Romney, Taxes And Cabinet Positions

A certain Mr. Harry Reid has set off a kerfuffle with his statement that Romney hadn’t paid taxes for 10 years:

“He didn’t pay taxes for 10 years! Now, do I know that that’s true? Well, I’m not certain,” said Reid.

After reading the article, I’ve found this claim by Harry Reid to be only the SECOND most amazing thing he mentioned.  I mean, forget that I could say  that my buddy saw Dale Earnhardt Jr. giving Michelle Obama the business while she was here on a campaign stop, “Now, do  I know that that’s true?  Well, I’m not certain.”

The MOST amazing claim from the Majority Leader was this:

In a wide-ranging interview with The Huffington Post from his office on Capitol Hill, Reid saved some of his toughest words for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Romney couldn’t make it through a Senate confirmation process as a mere Cabinet nominee, the majority leader insisted, owing to the opaqueness of his personal finances.

Are you kidding me?  Let’s look:

  • Kathleen Sebelius
  • Tom Daschle
  • Tim Geithner
  • Eric Holder
  • Hillary Clinton

All members or nominees of Obama’s cabinet.  THIS President clearly doesn’t care if members of the Cabinet pay or not pay their taxes.

 

10 responses to “Romney, Taxes And Cabinet Positions

  1. I think Reid is saying that no one could withhold so much infomation and make it through. Did these people not give the kind of detailed information Reid wants?

    I think Reid is playing attack dog here, trying to increase speculation about what Romney’s hiding and feed a narrative that Romney is secretive and “must be hiding something” if he won’t show his tax returns. I expect a few Democrats will continue to play that role and say those things to keep the story alive and “define” Romney.

    Romney could make it all go away by releasing his tax returns and making a strong defense of his practices. I think his campaign is really stumbling, they’ve let Obama define him because their calculation is that if they could attack Obama hard and drive up his negatives, all Romney would have to do is avoid offending people and be seen as a safe alternative knowledgable about economics. But by not aggressively defining himself, he’s remained vanilla and thus open to such attacks. Right now Romney’s negatives are higher than Obama’s. He can still turn it around, but he has to make a case for himself, not just against Obama. (For what it’s worth, while I disagree with how the tax code is structured, if he legally managed to pay no federal taxes for ten years, then I’d say he has good tax lawyers and accountants working for him).

    • I think Reid is saying that no one could withhold so much infomation and make it through. Did these people not give the kind of detailed information Reid wants?

      It would be hard to believe it. They didn’t pay their taxes.

      I think Reid is playing attack dog here

      I agree. It’s pretty clear.

      Romney could make it all go away by releasing his tax returns

      Here we go with the “birther” argument.

      But by not aggressively defining himself, he’s remained vanilla and thus open to such attacks. Right now Romney’s negatives are higher than Obama’s. He can still turn it around, but he has to make a case for himself, not just against Obama.

      Yes. Romney should embrace the fact that he moved jobs overseas. AND explain that the reason companies do that is because the United States makes labor too expensive; and he’ll change all that.

      • But you KNOW if they paid or didn’t pay their taxes – with Romney you don’t know. Not being able to provide that information is what makes him unqualified – that’s Reid’s point. It’s not a birther argument, even top Republicans have called on him to release his taxes – and most candidates do. Also there is real reason to think he’s hiding something. Romney needs to make his case openly and honestly, as you state at the end. People may agree or disagree, but he seems afraid to defend his approach to capitalism. That makes Obama’s critique more credible to independents.

        • But you KNOW if they paid or didn’t pay their taxes – with Romney you don’t know. Not being able to provide that information is what makes him unqualified – that’s Reid’s point.

          Scott, people who HAVE made it through the process are demonstrable tax cheaters. They didn’t pay their taxes. And all that Reid has is a call that may or may not have been made by a person that may or may not exists claiming that taxes were or won’t paid.

          I think that a proven tax cheater is worse than a claim by an anonymous source.

          So Reid makes a totally unsubstantiated claim using a source that may or may not exist and THEN he claims that Romney couldn’t make it through the Senate confirmation process. And by the way, the list above has 4 confirmed tax cheaters; all democrats. Perhaps Reid need mind his own knitting.

