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[Mongrel]

Lieberman: Fuck Lieberman.

On this, I think we all agree.

[Royal☭]

You might have noticed in that glowing Fox News puff piece on Ryan that they mentioned he likes Rage Against the Machine. Well, Tom Morello responds

I wonder what Ryan's favorite Rage song is? Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of "Fuck the Police"? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!

[Shinra]

Obama's campaign is offering to drop the tax issue if Romney releases his tax returns from 2007-2012.

It's starting to crystallize that the reason that Romney isn't releasing his tax returns is probably because in 2009 he became a pardoned felon. Since this information would be on government record, it's perfectly plausible that this information could have been passed on to Harry Reid.

The reality is that if Mitt took the amnesty he will never release the returns. If he did, the only chance for Republicans to win this election would be for him to step down and pass the torch to Ryan. Given that he won't, it's free reign for the Obama campaign to hammer him over taxes for the next three months.

Other possibilities; He received tax credits and paid negative tax, or he paid more in tithing to the mormon church than he did in taxes, and wrote off the tithing as a deduction. Nothing good for Romney can come from releasing the returns.

[Brentai]

We are literally treating this guy like he's Al Capone.

[Shinra]

We are literally treating this guy like he's Al Capone.

Every other candidate for president releases their returns, and have since Romney's father started the tradition. He's running for president on a platform where he claims if they cut the capital gains tax, income tax and corporate taxes that they can make up the difference by closing tax loopholes. If it could be proven that he's engaged in ruthless tax evasion for the last five years and the only reason he's not in prison for it is because the IRS granted amnesty, it would completely deflate his campaign.

[Thad]

Obama's campaign is offering to drop the tax issue if Romney releases his tax returns from 2007-2012.

It's starting to crystallize that the reason that Romney isn't releasing his tax returns is probably because in 2009 he became a pardoned felon. Since this information would be on government record, it's perfectly plausible that this information could have been passed on to Harry Reid.

"Pardoned felon" isn't really the right phrase.  It's possible that he accepted amnesty for a possible crime for which he was never convicted, prosecuted, or even accused.

The reality is that if Mitt took the amnesty he will never release the returns. If he did, the only chance for Republicans to win this election would be for him to step down and pass the torch to Ryan.

Is there actually any historical precedent for something like that occurring?  A party nominating someone who didn't even run in the primary?

I guess it's possible, but I sure wouldn't count on it.

Given that he won't, it's free reign for the Obama campaign to hammer him over taxes for the next three months.

Free REIN.  Kings have reigns, horses have reins.

Other possibilities; He received tax credits and paid negative tax, or he paid more in tithing to the mormon church than he did in taxes, and wrote off the tithing as a deduction. Nothing good for Romney can come from releasing the returns.

Well, right, which is why I don't see any need to look for conspiracy theories.  Even if everything he's done has been by-the-book, there's bound to be something offensive in there, because the very way the book WORKS is to provide advantages to guys like him.

I know he's got offshore investments.  And it's entirely possible he had a Swiss bank account and accepted the '09 amnesty.  But absent any real evidence of it, I think there are plenty of simpler reasons why he wouldn't want to put his returns under the microscope.

[TA]

"Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan" literally anagrams to "My ultimate Ayn Rand porn".

[Büge]

 

[Cait]

The 2009 thing is actually in my area of relative expertise! Short version: the Treasury Department has required detailed disclosure (including account numbers and balances) of foreign bank accounts in excess of $10,000. Some people were unaware of this requirement, others were and deliberately didn't disclose because that's information that might reveal things worth auditing them over. Nonetheless, in 2009 the Treasury Department authorized a program to let people step forward and voluntarily disclose 8 years back and file amended (or original) tax returns, as well as pay a rather large fine. In exchange, no further fines, penalties, or criminal charges would be sought to the extent that the information provided was valid.

[Brentai]

So Romney's 2009 tax returns probably contain information all the way back to 2001?

[Cait]

No, the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative filings are just a lump package that covers filings for all the involved years.

Technically the Foreign Bank Account Report isn't even part of your tax return itself, it's a distinct entity which goes to a different department than the IRS with different rules and due dates. The IRS is just in charge of administering and collecting it because they've already built that infrastructure for tax returns. I'm honestly not sure if the various candidates have been disclosing a sanitized version of that as well, or just their straight-up IRS filing. I should check when I'm feeling less lazy.

[Shinra]

Inevitability rears it's head off the shore of the caymen islands, cresting the water like a great whale of corruption and spraying great gouts, fountains of money in all directions as Gawker releases 950 pages of Mitt Romney's insane financial practices.

