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• c u n d gulag on July 08, 2012 1:53 PM:

  If this country weren't so divided, with so many under/mis/un-informed voters, that Mitt actually has a fairly decent chance to win, his campaign could be a new form of reality TV: "Disaster Campaigning!"

  He is the worst, most stiff politician I've ever seen.
  He makes Poppy Bush look like a cross between Clinton and Obama.

  And his campaign staff is stupid, arrogant, and incompetent.

  Telling people the obvious, that Mitt is a man who's filthy rich isn't “unseemly and disgusting,” IT ISN'T EVEN FECKIN' NEWS!!!

  It's quantifying how filthy rich a man he really is, that's all.

  If this is how he's managing his campaign, what makes anyone think he'll be better at managing the country?
  

• MikeBoyScout on July 08, 2012 1:56 PM:

  The only answer is that Rmoney does not and has not ever given a tinker's dam for anyone or anything other than himself.

  That's fine, and as he and his surrogates say, not illegal.

  Thing is, as disgusting as that attitude might be in any other election cycle, 'I got mine!' plays worse this cycle.

  Gingrich saw it and played it way above his head to be a competitor in the Republican primary.

  Team Obama should land this body blow daily.
  

• SecularAnimist on July 08, 2012 2:03 PM:

  Ben Jacobs wrote: "It’s not a secret that Mitt Romney is rich or that he pays taxes at a much lower rate than most Americans."

  True enough, but that's not to say that Mitt Romney does not have OTHER secrets, which this line of inquiry might bring to light.

  When someone acts as though they are hiding something, even though it seems that "everybody already knows that", it's reasonable to suspect that there are worse things, that everybody doesn't already know, that they want to keep hidden.

  So keep digging, Vanity Fair. Keep digging.

  
  

• bleh on July 08, 2012 2:06 PM:

  If Rove were in charge, the Romneybot would attack.
  -- Attack the media for being unfair and biased.
  -- Attack Democrats for being divisive and undermining the American economy.
  If the Dems ever managed to get out of their defensive crouch to respond, and the media ever got out of THEIR defensive crouch to report it, it would sound like "am not, you are."
  I suppose we should be thankful the Romneybot's controllers are a bunch of tight-assed Boston bankers.

  The Dems really need to get with late-20th-century campaigning and go rabid on the Republicans. It's the only thing that leaves any impression on the minds of the low-information voters who are going to decide the election.

• Another Steve on July 08, 2012 2:08 PM:

  Thing is, Romney no more imagines that the mere fact that he is seeking the highest public office in the land gives the press the right to ask, or the voters the right to know, about his personal finances than he imagines that the servants who muck out the costly manure in Anne's stables have the right to ask about, or know, about his bathroom reading habits. It simply doesn't compute.

  Romney truly believes that Bush press decertification project worked, and worked so completely, that the only obligation he has to the MSM is to have people make noises at them that sound like words.

• DAY on July 08, 2012 2:18 PM:

  " “unseemly and disgusting,”"

  Also, Obama is "uppity."
  Why, I bet he won't even step off the sidewalk when they meet for a debate!

  and, even Captcha says "raciann correct"

• jjm on July 08, 2012 2:20 PM:

  Mitt is talking to and campaigning on behalf of no one but the 1%.

  And it turns out that it is the 1% who is gloomiest about 'the economy.' http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/wp/2012/07/06/better-off-americans-are-feeling-much-worse-about-the-economy-gallup/

  A recent poll also showed that most people don't think that whoever wins the presidency 'the economy' will change much, and are deciding on other grounds.

  So why would Romney be ashamed of his money? It's all he's got to run on in terms of the only audience he cares about: the 1%. And that 1% firmly believes if they spend enough to advertise him and bash Obama that Romney will certainly win.

  But as Harvey Weinstein noted so perfectly the other night: No amount of advertising money can sell a bad product, and Mitt Romney is the Edsel of political products.

• Mitt's Magic Underpants on July 08, 2012 2:20 PM:

  Let's be honest: The rich who run this country and own the politicians (like Corey Booker) will go totally ape-chite on Obama for daring to question obscene wealth. The question is: will Obama play to the people, or to the pundits?

