Pierce writes: "Okay, we all know he's had a very tough week, but how the hell is this stuff supposed to help? Or, conversely, why the hell didn't they release this stuff six months ago?"

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney stands in front of a foreclosed home in Lehigh Acres, Fla. (photo: Charles Dharapak/AP)

Tax Day for Romney Comes Too Late

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

21 September 12

kay, we all know he's had a very tough week, but how the hell is this stuff supposed to help?

Or, conversely, why the hell didn't they release this stuff six months ago?

That Willard Romney is G.I. Luvmoney, and that the Luvmoney clan generally finds eight bazillion ways around the U.S. tax code, was established long ago. Therefore, that he paid an effective tax rate that was lower than that of, say, the average firefighter, is a surprise to absolutely nobody. If he'd have released the 2011 return in the middle of the Republican primaries, it would have been a story at most for a couple of days. None of those other buffoons had either the credibility, or the intellectual firepower, truly to make an issue out of it for longer than that. Now, though, the Romney campaign puts this stuff out in the middle of an ongoing barrage of ridicule based on the stand-up act he did down in Boca and, instead of simply being a minor dust-up in his inexorable march to the nomination, it's another brick in the wall, especially since he and his party seem to be arguing sub rosa that very poor people aren't kicking in their fair share. Now, smarter people than me are going to pick through the 2011 return, pointing out all the little ways that smart rich people can game the system, and all that information is going to come out, not in the context of an ongoing clown show, but as further reinforcement of everything that's causing virtually the entire political system to cough up a hairball at the mention of your candidate's name.

There's been more than a little speculation that Willard already has checked out of this whole running-for-president business. (Those of us in the Commonwealth — God save it! — can testify that his interest in matters political can wane pretty quickly.) And there's more than a little hilarity being had on the Intertoobz over the fact that the people running the Romney campaign received some pretty handsome incompetence bonuses. But this little exercise, at 3 p.m. on a Friday, makes me wonder if some people working for this campaign haven't bet on the president and teased the Over. They spent the entire campaign handling the issue of Romney's tax returns badly. And then, at exactly the wrong moment in the history of the campaign — at exactly the perfectly wrong moment in the history of the campaign — they toss a dead fish out there as an obvious distraction, but a distraction that begs to be picked apart and the bones used to beat their candidate over the head a little more.

I'm not kidding. Jack Molinas went to prison for arranging things this way.

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+90 # pernsey 2012-09-22 07:10

Im so happy Mitt and his crew are so incompetent, or he would have made one horrifying president.

Im so happy that hes coming off looking like an elitist bumbler and turning off his own base. I know the Fox news crew would vote for him, but I think even some them are getting turned off.

I am so happy to hear the seniors booing Ryan as he tried to convince them that taking away their benefits would be good for them.

People are waking up as more of their lively hoods would be affected by this motley crew.

Thank you Mitt for being all over the map and showing the part of the 47% that would have voted for you that it was a horrible idea.

Thank you for being so out of touch, and showing us before the election that a President Romney would be a complete and utter disaster for the poor, middle class, and working poor of this nation.

+49 # LiberalRN 2012-09-22 09:03

Quoting pernsey:

Im so happy Mitt and his crew are so incompetent, or he would have made one horrifying president.

Im so happy that hes coming off looking like an elitist bumbler and turning off his own base. I know the Fox news crew would vote for him, but I think even some them are getting turned off.

I am so happy to hear the seniors booing Ryan as he tried to convince them that taking away their benefits would be good for them.

People are waking up as more of their lively hoods would be affected by this motley crew.

Thank you Mitt for being all over the map and showing the part of the 47% that would have voted for you that it was a horrible idea.

Thank you for being so out of touch, and showing us before the election that a President Romney would be a complete and utter disaster for the poor, middle class, and working poor of this nation.

He could still be that horrifying president, whether he wins the vote or not. Too many opportunities for theft. I'm appalled by how cynical I've become, though a cynical little voice tells me that's just being realistic...

Every vote needs to be cast and counted if we're to prevent that horror. And even then...