          It’s not a birther argument,

          It is.

          Back then people were making claims about Obama that could be put to bed with his releasing his birth certificate. Now people are making claims about Romney that could be put to bed with his releasing his tax documents.

          You think you are right to suspect that he didn’t pay his taxes. Those birthers thought THEY were right to suspect that he wasn’t born here. You think you’re right just as much as they thought they were right.

          They are the same.

  2. Okay, just grabbing the obvious example, Hillary Clinton released 7-8 years of her tax returns before confirmation because she was running for president. How is that opaque?

    • Okay, just grabbing the obvious example, Hillary Clinton released 7-8 years of her tax returns before confirmation because she was running for president.

      Whoa whoa whoa, all I’m saying is that I heard she didn’t pay her taxes. Now, do I know that that’s true? Well, I’m not certain.

      This can just be taken to the point of ridiculousness.

      • That’s not at all what you’re saying. You made that argument about Earnhardt and the First Lady, but then you went off on a tangent about opaqueness, with another quote, a list of names, and then a wild assertion. You weren’t saying you heard Hillary didn’t pay taxes, you were calling her a tax cheat, it’s a completely different argument.

        And yes, your whole blog is an exercise in taking things to the point of ridiculousness. I have gotten to the point of hoping it’s all just clever satire instead of, well, the opposite of both.

        • then you went off on a tangent about opaqueness, with another quote, a list of names, and then a wild assertion.

          Tangent?

          The whole point is that Reid made two claims. One that is stupid and another that is “stupider.”

          The first claim he made was that Romney hasn’t paid taxes in 10 years; that’s stupid.

          The second claim is that he couldn’t make it through the Cabinet process. The idea being that issues with taxes would somehow prevent such a nomination. Even consideration. That’s even worse.

          I pointed out 4 folks who went through that Cabinet process who didn’t pay their taxes. Clearly paying or not paying taxes doesn’t bother this President much, or, I suspect, Mr. Reid. I added Clinton [who doesn’t have tax issues that I’ve heard of] only to add a twist that if called out out on Shenenigans, would spotlight the first claim.

          As a gimmick it worked, even if the whole claim wasn’t earnest.

          I have gotten to the point of hoping it’s all just clever satire instead of, well, the opposite of both.

          I’ve noticed myself that the tone has been more belligerent than I would like. While not a gifted writer to begin with, angry and bitter posts are dull and put-offish.

          But thanks for the feedback; serves to drive improvement.

          • Reid’s point is that you have to turn over your returns to be vetted for a cabinet post, not that you have to pay taxes to be in the cabinet. And you’ll note that Daschle’s tax problems got him removed from the cabinet consideration, while the others made good on what they owed, I believe. That’s the advantage of vetting these people, something Romney won’t let us do.

            As for caring whether they pay their taxes or not, notice how Obama’s people handled Geithner:
            “During the vetting of Mr. Geithner late last year, the Obama transition team discovered the nominee had failed to pay the same taxes for 2001 and 2002. “Upon learning of this error on Nov. 21, 2008, Mr. Geithner immediately submitted payment for tax that would have been due in those years, plus interest,” a transition aide said. The sum totaled $25,970.”

            Of course they care, because these things are public concerns and it’s bad to hide tax evasion (it’s also bad to commit it, of course). But these people were vetted by the white house and by the senate, something Romney would never subject himself to because of his extreme secrecy.

  3. Reid never said you couldn’t get a cabinet post without paying taxes. He said you have to provide the information about your taxes that Romney is refusing to admit.

    Again, Romney did NOT say you couldn’t get through the cabinet process without paying taxes. He said you had to show your records. You can be a tax cheater and get through, but you have to show your tax returns. That’s the point. You have not denied Reid’s point.

    You totally misunderstood what Reid was saying. Anyway, this story has legs and will probably last through the election — the more Romney avoids releasing his taxes the more people will (correctly, I suspect) realize that the only reason a candidate would suffer this much bad publicity and not release the taxes is that if he did the damage would be worse.

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