• Texas Aggie on July 08, 2012 2:21 PM:

  The Secular Animist said what I had been thinking. First, are you sure that what he's doing is legal? Does he maybe stick a toe over the line now and then? Second, is there something else going on that we don't yet know about? Third, could Romney's lawyers and accountants have a different definition of "legal" from everyone else?

  For those reasons it would be a good idea to bring everything out in the open.

• schtick on July 08, 2012 2:41 PM:

  Poor Willard. He goes through more changes than bacon in a hot frying pan and can't take the heat when he's asked why. He has no ideas, no plans (except to do what the tealiban tells him to), and can do nothing but lie about everything.
  He can't be a man or a leader by standing up to people wanting "teh muzlem", "teh kenyan", "socialist, marxist, communist, nazi" out of office, yet cries a river when someone questions why he can't put his gazillions in America and pay more than under 15% in tax.
  These tealiban members have made me so disgusted I'll never vote for anyone in that party again. They scare the hell out of me with their wacko ideas of running this country and the world.

• arkie on July 08, 2012 2:43 PM:

  No press release from the DNC should go out without at least one reference to Willard "Swiss Bank Account" Romney.

• Walter Ali on July 08, 2012 2:51 PM:

  LOLOL..We can invade a candidates past, his sexual preferences and whether he loves animals, but DONT ask about his money...garbage.

• square1 on July 08, 2012 2:52 PM:

  I'm with Secular Animist. The fact that Democrats would give a vulture-capitalist, Republican politician the benefit of the doubt when it comes to staying within the bounds of the law -- particularly when it comes to tax evasion -- just goes to show you how pervasive the bias is in favor of "smart" and "savvy" financial elites among certain circles.

  The Swiss and Bahamian bank accounts are a great target. But IMO the $100M IRA stands out as the ultimate symbol of a rigged system. Anyone can get rich through hard work, ingenuity, and hustle. And Americans, rightly, have no problem with being rich in principle.

  But it is nearly impossible to have $100M in an IRA unless you are breaking the law...or the laws have been bent to allow crony capitalism. Because of the IRA investment caps, rich people shouldn't have any more in their IRA's on average than anyone else who can max out...certainly not $100M+.

  Average people may not understand how hedge funds or complex derivatives work. But they are pretty familiar with IRAs. And they know that neither they nor their neighbors have $100M retirement accounts.
  

• Joe Friday on July 08, 2012 2:56 PM:

  "Obama surrogate and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley landed a strong blow on ABC's This Week, stating 'I've never known of a Swiss bank account to build an American bridge, a Swiss bank account to create American jobs, or Swiss bank accounts to rebuild the levies to protect the people of New Orleans'."

  And we have liftoff. The launch vehicle has cleared the tower, and all engines are operating at 110%.

• DavidNOE on July 08, 2012 3:03 PM:

  I don't think rebuilding "levies' (i.e., taxes) would protect the people of New Orleans as well as levees would...

• Rabbler on July 08, 2012 3:15 PM:

  These elaborate schemes would seem to indicate that, rich as he his, Romney still doesn't feel that he has enough. What could be more American than that?

• cwolf on July 08, 2012 3:27 PM:

  The Romney campaign needs to just accept that their candidate is really rich and engages in elaborate, albeit legal, tax avoidance strategies.

  Romney's is a history of multiple, mass, serial lying, about everything.
  Ergo, If his lips are moving, he's lying.

  So, if Romney said it's all legal, it isn't, because he's lying.
  

• R on July 08, 2012 3:58 PM:

  Ms. Saul, I'm sorry you're stuck with a pretty crummy job, but is this the best you can do? "Unseemly" describes a campaign bus repeatedly honking the horn outside a competitor's events, like a car full of 16-year-old boys outside a girl scout camp. As for "disgusting," that would be Ted Nugent's remarks, including a veiled threat to the President, as well as the latest: “I’m beginning to wonder if it would have been best had the South won the Civil War.” Even more disgusting: Romney asked for the guy's endorsement and has yet to disavow it. Come to think of it, your job really does suck.

• TT on July 08, 2012 4:08 PM:

  This whole Swiss bank accounts/Cayman Islands/Bermuda shell corporation thing tells us show greedy Mitt Romney and how much he loves his money. He has been running for high office since 1994. He could have shut these accounts down in 2002 before running for governor or in 2006 as he prepared for his first presidential run. But he wants to be president on his OWN terms. Closing down these accounts would have meant taking a loss and losing a bit of the fortune he has built up. It is as if he is thinking.. It is okay if I do not end up winning presidency but I definitely don't want to lose my money. The sheer arrogance is amazing. It is a big eff you to american people as he is saying vote for me.

