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

[BigSkyBob]

Reid knows how to play the game.

No, not really. First of all, Reid entered national office a man of limited means, paid for 100 semesters of college for his sons, yet, emerged as a multi-millionaire whom lives at the Ritz-Carlton. It's practically political suicide for him to demand Romney completely open his books. Already, Reid has refused to release his tax returns. Second, everyone knows how fundamentally unfair it is to make anonymous charges based allegedly on anonymous sources. He is being reduced to a laughingstock as other folks are making anonymous accusations against him based on "unnamed sources." Third, there are real legal questions in Reid's statement that could result in him being forced to give sworn answers about his "source." Fourth, the hedgefund billionaires whom fund Obama aren't going to be happy with the sinisterization of tax deferral rules such as carried interest.  Warren Buffet is going to die having not payed taxes on the tens of billions of dollars he accumulated in his Berkshire Hathaway position, and, will evade taxes after his death by donating it to "charity."

[BigSkyBob]

Winfield, could you please wrap your head around the idea that if Romney doesn't give us his tax returns, we can't prove a goddamn thing. I admit that Reid's claim is probably baseless, but you can't just yell "Where's the proof?" at everything we say about his taxes because he's obviously hiding something!

What you should be able to prove is which ten years you are talking about?

[BigSkyBob]

Winfield, could you please wrap your head around the idea that if Romney doesn't give us his tax returns, we can't prove a goddamn thing. I admit that Reid's claim is probably baseless, but you can't just yell "Where's the proof?" at everything we say about his taxes because he's obviously hiding something!

What you should be able to prove is which ten years you are talking about?

I F[INKS]ING CAN'T! There are no tax returns with which I can prove it, but there is reason to believe that he has used shady financial tactics in the past, most notably the shady financial tactics displayed in the one year he gave us.

There's obviously a reason he hasn't shown them to us, otherwise he would have.

Again, I am not asking anyone to "prove" any accusation. I am merely asking that they "clarify" their accusation by "specifying" which years they were claiming Romney paid no income taxes.

[BigSkyBob]

I would also note that at best a "Bain Investor" would only be in a position to know how much taxable income Romney earned at Bain Capital. Generally, employees don't provide copies of their income tax forms to their employers.

There are four basic possibilities about his alleged "source:" It was someone whom knew Romney personally, and, is repeating a statement by Romney; It was someone whom did his taxes or had access to the firm's copies; it was someone with access to his IRS records; or the "source" was a figment of Reid's imagination.

Surely, Reid could answer a question as simply as how his "source" knew?  The more he refuses to cite such details the more likely it is that his "source" is a figment of his imagination.

[BigSkyBob]

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.

[BigSkyBob]

Seems Romney has answered the charge regarding the last ten years. The ball is now back in Reid's court. I would behoove Reid to now specify which years, of any, in the last ten years to which he was referring. Then, we could know for certain whom the liar is.

Somehow, I don't think Reid will. Everyone can draw their own conclusions about whom the liar is.

[BigSkyBob]

Seems Romney has answered the charge regarding the last ten years. The ball is now back in Reid's court. I would behoove Reid to now specify which years, of any, in the last ten years to which he was referring. Then, we could know for certain whom the liar is.

Somehow, I don't think Reid will. Everyone can draw their own conclusions about whom the liar is.

Ball is still in Romney's court.  Romney has a record of lying about his taxes. Just saying he paid taxes while offering zero proof doesn't get him off the hook.

Nor, does Reid citing an unnamed "source" get him off the hook for lying. My point is that if Reid is telling the truth he has the resource of naming the specific year Romney paid no taxes and lied about it. Reid's failure to step forward and specify which years Romney allegedly paid no tax indicates that Reid in fact is the person lying.