+14 # indian weaver 2012-09-22 10:09

Millions of us understand your cynicism. Worse, this cynicism can further deteriorate into hopelessness, both of which I feel from time to time. As this happens to us, we are all wondering what's next, after hopelessness? The evolution of moral collapse step wise is what leads to suicide bombers worldwide. How appalling is that to us? How ugly can it get? Do we understand why suicidal bombers, male and female and juvenile / adolescents are so prevalent in Afghanistan and Iraq, and why that manifestation of anger could also collapse into the same phenomenon here? Appalling it is to all of us.

+16 # AMLLLLL 2012-09-22 11:05

Hopelessness, or apathy, is EXACTLY the feeling the right wing agenda is hoping for. Anger is the next step up, and while not as desirable, it helps them to have people lashing out at the bogeyman.

I totally understand your sentiments, and I'm here to ask if you would want them to win.

+15 # popeye47 2012-09-22 12:17

Yes, I am so happy that the R's put up such a bumbling and lying candidate for president. If they had put up a halfway decent conservative the prize was for their taking. With the economy still in deep do-do, the R's candidate should be way ahead. Instead ole stiff,lying,ric h,better than you Mitt is sinking more every day. Another week or two of this and the other third party candidate may get more votes than old 47% Romney.

+58 # Barbara K 2012-09-22 07:25

I doubt that that Tax Return (if the real one) includes the funds he has in other countries, that he should be paying taxes on. Tax Dodgers don't just suddenly stop being a tax dodger and should disqualify him for being President of the country he won't pay all he owes to. Even when it was this country that made it possible for him to get so wealthy, besides being born with a silver spoon in his mouth and given a Million dollars to by his father for college.

OBAMA/BIDEN 2012 for the 100% of us.

+65 # ecovortx 2012-09-22 07:40

It is mind boggling that fellow citizens of the USA are not angry with the Republicans:

1. His effective rate for not working is 13-14%. Does that include all the investments that are off shore in the Cayman Islands? We will never know because he won't disclose anything.
2. Is he part of the 47% that does not work?
3. He currently pays very little for all the benefits he receives. Now he wants to be commander and chief. Scary!
4. The Common Man is funding the republicans in their race for the presidency. Whats worse is they are unaware of what they are doing.
The fact is I could keep this list going for quite awhile. I will leave it to others to complete.

+38 # Independentgal 2012-09-22 09:10

We need to see his 2009 return to see if he took advantage of the amnesty that excused him from the penalties (possibly criminal) imposed because of income from his hidden Swiss bank account.

+11 # jcdav 2012-09-22 16:32

How About seeing the legal address on every one of them? It is possible that when he was alledgedly living in his son's basement in Mass, AND VOTED IN MASS. He had just built a mansion in Calif...if he voted illegally it would be a felony...that could ruin yet another week.....

+1 # bmiluski 2012-09-24 13:15

Hey, bush sr. declared his "hunting cabin" in North Dakota as his permanent home to avoid the higher taxes in Florida.

+17 # Regina 2012-09-22 10:35

He thinks he's "entitled" to all that swag. We just don't understand his inborn superiority, those of us proles who are scrambling for the food, clothing, and shelter we wrongly think are our entitlements. He'll set us straight -- straight up-and-down with his clan at the highest. Those of us at the bottom of his royalist pecking order had better wake up and get what we need to vote, and then vote him down and out.

+13 # Barbara K 2012-09-22 10:48

Regina: Atsolutely! We must vote him out and we have no time to waste. I'm going to check on my own status. I've voted every election since I was old enough to vote, even in the Primary here in Michigan, in August; but I keep being notified online that I need to register to vote. Huh?

+39 # HowardMH 2012-09-22 07:59

Don't blame Mitt or any other millionaire for how little they pay in taxes. Blame the millions of IDIOTS that voted for the politicians that passed the laws that allow the rich to continue screwing everyone else that earns a modest paycheck.
Until there are two hundred thousand really, really pissed off people on Capital Hill (all at the same time) raising some serious hell against the Lunatics, absolutely nothing is ever, ever going to happen to these totally bought and paid for by the richest 50 people in the world that are becoming more and more powerful with each passing rigged election thanks to the stupid people.

