THE DNC COMES OUT SWINGING
I can usually be counted on to hold nothing but unbridled contempt for the Democratic National Committee — but they’re obviously following the lead from the Obama campaign that the issue of Willard’s taxes is an issue that needs to be hit and hit hard.
The Palin reference/implication at the very end is sheer genius.
July 17th, 2012 at 8:37 am
Bout fucking time!! Had they had the balls to do this to Bush 2 this country would be in different shape today.
July 17th, 2012 at 11:05 am
Love it. Let’s get some teeth now in this election.
July 17th, 2012 at 12:22 pm
Nice to see the DNC grow a pair. Or maybe they finally realized that playing nice in presidential politics is a losing strategy, at least in today’s political climate
July 17th, 2012 at 1:19 pm
Says Michael Tomasky “Releasing your returns is just one of those things you have to do, like eating corn dogs in Iowa. That he is even fighting this point shows us, or at least gives us much reason to suspect, that the kind of capitalism he practiced for 25 years is utterly incompatible with civic responsibility.”
Amen to all. Fuck these guys.
July 17th, 2012 at 1:41 pm
Plus, the argument has the virtue of truth to it. Why not release them?
July 17th, 2012 at 5:14 pm
This is great! The other story is that the Repugs clearly do not want Mitt. How this plays out to the FL convention is going to be rich. Mitt’s deep pockets are not going to save him. God damn, I’ve been waiting too long to see the tables turned on the Republicons. Almost worth the wait.
July 18th, 2012 at 8:53 pm
The tax issue makes Obama look pathetic. Who gives a shit about Romney’s taxes.. The guy is rich… he did everything possible to pay as little taxes as possible… big surprise…just like Warren Buffett. So unless there is some evidence that he did something illegal to avoid paying taxes, like Tim Geithner or Charlie Rangel, let’s drop the tax BS and talk about where we are going as a nation
July 19th, 2012 at 7:18 am
That’s right matt, “unless there is some evidence that he did something illegal to avoid paying taxes” which of course no one will actually know for a fact until . . . . . wait for it. . . . we see his tax forms!
matt, Tim Geithner and Charlie Rangel never ran for president and neither did they claim that their business experience was the main reason they should be elected. I think that any candidate who is running for the highest office in the land and who has offshore accounts in Switzerland, the Cayman Islands and Bermuda, and who pays just 13.9% of his income in federal taxes should probably be held to a somewhat higher level of scrutiny than a congressman or even a cabinet official.
Oh, and your reading of this thing as hurting Obama rather than Romney would be nice, if it had any basis in actual, ummmm… you know… reality.
Polls across the board show that this issue has been devastating to Romney — with even conservatives demanding that he release his tax forms — and his campaign’s reaction to the issue has shown, A} that they were very stupidly not prepared for it as an issue and, B} that they know there’s something in the taxes that is actually worse than their refusal to release the documents. Otherwise, why not just release them and be done with it?
July 20th, 2012 at 5:37 pm
So Scott what are you saying… guilty until proven innocent? Given the Romney’s income, the IRS has likely audits them every year and believe me would have heard about any discrepancies. Let’s face it, the only reason they want his tax returns is to say he is a rich guy and he avoided taxes even if he did so legally. Now as for Tim Geithner…Secretary of the Treasury… nope can’t expect him to pay his taxes… 4 years in a row on income from the IMF… and btw when the “error” initially came to light he only paid back taxes and penalties for 2003 & 2004 because the statute of limitations had run out on 2001 & 2002. He only paid those taxes when it came to light during his confirmation hearings. And Charlie Rangel…on the House Ways and Means Committee for 35 years, a ranking member for 10 years and Chairman for 3 years… so he was instrumental in setting tax policy for 35 years… yet can’t expect him understand tax law and to pay taxes. Yeah we can’t hold these guys to any standards. All I am saying is that standards need to be applied to everyone in government… you can’t give Dems a pass on proven tax illegalities and bury Republicans on unproven allegations.
July 20th, 2012 at 5:55 pm
no matt, I’m not saying guilty until proven innocent, please don’t put words in my mouth. And please don’t muddy the water by bringing Rangle or Geithner into this — because the standard for running for congress is waaaaay lower than it is running for president. Also, Giethner and Rangle PROVIDED all their tax info as you well know, or should know if you were paying the least bit of attention.
The president not only has his finger on the nuclear trigger so what he does with his money is a matter of personal charchter and should be critical to helping voters decide on whether or not to vote for the guy. And in Romney’s case his he is running on his business skills as his sole qualification for being president. So I think knowing how he paid his taxes and how he made his money is a totally valid question that the American people need answered since that’s the only reason he has for asking us to vote for him.
Given that he’s espousing fiscal policies that would reduce taxes on people like him while cutting services for the poor and middle class to pay for those tax cuts I think its reasonable for the American people to know whether Romney even paid any taxes during the last ten or so years and if not, why not.
You can prattle on about Rangle and Geithner till your heart’s content, but as part of their vetting process — Geithner 3 years ago and Rangle every two years — they’ve released ALL their taxes. The fact that one or both may have done something wrong or even illegal is up to the voters to decide upon. In the case of Rangle those voters are his constituents and they don’t seem to give a fuck. In the case of Geithner those voters were the U.S. Senate — and they too didn’t seem to care because he was confirmed by a filibuster proof 6034 vote.
Now, as for Romney? Well, his potential constituents have yet to be given the same chance Rangle and Geithner afforded theirs.
So the question then needs to be asked, why is that and what’s he hiding? And why are you and people like you so all fired happy to let him get away with not doing what every presidential candidate since HIS FUCKING FATHER have all done — namely release YEARS if not decades worth of tax forms so the voters can examine his finances?
Huh matt? HUH?