Josh Marshall:
Don’t Be Stupid: It’s Not About the Money.
I keep hearing that people are claiming it’s a problem that Mitt Romney is rich. Only no one actually seems to be saying that. I understand why Mitt Romney is claiming that, which he continually does. He’s changing the subject and trying to fight with a straw-man. But there’s abundant evidence — both negative and positive — that voters really don’t begrudge politicians their wealth. John Kerry, because of his marriage, was and is fabulously wealthy. Mike Bloomberg, not a problem. Bushes, Kennedys. It’s always a part of their public profile; but seldom an issue that cuts against them. So let’s cut the crap. It’s not an issue for Romney now. Everybody knows he’s worth somewhere between $150 and $250 million. He actually talks about it constantly, in as much as most of the premise of his campaign is his very real record of success as a businessman.
And let’s give him his due: he was really successful. Romney was born to wealth and privilege (Dad was CEO of AMC, then longtime governor). Mitt made a huge fortune on his own on top of that. But no one remotely relevant to this election begrudges him that. And he and his campaign know it.
Romney’s problem is that he’s running in a year in which tax equity has suddenly been thrust to the center of the public debate.
Last night, in addition to the usual "I'm not going to apologize for being successful" horseshit, Mitt said something to the effect of "No, I don't pay any more in taxes than I have to. And I don't think anyone who pays more taxes than they're legally obligated to SHOULD be President."
And you know, that's fair enough. But once again, it's not the POINT.
No, if I were making a million a year, I WOULDN'T donate extra to the IRS; Mitt's right, that would be crazy.
The problem isn't that he doesn't pay more than he has to. The problem is that he doesn't think the government SHOULD require him to pay any more than he already does.
Newt's got a similar tone-deaf response to this. He smells blood in the water but doesn't know what to do about it. He's got some claptrap about his "Mitt Romney tax plan", which is tactically good but in practice foolish. He's stated that he doesn't want to raise Romney's taxes, he wants to lower EVERYBODY ELSE'S taxes to Romney's level.
But, see, most people are ALREADY paying about the same percentage Romney does. And most people think Romney SHOULD be taxed more.
Granted, Newt's still trying to win the Republican nomination, and you can't actually do that if you suggest that there is ever an occasion where it is appropriate to raise taxes on anyone for any reason, ever. But in the off chance that he actually GETS the nom, he's not going to be able to pull off this kind of "It's not fair that his taxes are so low; let's not raise them" double-talk.