+3 # indian weaver 2012-09-22 10:19

We had the million man march against Washington that was the major single citizen action finally closing down the Viet Nam nightmare. Now, we need to organize a 5-10 million man march to surround the Pentagon and White House and Congress and dare the fuc...g military and government employees (whom we pay) to take out all of us. Meanwhile, keep the inhabitants of these 3 buildings holed up in exile until they behave and help us, actually work for who pays them, us. The police and military have the manpower and weapons of mass destruction to easily remove all of us 99%. I guess we need to see whose side they are on at this point anyhow. And while surrounding these evil locations, we can close down this government that is no benefit to anyone in the usa and worldwide, the government that has instead evolved into an anathema to domestic and international freedom and peace.

+7 # swissms 2012-09-22 12:59

I suggest that the service sectors of the government have been intentionally bankrupted by the republicans. And it seems the dems don't dare tell the public that due to lack of funds, all enforcement in such sectors as, for instance, the IRS has been outsourced to the private sector already. Without a major influx of cash to the public coffers, it won't make much difference which party is in the White House. The system will still be broken.

That's why btw, in spite of all the saber rattling about collecting taxes from citizens hiding their money in other countries, it's the little expats like me who are bearing the brunt of complicated US policies and having our bank accounts closed in the foreign countries in which we live. In the meantime, the fat cats are still getting away with hiding their money. Who is it easier for private collection firms representing the IRS to go after, middle income individuals or big money able to hire expensive tough defense lawyers?

+4 # Muzzi 2012-09-22 21:53

Right now, the IRS is busy auditing the middle class who have a small business on the side. Most people have this business because it helps them to earn extra money. The IRS is not using IRS agents to do this. They are saving money by hiring people they call "Reviewers" who don't have the experience and knowledge that IRS agents have. These "Reviewers"are bullying people, I know one of them who quit because she couldn't do that to people.
They should be going after the Mitt Romneys, but, they would rather pick on the ittle guy. I think Dick Cheney fired Bill Clinton's "kindler, gentler" IRS employees.

+7 # Barbara K 2012-09-22 10:50

HowardMH: Yes, we need to clean all the Rs possible out of our government this election. There will be some we cannot replace in the Senate as only 1/3 are up for election every 6 years. Wish we could get rid of McConnell, but he was put back in by his dummies.

+23 # wfalco 2012-09-22 08:00

I tend to be pessimistic when counting on my fellow Americans to do the right thing. Too many out here in white working/lower middle class America just don't pay attention-with the exception of the negative sound bites.
But perhaps these uninformed working class (the blood and guts crowd)have been rendered impotent. Perhaps the tide has turned so that at least the "somewhat" informed(public servants and the like)will turn out en masse for the Democrats. As many writers on this site frequently point out-the Dems are no where near perfect. But the oligarchical alternative is horrific.

+16 # C.Gill 2012-09-22 08:07

With Romney's history of truth telling why should we believe him when he says he paid at least 13% in taxes the past ten years. Through creative tax strategies he may have received a tax benefit like GE who reported worldwide profits of $14.2 bn yet claimed a tax benefit of $3.2 bn.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/business/economy/25tax.html

+7 # Barbara K 2012-09-22 10:52

C.Gill: Problem is that we must NOT believe ANYTHING this liar says. He is the King of the Liars Club. No truth has escaped his mouth yet and never will. Bank on it.

+19 # mjc 2012-09-22 08:36

Still leaves us all wondering.... Why DIDN'T he release these tax returns earlier??? Too much money going to the Mormon institutions?? Needed more time to do some hiding? Whatever. He certainly gamed the voter support for his wealth.

+11 # LiberalRN 2012-09-22 08:59

Quoting mjc:

Still leaves us all wondering.... Why DIDN'T he release these tax returns earlier??? Too much money going to the Mormon institutions?? Needed more time to do some hiding? Whatever. He certainly gamed the voter support for his wealth.

He's still not releasing his past returns. "Summaries" simply invites more speculation. One does have to wonder about the stunningly poor timing of this revelation. Mr. Pierce's reference to Jack Molinas ... well, as I said - this practically begs for speculation. Isn't this precisely what happened in the 2008 crash - sold junk to the public, then made fortunes betting against it?