  I bet there were some years in late 1990s or in 2000's where he paid 0% or less than 5% in taxes. It could also be that he has never fully disclosed how much he made during those years and thus avoided paying 10% to the Mormon church. Come what may those records are not coming out. He will take all the political hit but will not release them.

  Mitt Romney represents everything that is wrong with American capitalism. Republicans could not have nominated anyone better that represents them. If the public elects this greedy financier then we as a country will deserve him.

• RepubAnon on July 08, 2012 4:27 PM:

  Here's the question for Mr. Romney: "Part of the republican platform is to increase government revenue by closing loopholes rather than raising taxes. Do you think that someone who has made aggressive use of loopholes to minimize his personal tax liability can be trusted to make a good-faith effort to close those same loopholes?"

• burro on July 08, 2012 4:42 PM:

  "What is surprising is the Romney campaign’s inability to formulate an answer." Mr. Jacobs

  Ahhhhh... but there's the rub. Answers just lead to more questions, (and with this guy, multiple answers). At this point, we have few answers directly from the horses ass, but even so, look at all the questions. Only the Angel Morrrroni knows the interesting tablets, I mean nuggets, of information just waiting to set a plethora of traps to be sprung by an Etch A Sketching clod like Mitt.

  Mitt's taxes and financial meanderings would provide a veritable Cirque du Soleil of Etch A Sketchery. To say it would be beyond our ability to imagine would be a gross understatement. Really gross. Mitt and his many sedan chair carriers and rose petal tossers and magical underwear wearing milieu know this to be true.

  Answers are dangerous things. One is rarely enough. And Brother Etch A Sketch almost always provides at least two.

  Hmmm... feriske REFORM. I wonder is Mitt's for that. We should ask. Probably not. Sounds too progressive.

• boatboy_srq on July 08, 2012 5:04 PM:

  I'm with SecularAnimist and DAY here.

  1) Romney is a true fraction-of-1%er. And as more of his wealth - and how he got it and maintains it - hits the mainstream press, the more he's highlighted as the first fraction-of-1%er since maybe Coolidge to get to that point by screwing his employees, his investors - heck, just about everyone around him - to accumulate all that. Of course that isn't going to go over well with voters - especially voters who've lost their shirts over the last 12 years.

  2) There's nothing these "self-made successes" detest more than having their "self-madeness" challenged, especially by "the help." TABMITWH after all, and you don't go poking into people's private finances - er, lives - if you're polite. Romney probably wouldn't have such a hard time of things now if it weren't for Lehmann Bros, BofA, Craig, Sanford, Vitter, Buchanan, Cunningham and all the others who've been caught proving their doucheness and validating the kind of criticism Obama's campaign is leveling at Romney.

• Jonathan on July 08, 2012 5:06 PM:

  I always understood Swiss bank accounts were to hide illegal income. Is there a legitimate reason for someone outside Switzerland to have one?
  

• biggerbox on July 08, 2012 5:22 PM:

  Frankly, I wouldn't mind a bit more "unseemly and disgusting" from the Obama campaign. They have a terrible tendency to be too nice to their opponents.

  Just think how disgusting it would be to point out the Romney has more money overseas than most people make in their lifetimes.

  Or how unseemly to remind people that Mitt's 5 sons, who by the way didn't sign up for service in the military, are sitting on a $100 million trust fund.

• pj in jesusland on July 08, 2012 5:30 PM:

  The appearance that a candidate has something to hide is often more damaging than the information that isn't being disclosed. Americans like their candidates as transparent as possible.

  If Romney is an internationalist it takes the sting out of Tea Party charges that Obama is a European sympathizer.

• Felicia on July 08, 2012 5:31 PM:

  I really like O'Malley. I hope he can keep his nose clean (don't do anything stupid like tweet photos of his penis or hide cash in his freezer). He could certainly be a top 2016 Democratic presidential candidate.

