Mitt Romney On Tax Returns: 'I'm Not A Business'

So, now news is coming out about Romney's involvement in approving the illegal Son of BOSS tax shelter scheme when he was on the Board of Directors of Marriott. The scheme allowed Marriott to generate $70 million in fictional losses.

If Romney is creating fictional losses for the companies he works for, what is he doing on his own taxes? The question must be asked.

You'll be hearing a lot about this in the coming weeks, it's all hitting the news now because the Obama Campaign has just released a new ad featuring it:

Originally posted by peter_kandra
I'm pretty sure that anyone running for the POTUS has all their ducks in a row

Is this why we have ugly scandals coming to the surface in the most heated periods of various campaigns?

that he will release additional tax return info in a massive "in your face Democrats" ad campaign and media blitz.

It will be too late. By then, it will sink into the people's psyche that Romney is a filthy rich tax evader and he can't be trusted.

Originally posted by beezzer
reply to post by Kaploink

 

But isn't this just feeding the "class warfare" meme that is so pervasive?

No it isn't Romney is hardly the first very rich guy that wanted to be President. Some of the other even won. His wealth would not preclude him from winning. And in all honesty I don't personally believe he broke the law in relation to his taxes. However he is afraid to show them because he knows that they will in fact act as a big magnifying glass on our current tax policy, and that Americans will not like it. And that will cost him the election because he wants to add cuts on top of the current policy.

reply to post by Jean Paul Zodeaux


When you get into corporate taxes, it is a minefield. Only a moron would try to handle their own business taxes. You can't exactly use turbo tax.

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04
reply to post by OutKast Searcher

 

Except that is not the goal. It is not questioned that Romney made money, that is not the agenda here. Good on Romney to stand his ground. Shame on liberals talking about birthers and then jumping on the taxers bandwagon, quite disgusting. I'm pretty sure you're one of those who think the birthers are rediculous, now you have joined there ranks. I guess things change when it's your side calling for the witch hunt.

I think Birthers are ridiculous because they have been proven wrong over and over and still won't admit they are wrong. They asked for a birth certificate...Obama gave them the long and the short forms...they just say they are fake.

So if Romney releases his tax returns, and I call them fake...sure...call me out for acting like a Birther.

Also, I'm not claiming Romney is inelgible and born in a different country...I'm not claiming anything at all. I am simply curious as to why he is refusing so strongly to releasing his tax returns. Especially since taxes are going to be a huge election issue and it has been a tradition for Presidential candidates to release their returns.

Romney has made this an issue...no one else....you can cry about it all you want...but only Romney can get it out of the media and put it to rest.

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04
reply to post by OutKast Searcher

 

Except that is not the goal. It is not questioned that Romney made money, that is not the agenda here. Good on Romney to stand his ground. Shame on liberals talking about birthers and then jumping on the taxers bandwagon, quite disgusting. I'm pretty sure you're one of those who think the birthers are rediculous, now you have joined there ranks. I guess things change when it's your side calling for the witch hunt.

I think Birthers are ridiculous because they have been proven wrong over and over and still won't admit they are wrong. They asked for a birth certificate...Obama gave them the long and the short forms...they just say they are fake.

So if Romney releases his tax returns, and I call them fake...sure...call me out for acting like a Birther.

Also, I'm not claiming Romney is inelgible and born in a different country...I'm not claiming anything at all. I am simply curious as to why he is refusing so strongly to releasing his tax returns. Especially since taxes are going to be a huge election issue and it has been a tradition for Presidential candidates to release their returns.

Romney has made this an issue...no one else....you can cry about it all you want...but only Romney can get it out of the media and put it to rest.

Just to be fair, it took a while for Obama to release his certificate. Am I happy with it? Not 100%. Still, it works for most people.

Now... An IRS return can hardly be fake. That would put someone in jail for a fairly long time. Same is partially true for a birth certificate, and that's why I think it's not a forgery of any sort. But taxes? They are going to throw the book at you for faking that!

Originally posted by BritofTexas
reply to post by DaTroof

 

I totally agree.

