TomP just posted a diary with video of Mitt Romney flat-out admitting that he won't release his tax records because the Obama campaign would pulverize him with what's contained within them.
Even after the devastating "Your Turn" and "Firms" ads that caused Romney to go into full damage control.
Even after respected (by the GOP) conservative pundits ranging from William Kristol to George Will have practically begged him to just release the damned tax returns.
Even after the Governor of Alabama--ALABAMA, for God's sake--told him he should release them.
So, as TomP noted,
Romney did a cost/benefit anaylsis and determined that whatever was in those returns could kill his candidacy.
He's calculated that as much damage as
not releasing his records is causing,
releasing them would be even worse.
Which got me to thinking...what in the hell could possibly be in his tax returns that would be MORE harmful than what's happening to him now?
What? He's worth 500 million instead of 250 million? Big shocker. He has secret Swiss bank accounts and Cayman Island tax shelters? We already knew that.
It'd have to be something HUGE.
Something so awful that, as you'll recall, John McCain actually read the returns and said, "Nope, I'd be better off going with Governor Mooseburger instead."
So...what the f*ck is in those returns that's so horrible, awful, icky that he'd rather be pummeled for weeks on end instead of revealing it?
You don't suppose there was something 9/11-related in there? Perhaps he invested or brokered some sort of deal that had some weird connection with al Queda or bin Laden, something along those lines?
I mean, he profited off of aborted fetuses when he had supposedly gone completely anti-choice, for Chrissakes. Anything's possible.
Give your best speculation in the comments, no matter how weird it sounds.
Update: So far, the most popular choice (in the comments, that is; I added the poll more recently) is that he paid little or, perhaps, zero federal taxes whatsoever for several years.
On the one hand, we already know that he only paid 15% on his 2010 return in spite of his gargantuan wealth, and that didn't seem to ruffle too many feathers (ie, it caused a splash, but not that big of one). So, I'm not sure that finding out the actual rate was that much lower would be more damaging than what he's going through now.
On the other hand, think about what a HUGE F*CKING DEAL the GOP has been making about the (completely false) "Half the country doesn't pay taxes" talking point.
What if it turns out that Mitt Romney himself turned out to really NOT have paid any Federal income tax for one or more years?
The Obama ad writes itself:
"THE REPUBLICAN PARTY CLAIMS THAT HALF THE COUNTRY DOESN'T PAY TAXES."
(quick-cut montage of a half-dozen GOP/conservative pols/pundits repeating that claim)
"GUESS WHO THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT?"
(photo of Mitt next to scathing headline about his 20XX tax return)
Game. Set. Match.