• emjayay on July 08, 2012 5:45 PM:

  Maybe ten percent of voters (you know, like you and me)have some minimal comprehension of the actual issues. Most people vote on a couple of simple concepts, like opposition to abortion which is mentioned by lots of R voters. Or he's gonna take away your guns. Or he's black.

  Everyone has some kind of image of "Swiss Bank Accounts" and so it makes a nice symbol for the whole slightly more complex stuff, like the inexplicable 100M IRA and Cayman Islands accounts and some blind trust he opened the day before he was governor and the car elevator and the horse dancing etc.

  I don't see how Mitt can continue to obfuscate and try to change the subject while not revealing his tax records. "Swiss bank accounts, Cayman Islands, secret tax records...Mitt, what are you trying to hide?"

• Tess on July 08, 2012 5:53 PM:

  I'm with Felicia. I think O'Malley may be an up and comer. "Nothing Says Jobs Like Transvaginal Probes". Bet he speaks at the convention.

• Tess on July 08, 2012 5:57 PM:

  This line was lost in cyberspace.;-(

  Here's a great quote about Virginia Gov McDonnell,

• Anonymous on July 08, 2012 6:14 PM:

  @square1: Just speculating, mind you, but remember that an IRA has both the original money put in, and whatever has since been earned through investments. I'm not sure how Mitt managed to start an IRA, unless there's some kind that's available to all income levels, but assume that he somehow managed to get $1000 into an IRA.

  Now, as a savvy investor, Mitt looks around and spots a great opportunity where some company - let's call it "Mitt's Left Hand Co." - is about to take off. So using his right hand he has his $1000 IRA invested in that company, and sure enough the first thing the company does is pay a $100 million dividend to the shareholders, of which Mitt's IRA curiously happens to be the only one.

  Unfortunately the company then goes bankrupt, as companies associated with Mitt tend to do, and its original investors (whoever they might be, wink-wink nudge-nudge) end up with a hundred-million-dollar loss that they can write off their taxes. Meanwhile, Mitt's IRA gets to keep the $100 million and he won't have to pay taxes on that money until he retires, however that's defined for people like him.

  Again, this is complete speculation on my part, and I'm certainly not claiming anything like this happened; but in the absence of any information to the contrary we can only speculate, right?

• PTate in MN on July 08, 2012 6:53 PM:

  The choice of words such as "unseemly" and "disgusting" is interesting. Those words are the weapons of class warfare. Unseemly signifies a lack of manners and courtesy, not classy. People whose behavior is unseemly are vulgar, unrefined, not well-bred, inferior in status, ugly. Disgusting signifies that which is dirty, crude and unclean.

  These are classic terms used by a certain kind of elite to dismiss those who threaten their standing on the social ladder. Republican voters, the most shallow voters ever, love this kind of posturing.

  captcha: becastu successful

• Doug on July 08, 2012 7:12 PM:

  We DO NOT want Democrats investigating Romney's accounts - wherever around the world they may be! Any digging done by Democrats will immediately be labeled, and the results dismissed, as PARTISAN, for Heaven's sakes! That applies to any criminal activity that may surface if done by, say, the DoJ (that old GOP projection, you know!).
  Let the "Atlantic" keep up the good work, we can, and I have no doubt will, use whatever is reported there. Saves money too, which can then be used for campaign ads.
  A "twofer", so to speak...
  

• Kathryn on July 08, 2012 7:21 PM:

  I 'm with all of you all especially C Wolf, if Romney's lips are moving, he's lying, it's quite amazing actually. Saw a clip on Chris Hayes Show this morning where a woman at Romney event ask him about his Cayman Island account, crowd hisses her and Mitt said, he's never saved a cent in taxes by having an account in Cayman Islands, the end. Right, that makes a ton of sense, he just likes his money to vacation in the Carribean.

  One other thing, is Mitt the biggest wuss you've ever seen, his wife drives the jet ski, he sits with his hands folded like a little boy and gazes adoringly while she talks tough, he literally turns my stomach?

• Wapiti on July 08, 2012 7:32 PM:

  The speculation I saw the other day was that Romney might have taken advantage of the IRS's first offshore tax amnesty (which ran through Oct 15, 2009). That might show on his 2009 tax return; I've no idea. But if he only released his 2010 tax records and an estimate for 2011, it certainly makes one wonder.

• Steve P on July 08, 2012 7:53 PM:

  It's a set-up.
  A guy named Jimmy Dell had him sign a club membership form and it turned out to be an application for a Swiss account.