+10 # Independentgal 2012-09-22 09:11

He really only released his 2011 return. The other is just a summary. He just doesn't want the public to know what he's hiding.

+3 # KittatinyHawk 2012-09-22 12:56

Or his wife

+9 # Muzzi 2012-09-22 09:29

He didn't release them earlier because his CPA team needed time to doctor the reports. Do you really believe these are the real income tax returns? They simply prepared a return from their Tax Program and had it signed to look real.
That's it. CPA's do it all the time.
Then, they amend it to change the numbers and send that one to the IRS
The IRS cannot release the "real" return that was filed because of Privacy issues.
Ask him to tell the IRS to release the one that was filed, not the one his team of CPA's doctored for Public view.

0 # KittatinyHawk 2012-09-22 12:57

Then it is up to IRS and Democrats to look at this with Media and see just what is up

+9 # BlueReview 2012-09-22 09:59

So, he's released his tax summary for 2011. Yeah, it seems like he's "gaming the system." Bloomberg News has looked at it, and says that he's left off $1.75 million in charitable deductions . . . to make sure he pays the "never less than 13%" he says. But they also say that since you have three years to amend your returns in case you forgot some deductions, he could still claim those deductions if the White House thing doesn't work out.

+1 # KittatinyHawk 2012-09-22 12:57

Amazing

+13 # NAVYVET 2012-09-22 08:48

"Is he part of the 47% that does not work?" OF COURSE! Remember one of the clever lines in Yip Harburg's songs for "Finian's Rainbow"? They went like this:

"When the idle poor become the idle rich,
It's hard to tell just who is who and which is which."

Considering what Bain has done, Yip should have added a line or two about "the idle who were outsourced, the idle who've been laid off, the idle who've run out of unemployment benefits, the idle who lost all their savings in the crash of 2007. . ." Ad infinitum.

I'll vote for Obama, thank you, rather than this idler. BUT, lest we forget, the old US of A desperately needs a Social Democrat political party!! (Not the Greens.)

0 # mjc 2012-09-24 07:38

Had forgotten about that little ditty. We used to sing if all the time as pre-teens. Certainly fits Romney's status...and the status of all the super wealthy, the too-wealthy-to- be-citizens...o f any nation. They have their own "community" and only IN that community can they really feel safe...and loved.

+16 # peterjnickitas 2012-09-22 09:01

And do not forget that former Governor, and short-lived presidential contender Tim Pawlenty (R-MN) resigned his co-chair position in the Romney campaign after the release of the Mother Jones video, to take a job as a financial services lobbyist, commencing on 1 November. I do not call the Romney campaign a sinking ship whose rats are escaping, even though Gov. Pawlenty is a rodent for the damage he inflicted upon Minnesota, particularly the judiciary and the budget. The Romney campaign can steal a win with voter suppression in Ohio, Florida, and Wisconsin, and there are individuals at work to steal these state elections now. This week's events and the Mother Jones video affirm the character of Gov. Romney and the nature of forces arrayed to fasten oligarchy even more firmly upon the people of the nation and the world.

+8 # in deo veritas 2012-09-22 09:37

He should have to turn over ALL his tax returns not just a couple.As lon g as the teabaggers have the edge in the HR you will never get any kind of tax reform.

+8 # ericlipps 2012-09-22 09:38

And notice--he STILL hasn't released his actual tax returnsd from earlier years, just "summaries." One can be forgiven, I think, for suspecting that he's tippy-toeing around some potential embarrassments- -if not necessarily anything illegal, then stuff he knows voters wouldn't like. But dripping out information the way he's doing only prolongs the agony.

+11 # Vonney 2012-09-22 09:39

I just hope fact checkers are going over those Romney tax returns or "summaries" with a fine-toothed comb, because I'll wager I'm not the only person on earth who thinks they're F-A-K-E. The Romney lawyers have had plenty of time to FIX these returns.

+12 # wwway 2012-09-22 09:42

Incompetent? AROGANCE came first.

+13 # reiverpacific 2012-09-22 10:39

So 14.1% eh?
how much did all YOU folks pay last year?
I'll bet it was a damn sight more than that, like twice at least (fine if it were going to Universal health care, infrastructure etc).
And does he get to deduct his presumed default minimum tithe of 10% to his Mamman (sp' mine) church? I'll bet.
And do they have to pay taxes on it? Nah!
These bastards never give anything without getting a return.