But it's not about whether he's committed Tax fraud.

It's about how much he's Played the system.

I applaud those who are able to play the system. You know you would.

Again with more distractions on the real issues and track records. If I were Romney I'd say show me your passport and college transcripts and I'll show my back dated returns. That would stop all the HoopLa real fast. I am not a fan of either one of them. 300 Million people and this is the best two guys we could find ??! We are toast. The system is porked.

reply to post by OutKast Searcher



Oh Horsesheet. I'm fed up with you liberals making the Romeny Taxes an Issue when its not !!!

First of all the IRS, Internal Revenue Service would have already done a brief look at all candidates, and guess what? They are not asking for any info or more money?

Romeny does not work a salaried job like most people. His income comes mostly from Investments which are taxed completely differently. 15% instead of 35% which is to get people to invest, and investors only pay taxes on those investments in which they earn a profit. You weekly salary people get paid all time whether your company is in profit or not.

There probably is some times that he did not pay taxes like most people, because of the investments cycle.

But he paid 3 Million last year, and 4 Million the year before. In Taxes. And donates to Charity the same amounts that he pays in Taxes.

How much in Dollars did Barak Obama pay in Taxes? He could have paid the full 35% this current year but instead Obama chose to only pay 20% because of Tax Loopholes. How much has Obama donated to Charity? None that I know of.

There were 12 Years of Romneys Life in which he turned down a salary and of course did not pay taxes for that. He Declined to be Paid while the 4 years he was Governor of Massachusetts, and also he declined 8 Years of Salary while working in his Dads Admin in the Michigan Governors office.

I WANT TO KNOW HOW BARAK OBAMA WAS PAID AND EARNED AN INCOME WHILE HE WAS A COMMUNITY ORGANIZER !!!! HOW DO THOSE PEOPLE GET PAID. I'M CALLING FOR BARAK OBAMA TO RELEASE ALL HIS TAX RECORDS FOR ALL THE YEARS THAT HE WAS A SALARIED COMMUNITY ORGANIZER. BARAK DO THE RIGHT THING, RELEASE YOUR RECORDS !!!

ps when Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi were questioned by reporters if they would follow Romney and release all their own Tax Records for the last 20 years..... Both replied NO

Originally posted by buddhasystem

Originally posted by peter_kandra
I'm pretty sure that anyone running for the POTUS has all their ducks in a row

Is this why we have ugly scandals coming to the surface in the most heated periods of various campaigns?

that he will release additional tax return info in a massive "in your face Democrats" ad campaign and media blitz.

It will be too late. By then, it will sink into the people's psyche that Romney is a filthy rich tax evader and he can't be trusted.

Maybe it will be too late, maybe it won't. Three months is a long way off. A lot can happen in that time frame; the economy can keep going down the toilet, Israel can attack Iran, crops can wither even further (that's not the fault of Bush, is it?)

A filthy rich tax evader, huh? Did he use every legal method to lessen his taxable income? I'm sure he did. Does he have the capability to hire the best tax attorney's? Of course he does. Does that mean he did anything illegal? Probably not. I would think that the IRS is going after any low hanging fruit for audits, and high income earners as well as complicated returns would be selected more often I'd imagine.

Let's call a spade a spade. Most people simply don't like Romney just because of his wealth. Get over it. I don't like the fact that Democrats typically waste my tax money on bloated social programs, but there's not too much I can do, except legally take advantage of every tax loop hole that's available. I guess that makes me a middle class tax evader

The fact remains that even if we did something smart and overhauled the tax system and implemented a flat tax coupled with a consumption tax, there would still be people moaning and complaining that the poor still would have less disposable income as a percentage. Hey people, no one is stopping you from bettering yourself.

We got to let this one go Outcast.

I agree with you about half of the time, but this time I have to admit that it is a lost cause and is no better than the NeoCons making a big deal about the Obama birth certificate or Bill Ayer's.

We don't have to see Romney's taxes to know that he has money...a lot of it....pays a lower tax rate than the rest of us and gets deductions for things you and I would consider frivolous.

