To Release or Not to Release, That is the Question . . .

www.odwyerpr.com

To release, or not to release, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles . . .

Governor Romney is playing a dangerous game with his tax returns, especially when he is playing fast and loose around his dealings at Bain Capital. When you have leaders of your own political persuasion chastising you, you have a big problem.

www.newscorpse.com

I'm a pretty simple voter.  I look at the person first, issues second and rarely care if they have a "D", "R", "L" or any other letter(s) next to their name. In defining a candidate, I want transparency and as much truth as possible. Governor Romney has yet to be transparent or truthful.  He has hidden the specifics of his "plan" for the country (energy, environment, transportation, healthcare, job creation,immigration, etc.) in hopes no one will notice he hasn't said anything concrete until after he is president. What is even more alarming is that he has been on both sides of virtually every issue over the span of his political career.  I don't know who I would be voting for, and during this election cycle, he hasn't helped me learn any more about who he is or what he would do as president. That may change as they go into the convention and the Fall campaign, but he seems to be a very cagy person that doesn't handle legitimate criticism or scrutiny very well.

ABC

I agree with conservative columnist George Will when he said that it was a simple exercise of political calculus, the Romney campaign thinks that scrutiny of the returns will be worse than not releasing them at all. (Hell, Romney said it himself in an interview over this past weekend!) Take that one step further: Romney has something serious to hide. We all know he's rich, we all know he has a lot of money offshore, we all know that he "only pays what is legally required, not a dollar more."  The "he's a rich guy, with rich guy money management practices" has already been revealed, what else must be reflected in the returns that makes steadfast in not follow in his father's example by releasing more than a decade worth of returns? He had to know that this is ALWAYS an issue when you run for president (or congress for that matter!).

But what sucks for voters is great for bloggers!!! Without facts the blogosphere gets to play the most fun game of all: speculation!!!!

Possible reasons he isn't releasing his tax returns:
     1. He broke the law.
     2. He had years in which he paid zero (or very little) income or
         capital gain taxes through creative accounting and loopholes.
     3. He outsourced his tax return preparation.
     4. He drew a paycheck from Bain Capital beyond 2002.
     5. He profited from companies that have interests not in line
         with the American government.
    6. His returns or so complicated that it would take a division of an
        accounting firm to actually conduct the release.

My bet?  #2.  It would be hard for him to weather the storm of criticism if a person worth hundreds of millions of dollars paid less than a school teacher in taxes all the while trying to sell the American public he is worthy the title of President of the United States. I always find it weird that people think avoiding paying taxes is patriotic, I've always felt the exact opposite and I suspect a lot of people on both sides of the political spectrum who don't live among the super rich might feel the same way.

MADMagazine.com