This probably would not have happened if Mitt had just released his fucking returns to shut everybody up.

edit: Mitt probably didn't retire from Bain until 2002 at the earliest, and possibly not until 2008

[Thad]

It's always cool to see original documents, and if we had come across all these, we would have published them too, but if you're looking for a big revelation about Romney's money, this isn't the place to look.

Business Insiders biases are probably obvious, but it's got a point -- "950 pages!" "Cayman Islands!" make for good headlines and campaign ads, but this isn't really new information.

Can't imagine it having anything but a negative effect on Romney in the polls, though.

[Mongrel]

To say nothing of the fact that if you give a muckraker sensationalist 950 pages of ANYTHING, you can be sure they'll be able to make up damn near any story they want out of it.

[Thad]

Oh boy.

The Economist -- about as natural a fucking ally as Mitt has in all the world -- is hammering him for his flip-flops, his rightward slide on social issues, and the general point that they don't know where the fuck he stands on any issue.

The damage done to a Romney presidency by his courting of the isolationist right in the primaries could prove more substantial. He has threatened to label China as a currency manipulator on the first day of his presidency. Even if it is unclear what would follow from that, risking a trade war with one of America’s largest trading partners when the recovery is so sickly seems especially mindless. Some of his anti-immigration policies won’t help, either. And his attempts to lure American Jews with near-racist talk about Arabs and belligerence against Iran could ill serve the interests of his country (and, for that matter, Israel’s).

Once again, it may be argued that this will not matter: previous presidents pandered to interest groups and embraced realpolitik in office. Besides, this election will be fought on the economy. This is where Manager Romney should be at his strongest. But he has yet to convince: sometimes, again, being needlessly extremist, more often evasive and vague.

In theory, Mr Romney has a detailed 59-point economic plan. In practice, it ignores virtually all the difficult or interesting questions (indeed, “The Romney Programme for Economic Recovery, Growth and Jobs” is like “Fifty Shades of Grey” without the sex). Mr Romney began by saying that he wanted to bring down the deficit; now he stresses lower tax rates. Both are admirable aims, but they could well be contradictory: so which is his primary objective? His running-mate, Paul Ryan, thinks the Republicans can lower tax rates without losing tax revenues, by closing loopholes. Again, a simpler tax system is a good idea, but no politician has yet dared to tackle the main exemptions. Unless Mr Romney specifies which boondoggles to axe, this looks meaningless and risky.

Granted, these are British intellectual policy wonks and not exactly a core Republican constituency.  But I still don't think it bodes well for him.

[Brentai]

I was digging for information on Romney's actual economic record and, um, hm.

We found that Massachusetts was one of the states considering a ban on contracting with companies that outsourced labor overseas. Ultimately, Romney vetoed the measure because he said that even if those jobs were back in the United States, they would not necessarily have been in Massachusetts.

Yuck.  I know that you can tackle that both ways - he was looking out for MA's interests, as he was elected to - but, well, that's at the expense of American jobs.  It's a pretty "Got Mine, Fuck You" policy.  Exactly what else will he prioritize before doing the right thing?

[Mongrel]

indeed, "The Romney Programme for Economic Recovery, Growth and Jobs" is like "Fifty Shades of Grey" without the sex

Hey Economist, your British is showing.

...and I love you for it.

[Thad]

"No one's ever asked to see my birth certificate," Romney told a rally of some 7,000 people in his home state of Michigan.

"They know that this is the place that we were born and raised," he said to the laughter of the crowd, speaking alongside his wife, Ann.

Welp, at least it's Friday, huh?  The news media will have some new chew toy come Monday.

[Brentai]

Cue the media having a ball with it, cue the GOP crying about how mean the liberals are being and why don't they talk about the economy?

This cycle is getting really tiresome.  What do we need to do to break it?

[Shinra]

Why in fuck's name would Mitt try to reach out to the birthers? Besides these people being the craziest element of the republican party, they're already going to be lining up around the block to try to vote out the manchurian muslim negro. It's not like he needs to drum up support with these fucking people.

Cue the media having a ball with it, cue the GOP crying about how mean the liberals are being and why don't they talk about the economy?

This cycle is getting really tiresome.  What do we need to do to break it?

The GOP could stop pretending like the farthest element of the right isn't already a given since there's a hated liberal incumbent who also happens to be black. It's the left that needs to worry about people coming out to the polls, not the right. Of course, if they did that the GOP 's chances of winning this thing would probably improve substantially, and I'd hate to see that happen, so by all means Mitt, drop the N-bomb on stage and start talking about how Obama is a secret muslim.