We should keep up the pressure on Romney to release his tax returns. However, I think he will never do it, because what is in them is so bad that their release will actually be worse than losing the election.
In fact, I think the release of the tax returns could be so bad that they will guarantee the loss of the election and they will cost him a lot more personally, too.
What could be so bad? He’s Mr. Insensitive, so we have reason to believe it’s pretty bad.
Speculation continues below the orange cloud.
It’s hard to think of what matters to Mitt. Money, for sure. It seems, too, that he cares about the Mormon community and his wife. And of course he doesn’t want to go to prison. He’d like to win the election, too, but that matters less to him than the other items – or else he would have managed everything better.
So here are some ideas:
(1) Little or no income tax paid. I have great respect for Harry Reid, who counts his votes so carefully before bringing bills to the floor, and who has managed to get some things done despite the obstructionist GOP. He is also plugged into the Mormon community and so really might know what Romney has paid.
More circumstantial evidence: the Romneys when they speak of taxes paid, never refer to “income tax” – they always talk about taxes. Now, we all know that there are state taxes and property taxes and sales taxes – and heaven forbid, unpatriotic taxes paid to foreign governments!
Still, given how proud Romney has been of paying as little tax as possible, would this be a reason not to release his taxes? I don’t know. Perhaps, especially if it calls attention to really dodgy loopholes that would then get closed.
(2) Nasty investments. We know that he’s been making moolah off of at least one company that disposes of aborted fetuses – what else could we learn?
(3) Not tithing 10%. I have wondered if there is a possibility that he has not been tithing 10% to the Mormon church, as required. Now, in a few comments some have pointed out that the very rich may come to agreements with the Mormon elite and it may be OK with them not to do so.
But would that sit well with the Mormon rank and file?
And – what if he has not been telling the truth? The man lies, day in, day out. What if he lied to the Mormon elite? What if he lied to Mrs. Romney? And don’t think he wouldn’t. Someone who lies so easily to us, lies easily to everyone.
(4) That pesky Swiss bank account. There’s a lot of circumstantial evidence to suggest that Romney is a tax cheat and that it would come out in that 2009 tax return.
Switzerland has a long history of bank secrecy. It really does take it seriously, and so there was reason for those hiding assets to believe that their holdings were secure.
Despite an agreement to inform the US and other governments of those with accounts, the Swiss banks went after rich accounts, and it was only after intense pressure and whistleblowing that information was about to be released:
From a 2009 article in the LA Times:
Wealthy U.S. taxpayers, concerned about an Internal Revenue Service crackdown on the use of secret overseas bank accounts as tax havens, are rushing to meet a Thursday deadline to disclose those accounts or face possible criminal prosecution.
The concern was triggered this summer when Switzerland's largest bank, caught up in an international tax evasion dispute, said it would disclose the names of more than 4,000 of its U.S. account holders.
The decision shattered a long-held belief that Swiss banks would guard the identities of its American customers as carefully as they did their money, and it raised concern that other international tax havens might be next.
Romney had reason to believe that his bank account would never be disclosed. Then, when the information was coming out, he had to take that amnesty.
Yet Switzerland still wants to have secrecy, so what has UBS done? They have gotten rid of many of their American-held accounts - mostly in 2010. Which is why Mrs. Romney's account was $0 (or 0 CHF) at the end of 2010. The fact that it had no money in it was the reason - allegedly - that they "forgot" to list the account on the FBAR filing.
But how do people always fill out the listing of foreign bank accounts? The usual way is you look at what you filled out the year before and copy over the information. But I expect that the account was simply not listed in prior years, which is why they forgot it in 2010...
All circumstantial, I know, but until Romney gives us his prior tax returns, what else can we do?
But I bet he never will!
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