I don’t have a problem with Mitt Romney being rich. I have a problem with him lying about being rich.
Back during the primary, Romney kept getting in trouble for acting snobbishly rich. Like when he talked about his friends who owned NASCAR teams, but especially when he tried to make a $10,000 bet with Rick Perry. The next day, Romney tried to claim that he had experienced hard times while being a Mormon missionary in Paris, saying “You’re not living high on the hog at that kind of level.” He also said of the places where he stayed “I don’t recall any of them having a refrigerator.” and that “most of the apartments I lived in had no shower or bathtub. If we were lucky, we actually bought a hose and we stuck it on the sink.”
Almost makes you feel sorry for him, doesn’t it? Well don’t.
I never said anything at the time, but it seems to me that choosing to go on a religious mission and live a simple life is a far cry from actually being poor and having no choice in the matter.
But it turns out that Romney’s life as a missionary was anything but simple. According to fellow American missionaries, Romney spent a significant portion of his missionary time living in a “palace” with gilded interiors, an extensive art collection, and two servants (a chef and a houseboy).
If I had a chef making my meals and a houseboy serving them to me, I might not recall if my “palace” had a refrigerator either! And in fact, according to other missionaries, it did have a refrigerator and all other modern conveniences, including showers, bathtubs, and even a washer-dryer.
This was in contrast to places where other missionaries stayed. According to one missionary, talking about where Romney stayed “It was much better than the other places. Most of us stayed in rented apartments quite a way from luxurious.”
My only question is, does Romney actually believe these easily disprovable statements that he keeps making?
And by the way, just to add insult to injury, there is plenty of evidence that Romney used his missionary time in order to avoid the Vietnam War. Yeah, the same Romney who participated in pro-war protests, and then lied about getting deferments.
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Lying for the Lord:
http://www.mormonwiki.org/Lying_for_the_Lord#Lying_as_missionaries
Seems part of the Mormon Religion is to avoid answering questions.
Silver spoon? I’d be surprised if it was anything less than pure gold.
More information on the mystery tax returns:
It’s pretty clear why Romney won’t release his tax returns.
Remember, Romney he was actively running for president in 2007 and 2008, and he KNEW he was going to be running in 2012. That means it’s nearly certain those years should be able to withstand scrutiny. So why not at least release the last 5 years?
Because on October 15, 2009, this happened: “Wealthy U.S. taxpayers, concerned about an Internal Revenue Service crackdown on the use of secret overseas bank accounts as tax havens, are rushing to meet a 10/15/2009 deadline to disclose those accounts or face possible criminal prosecution. The concern was triggered this summer when Switzerland’s largest bank, caught up in an international tax evasion dispute, said it would disclose the names of more than 4,000 of its U.S. account holders.
The decision shattered a long-held belief that Swiss banks would guard the identities of its American customers as carefully as they did their money, and it raised concern that other international tax havens might be next. Under an amnesty program, the IRS is allowing taxpayers to avoid prosecution for having failed to report their overseas accounts. As a result, tax attorneys across the nation have been besieged by wealthy clients who are lining up to apply even though they will still face big financial penalties.”
We KNOW Romney had money in Switzerland – he has said so himself. Therefore, the logical conclusion is that Romney doesn’t want people to know he was intentionally (and illegally) hiding money from taxation in Switzerland. There is no criminal prosecution because the IRS granted an amnesty, but it WAS ILLEGAL – and he knew it.
No wonder he is keeping them a secret – releasing them would destroy his candidacy.
Interesting theory Arthanyel. If true, I wonder if he will get away with it.
Do you have any links to support this? We should try to get this out on the intertubes.
Link to one of many stories: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/18/mitt-romney-taxes-2010_n_1683084.html
Link to discussion of third amnesty program this year which references the 2009 program which was the first one: http://financialadviserblog.dowjones.com/blog/stay-ahead-of-your-clients/new-details-on-amnesty-for-overseas-savers
It’s getting air play on liberal propaganda sites already 🙂 It makes sense, however, as it explains why the 2010 return is not complete and why he is so adamant against releasing returns during a period he KNEW was going to be scrutinized.
Thanks. I also found these links, which examine the various theories of why Romney had a swiss bank account:
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2012/07/choose-your-own-romney-tax-return-adventure/54755/
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2012/07/experts_best_guesses_on_romneys_swiss_bank_account_1.php
They include your theory (that Romney received amnesty from the IRS), but don’t seem to think it is the most likely explanation.
IK – It may not be the most likely, but it does explain why in the middle of a period he knew he was going to be scrutinized he had to do something he doesn’t want to reveal. It’s not clear what other events occurred in the time frame that would explain it – and we know they finally closed the account in 2010 because that is on his one released tax return.
As is the fact he has a 100M IRA (how is that even possible) and other juicy tidbits.
The bottom line he is won’t release his returns, and the only logical reason he won’t is that the damage he would sustain by doing so is greater than the damage he is already sustaining from keeping them secret. We can speculate on what the damaging information is – the Swiss Amnesty program fits the fact pattern – but whatever it is, it must be catastrophic.
And this is going to be an anchor around his neck.
I heard from someone who heard from someone who knew about it that said that Romney hasn’t paid ANY taxes in the last 10 years! It must be true!!!
IL-08: Very funny. I doubt that Harry Reid, or his source, are accurately stating the case. Using loopholes only available to the rich to hide their income is not illegal. But we’re not asking for Romney’s tax returns because we think there is some massive crime hidden in there – we’re asking because they will reveal what Romney actually does and how much tax he actually pays, and explode the conservative myth that the rich are overtaxed and are “job creators”. And demonstrate that Romnmey has never cared about anyone other than himself and his rich friends.