• Texas Aggie on July 08, 2012 10:25 PM:

  From what I understand, the Mittster put a bunch of stock in his IRA when it was ridiculously low. It was some that he had been given. Then of course, it increased tremendously in value so that all of a sudden the IRA had more money in it than it knew what to do with. I just sincerely hope that it was a standard IRA, not a Roth IRA because any increase in value of a Roth is tax free.

• James S. on July 09, 2012 4:11 AM:

  These political character assassination do not move our democracy forward. We need to be arguing about ideas and proposals, not personal trains and dirty laundry. It is imperative that we come up with ideas that make us better today and tomorrow than yesterday. It support our democracy to deal on a higher level of discussions

• Neildsmith on July 09, 2012 4:35 AM:

  Liberals like me often take solace in the thought that our losses are caused by "under/mis/un-informed voters". But perhaps it is time to ditch this excuse and start admitting that the problem is more complicated. Lots of people who should be natural supporters of the Democratic party (and benefit from SS, Medicare, Medicaid etc) don't vote at all. The GOP has been very effective at convincing these people their programs are safe so it's OK to stay home or vote for GOP candidates. And really - are they wrong? The GOP hasn't actually cut these programs (yet) and Bush expanded Medicare with the drug benefit. Aside from the culture wars (which aren't all that important to most people except as debating points) what's the reason to vote for Democrats?

• bluestatedon on July 09, 2012 8:20 AM:

  "These political character assassination do not move our democracy forward."

  Asshole James S. is nothing but a spammer. Don't click the link.

• bluestatedon on July 09, 2012 8:22 AM:

  "Aside from the culture wars (which aren't all that important to most people except as debating points) what's the reason to vote for Democrats?"

  If you have to ask, you've never actually read a single article here at WM. I think you might be at the wrong website.

• J on July 09, 2012 8:35 AM:

  IF Romney (god forbid) were elected president, would he place his hand on the book of mormon when taking the oath of office?

• Peter C on July 09, 2012 9:17 AM:

  Whenever FOX NEWS complains that something is "unseemly and disgusting", you can bet that actualy it is EFFECTIVE! The last thing we should do is pull back, hoping to seem more polite; we won't get any praise from FOX for being nice - what we'll get is vicious attacks.

• Jim Treacher on July 09, 2012 10:30 AM:

  I'm going to ask George Clooney about this at his Obama fundraiser next month in Geneva.

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• Anonymous on July 20, 2012 5:05 AM:

  O'malley is a mindless prick that does nothing but raise taxes, kill business and cause the good people of maryland to leave the state. But hey its the blacks that keep electing this idiot to office because they reap all the free give aways. 400,000 people have left the city of baltimore since 1999 Not one fortune 500 company left in the state of maryland. O'malley lost Northrup Gruman to Virginia and whats the best he can come up with as a response. Its a win-win for the region. The guy is a ass and a loser. IRS records indicate that over 31000 high earners and tax payers have left the state. Whats this idiot going to do when all the business move and the people paying the taxes leave. Guess the blacks won't get anything

• Anonymous on July 20, 2012 5:16 AM:

  If its legal, whats the problem? Jealous people worried about the money being made by someone else. Hey loser's if you don't like your current situation and economic future get another job, go back to school or start your own business. remember O'bama said that you'll have help if you've made it in your own business. O'bama has never made a honest dollar his whole life, hell not even a dishonest buck. Atleast Mitt has created a business. Share the wealth, how how bout sharing my bills. Change, thats whats left over after O'bama has his way. Another tax you to death and high unemployment rate president. It'll all be over in 5 more months.

• Sherrymdl on July 20, 2012 6:59 AM:

  like Gerald explained I am blown away that a stay at home mom can earn $6247 in 1 month on the computer. did you see this link (Click on menu Home more information) http://goo.gl/v9oXD
  

• Holly Stewart on October 17, 2012 3:00 AM:

  Obama and Romney are totally different leaders in their own way. The situation for now is that President Obama fought back whereas the Republican leader Romney stands ground in their recent debate. I had noticed one debate when Romney said about the IT jobs after recession. Well I don't think IT sector has any issue for now in U.S. as IT support Los Angeles is showing a quite good response against recession and job sector.

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