued that he could openly speculate as to whether Romney "is a tax avoider" or "cheat" because "his behavior invites such speculation."

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It really is not possible for Mittens to have paid no taxes like that, unless, as is highly unlikely, he had large operating loss carry forwards, or failed to pay himself and used complex stock option arrangements where the strike price was at market value (also highly unlikely). Reid of course knows about as much about taxes as my long dead pet cat, so his yippings on this, and repeating of the hearsay of someone equally ignorant,  do not surprise me.

Well, in that case Reid will look really silly when Romney releases his tax returns, won't he?

Yes, hopefully, although it won't embarrass Reid. Nothing Reid says ever embarrasses him. He has no sense of shame.

Judging by Torie's reaction, Reid's statement is one of his most savvy moments.

[Landslide Lyndon]

To Romney's credit; In spite of all of his screw ups, he's handled this situation flawlessly. Stone-wall and let the Democrats look desperate. The polls reflect the weak sauce of the game Democratic politicians are playing.

Describe us your relation with reality.

[Landslide Lyndon]

If anything, Reid is worse, since he holds a public position of authority.

So do dozens of Republican governors, senators and congressmen who asked for Obama'sd birth certificate.

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A rube goldberg machine of unnamed sources. lol

Just like Watergate.

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Considering that businessmen tend to make lousy politicians, is that actually a bad thing?

Indeed. And some of the best presidents (Lincoln, Truman) were lousy businessmen.

[Landslide Lyndon]

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I don't understand the Republican argument here. Why the hell shouldn't Romney do with every major Presidential candidate since, um, his father, has done and release a few more years of tax returns?

Look, we all know his pathetic and bumbling response to this is revealing - there's clearly something bad - maybe very bad - in those tax returns, otherwise why on earth isn't he releasing them right now and making the Democrats look incredibly silly?

The argument against this doesn't make sense - Mitt Romney's so special that he shouldn't be subject to the same kind of vetting - no matter how intrusive you may think it is - that every Presidential candidate in the last forty years has? Please.

Look, it's possible Romney is playing some kind of grand political chess game and I'll end up looking stupid when he triumphantly releases his boring, clean tax returns. I think we can deduce that's not going to happen.

This isn't like people are asking for his dental records - this is a normal, routine part of running for President, and the fact Romney is frantically attempting to escape it is very, very suspicious - and you're all operating under a massive collective delusion if you think it's not going to hurt him politically.

People asked the same questions regarding Obama's birth certificate. "Why not just release it and prove us wrong?". It's because political battles aren't won by giving due diligence to every ridiculous allegation thrown at you, which is exactly why Team Romney is telling the Democrats to shove it. These tax allegations against Romney are every bit as ludacris and politically motivated as the birther nonsense.

You'll have to excuse my ignorance, but I wasn't aware that it was common practice for Presidential candidates to release their birth certificates.

It isn't. Nor is it common practice for an incumbent's re-election campaign to accuse their opponent of financial malpractice and possible felonies without any credible evidence. The burden of proof is on the accuser.

Indeed. It's much more common for an incumbent to accuse his opponent of being anti-American and soft on terrorism.

[Landslide Lyndon]

From Jon Ralston's twitter:

So Sunday filled with "all Romney has to do is release returns to prove Reid wrong" chatter. #princeharry #sayanything #anymeansnecessary

[Landslide Lyndon]

Of course that's only a principle in a court of law.

In the court of public opinion, filing anonymous charges based on anonymous "sources" is completely unfair.

Let me give you some tissue to wipe your tears and some pearls to clutch.

[Landslide Lyndon]

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entries/ed-rollins-romney-should-release-more-tax-returns

Republican strategist Ed Rollins joined several other high profile conservatives Sunday in saying that Mitt Romney should release more tax returns in an appearance on “Fox News Sunday.” “I would have put out five or six years,” Rollins said. “Two years is not enough, obviously.”

Rollins said releasing the returns is the only way to keep the issue from dogging him for the rest of the campaign.

    “I think at this point in time, it’s gonna dog him all the way and he needs to get it behind him. He’s paid a lot of money in taxes, he’s made a lot of money – I think he should release more taxes.”

“Really?” host Chris Wallace asked.

“Sure, absolutely,” Rollins affirmed. “At the end of the day, you come to a point where you basically give a little bit more, and then you move forward. He’s gotta do that. Two years is not enough, obviously.”

[Landslide Lyndon]

Apparently all those Republicans that urge Mittens to release his tax returns have drunk the Obama Kool Aid.

[Landslide Lyndon]

http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/08/harry-reid-mitt-romney-taxes-10-years.php?ref=fpnewsfeed

The fierce pushback from Republicans against Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) appears to only be fueling his quest to tear down Mitt Romney over his finances. The Senate majority leader is telegraphing that he has no interest in letting up.

The latest salvo in the intensifying spat comes from Reid’s chief of staff David Krone, who upped the taunts by calling Republicans “a bunch of cowards” and “henchmen for Romney” in an interview with Politico late Sunday night.
“To turn it around, all their childish rants this weekend about calling Reid a ‘liar’ and all that, it just shows you how scared they are that Harry Reid was telling the truth,” Krone told the paper.

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The tactics mirror a brand of vicious, no-holds-barred campaigning that Republicans have in recent decades bested Democrats at using.

“It’s a boxer’s instinct,” Reid’s spokesman Jentleson told the New York Times. “You find your opponent’s weak spot, and until he finds a defense, you keep pounding it.”