So let's just let it go. Let's stick to debating policy and such....that is where the fight is.

Originally posted by davolobos
There probably is some times that he did not pay taxes like most people, because of the investments cycle.

Why do we have to use "probably"? Release the docs and be done with it.

reply to post by CrikeyMagnet


I agree can you imagine a world where you were asked some of the questions these canditates are asked by the media only the questions were from your boss and you dodge his or her questions by not providing a relevant response ? Or by telling him or her no comment.

Nobody cares. The income tax is illegal and unconstitutional. I don't like Romney, but I stand behind him on taxes. If he had any guts he would call for an end to the income tax and the IRS, along with the Fed. However, there IS another candidate who is calling for those things. I'm voting for that guy. Don't act like you all wouldn't hide money offshore if it would save you millions of dollars or even a few thousand. I would do it in a heartbeat, but I'm broke so I have nothing to hide anyway.

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher

Originally posted by OccamsRazor04
reply to post by OutKast Searcher

 

Except that is not the goal. It is not questioned that Romney made money, that is not the agenda here. Good on Romney to stand his ground. Shame on liberals talking about birthers and then jumping on the taxers bandwagon, quite disgusting. I'm pretty sure you're one of those who think the birthers are rediculous, now you have joined there ranks. I guess things change when it's your side calling for the witch hunt.

I think Birthers are ridiculous because they have been proven wrong over and over and still won't admit they are wrong. They asked for a birth certificate...Obama gave them the long and the short forms...they just say they are fake.

No, he gave some photoshopped photos of what resembles a birth certificate, which has been proven by experts and investigators.

Originally posted by OutKast Searcher
This tax issue is just not going to go away for Romney. He is running out of ways to defend himself not releasing his tax returns. A reporter recently asked him about it from a different perspective.


www.huffingtonpost.com...

The presumptive Republican presidential candidate was asked the oft-repeated question on his tax returns in a slightly different way: If Romney were to invest in a company that touted its management skills and "fiscal know-how," would he not want to see five years' worth of that company's financials?

That seems like a very logical question. Romney is trying to use his business sense and fiscal skills as a point to why Americans should vote for him. But he seems like he doesn't want to reveal proof of those skills and tactics.

And what's his excuse???

"I'm not a business," Romney answered.

OK...Romney says that (and I quote) "...corporations are people, my friend"...but he also says that he is not a "business"??

So...that means that if all corporations are people but not all people are businesses, then some corporations must also not be businesses even whilst some businesses are neither a corporation nor a person(s).

WTF??...I feel like I'm taking the a version of the SAT's that was designed by a bunch of crack addicts on vacation in Bogota.

...even a non-profit is legally defined as a "business" by any and all local, state, and federal laws...it's just a business whose sole purpose isn't to drive shareholder ROI.

...similarly...if some of these "businesses" are neither corporations nor people...WTF are they? Unicorns? Leprechauns? Aardvarks?

...and this schmuck is running for President. Amazing.

His name is WILLARD!!!

well it is!

reply to post by milominderbinder

A corporation is a special form of business with certain requirements, etc. Some businesses choose to incorporate, some do not.

Businesses have some of the rights and responsibilities real people do, so in some instances they are called "people" which is only shorthand for them in a particular situation. It's a legal fiction.

Real people, like Romney, don't have all of the same requirements that either businesses or corporations do.

I hope that helped clear things up. If not, please ask again.

reply to post by OutKast Searcher


Why do you even care about Romney's tax returns? You aren't going to vote for him anyway. Is this your silly attempt to sow discord among the idiotic sheep that are thinking about voting for Romney, so Obama will win the election?

You're such an obviously blatant waterboy for Obama it's sickening.

Guess what everyone? Both Obama AND Romney will screw you six ways to sunday. They are IDENTICAL. They are both entirely captured and controlled by international banking and corporate interests.

Stop wasting your time debating about either of them.

reply to post by OutKast Searcher


So if corporations are people and he is not a corporation... is he admitting he is not really a person?

edit - Nevermind, it seems milominderbinder pretty much just made that same point.