+5 # FiberOptik 2012-09-22 11:16

Mr. Charles Pierce said:

CP> Now, smarter people than me are going to pick through the 2011 return, pointing out all the little ways that smart rich people can game the system, [clip]

They do not have to game the system Mr. Pierce. The system is already gamed for them.

FiberOptik

and all that information is going to come out, not in the context of an ongoing clown show, but as further reinforcement of everything that's causing virtually the entire political system to cough up a hairball at the mention of your candidate's name.

+21 # Philso 2012-09-22 11:16

Romney did not take all his charitable deductions. Why ? So that he paid a higher tax rate - he paid more in taxes than he could have, so that he could not be criticized for paying a 10.55% tax rate (if you deducted ALL his charitable donations).

He has 3 years in the future in which to adjust his charitable contributions for the 2011 tax year, so he won't lose the unclaimed deductions. Sneaky, huh ? Other reasons to dislike this man on a personal basis :

1. Sprays on a tan to speak to the Hispanic gathering.
2. Disdains the 47%. His policies will greatly benefit the wealthy, business owners and investors.
3. Misfires on the Libyan Consulate deaths at a time when unity was called for.
4. Won't release 10 yrs of tax returns
5. Lied in 2002 on his tax return about his domicile, until called out on it.
6. Was a terrible governor in MA.
7. Lied about Obama's welfare program (no work requirement, he said)
8. Lies about Obama's $716 billion Medicare cuts
9. Worked for Bain - hired and fired people with one objective - profits.
10. Flip flops on abortion, healthcare, gays and is a huge panderer. Cannot be trusted.
11. Keeps his budget strategy a secret until after the election (e.g. which tax deductions will be cut).

+4 # KittatinyHawk 2012-09-22 13:02

I saw a woman on Ny channel who is chair for Romney crap and Latin Descent...she loves him....and his tan? Another spit in the face and is loved.
What spray color will he use with Chinese consulate, or Indian?

0 # CC1951 2012-09-23 17:01

That is a REALISTIC response!!

+1 # Muzzi 2012-09-22 21:57

Good one!

+6 # allie 2012-09-22 12:27

Corruption of the voting machines and the purging of voter rolls might be, what get Romney elected. I worry about that, but what concerns me the most are the races in some states for House and Senate seats. Therein lies the power of what Obama can or cannot get done in the next four years. A majority in Congress full of tea baggers and right wing extremists will mean more stagnant years of growth, diminishing freedoms and more conservative Supreme Court Justices on the bench.

+9 # swissms 2012-09-22 12:46

Steal the election once, shame on you; steal it twice, shame on me!!!! If this election gets stolen, I for one will not be taking it lying down. You will find me occupying the capital and doing everything I can to make sure the thief never takes office. I am a firm believer in civil disobedience.

+6 # Corvette-Bob 2012-09-22 16:58

Wow, thank God, the Republicans nominated the plasticman for their candidate, becasue if they had nominated any plausible candidate who could have conducted a viable campaign we would really be in trouble. Every white man over 55 years of age cannot see straight when talking about Obama. They listen to Fox News and believe that all the problems created by the Republicans is the fault of the President, even though they existed before he was elected and the Republicans have done everything to make sure that the economy did not recover while he was President.I cannot figure why they hate Obama so much, they are in a rage and would elect amost anyone other than Obama. I know that race places a large part in their rage but it does not explain it totally. What is the percent of white males over 55 years of age that voted for Obama and what do the pollos show for the various parts of the country? I would be interested to see that figure.

+2 # solange 2012-09-22 18:10

it just occurred to me: mitt's father, george, ran for president, but he was born in mexico. no one asked for his birth certificate.

+3 # Inspired Citizen 2012-09-23 04:17

What I find most interesting about this is that he didn't pay the minimum allowed. Just a few months ago, Gov. Flip-flop said, “I've paid all the taxes required by law, I don't pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don't think I'd be qualified to become president. I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires.”

If the Obama campaign does not exploit this huge flip flop, then he should not be the winner on Nov. 6th either.

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