Or, why some of the über rich don't like Obama...
Why did the Romneys really close the $3 million account at UBS?
Romney campaign headache
Malt, who oversees Romney's blind trusts, acknowledged during a conference call with reporters that he decided to shut down the Swiss account because he worried it could create a headache for Romney's campaign. "It might or might not be consistent with Governor Romney's political views," he said.
There's a beautiful flip flop in the words from Malt. The account might be consistent with Romney's political views - if he's talking to the über rich. And not consistent with Romney's political views - if he's talking to everyone else.
However, I don't think he's telling the full truth about closing that account.
Romney wants to appear as if he was being extra considerate about closing down the account - but there is more to the story.
This January, 2009 story in the NYT
Under pressure from federal authorities, the Swiss bank UBS is closing the hidden offshore accounts of its well-heeled American clients, potentially allowing their secrets to spill into the open.
In a step that would have once been unthinkable in the rarefied world of Swiss banking, UBS will shut about 19,000 accounts that prosecutors suspect have gone undeclared to the Internal Revenue Service.
To those who think the timing does not work - that article is dated 2009 and the Romneys closed their account in 2010 - need to understand that the process took a while in Switzerland. Not all accounts were forced to close until 2010. Here's an article from June, 2010 which shows that UBS was not allowed to pass on the data without parliamentary approval.
After all, if Romney was so concerned about the optics of having a Swiss bank account, then why would he maintain the one in the Cayman islands?
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s newly released tax return shows sprawling international financial interests, from Bain Capital entities based in Luxembourg to a Goldman Sachs fund in Dublin. It discusses a foreign currency transaction and details foreign tax credits.
But one of Romney’s biggest foreign investments is sheltered from U.S. taxation, partly because it is based in the Cayman Islands.
(Now I admit I'm a little confused here - I've read in some places that the Caymans Islands account is closed, but most other sources say that it's still open. Perhaps there was more than one account and he has closed one but not another?)
At any rate, given how tone deaf the Romney campaign has been in general, it would be incredibly sensitive for them to have closed the account because it was Swiss.
I don't think that Romney closed the Swiss bank account simply because he was concerned about how it looked. I think it was because UBS was getting rid of American clients.
And why was UBS doing this? Because of pressure from the IRS.
The IRS. Obama's IRS. Going after tax cheats. Effectively.
No wonder the 0.1% don't like Obama.
8:51 AM PT: So glad that this made the rec list because I'm hoping that others in the media will pursue this! And making the rec list increases the chances.