I just wanted to point out that the Harry Reid story is staying alive, thanks to none other than Fred Hiatt at the Washington Post, in a both-sides-do-it editorial titled “Reid and Romney’s sleazy rhetoric on taxes”. Synopsis: We all can agree that Harry Reid is history’s biggest villain, but where are those tax returns, anyway, Mitt?
After hearing that Romney hauled out the corpse of a welfare mother driving her Cadillac home to cook her strapping young bucks a t-bone while they watch their flat screen TV, I was wondering if Romney’s obvious, easily disproved lie about welfare reform would gain any traction. As far as I can tell, the answer outside of the Fox News world is “no”. A quick check of the Times, Post and CNN shows their ears aren’t tuned to hear that dog whistle, and Memorandum was dominated by skeptical rebuttals of the claim, while they’re still talking about Mitt’s taxes.
And even the liberal Kevin Drum is admitting that there are a few years where Romney might not have paid any tax. I think Drum and the other people who consulted their own experience, or even “experts”, on taxes were talking to the wrong people. CPAs and tax lawyers–people who can tell your run-of-the-mill small business guy with the net worth of a few million how to save a few bucks in taxes–aren’t the droids you’re looking for when you’re trying to find out how the 1% roll. One of Josh Marshall’s readers who’s in the private equity business thinks its plausible Romney didn’t pay much tax for a few years (and that other partners knew), and it’s been done before (as recently as 2010) by others.
Reid’s awful sin is that he used an anonymous source to make a plausible accusation about a set of documents that have been routinely disclosed by Presidential candidates from both parties for years. Is that so different from what journalists do every day?
schrodinger's cat
Punditubbies may be rich, but compared to Mitt they are paupers. I doubt they have access to the kind of investments Mitt makes.
Hawes
I’m sure Judith Miller is outraged!
jayjaybear
FTFY
c u n d gulag
Yes, Reid IS histories greatest monster!
It sure wasn’t the Republicans who spent 8 years on the floors of the Senate and House accusing the Clintons of one bullsh*t crime theory after another, that ‘Bob from Boise,’ and ‘Amy from Alabama’ were calling into Rush’s show with, and that they heard on their way to Congress.
Or, the “Birther” bullsh*t going on the past few years.
Or the “Swiftboating” of one of their colleagues in the Senate.
Nope, it’s Harry Reid!
Nothing to look at folks, be on your way.
dmsilev
But, but, fact checkers! Pants on fire! Incivil!
Roger Moore
FTFY, and yes.
4tehlulz
If PIMP DADDY WELFARE and OBAMA HAET ISRAEL don’t stick, what horrible act of treason will Mitt try next?
Will he finally go full birther?
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
.
Villagers got a good gig going. A gig that keeps on going no matter who wins the elections (in fact, the Crazies are better for business).
So don’t you dare pull back that curtain. Those cocktail parties ain’t going to throw themselves, Pilgrim.
MattF
It would be entertaining to hear Reid explain why he despises the Mittster–but I guess we’re not going to get to know about it until after he’s no longer a Senator.
SatanicPanic
oooh Kevin Drum walking it back. I credit Balloon Juice for giving him a hard time about it.
ChrisNYC
Romney called in Gingrich, the most disliked politician in America, to be his surrogate on the welfare lie. Good move. Gotta be a mole in that campaign.
beltane
@4tehlulz: The problem with Mitt going birther, aside from it being the kiss of death with swing voters, is that all the scrutiny placed on official documents will lead right back to the “Show us your tax returns” issue Romney is running from in the first place.
Brian R.
@Hawes:
Actually, she is, and Jon Stewart raked her over the coals for having the balls to be so outraged the other night.
Carl Nyberg
How humiliating will it be for the media outlets shilling for Romney if the tax returns come out and Reid’s source is correct?
I suppose it will be less humiliating than supporting the plan to invade Iraq.
General Stuck
I said it before. Mitt Romney may be the first major party candidate for president, that may also be a person of interest before election day.
Regardless, Mitt’s personal favorables, or likability is still in the shitter and underwater. And there seems to be a ceiling in all the polling, where he is stuck on 45 Percent of a high end number on any poll. http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/08/romneys-popularity-stays-low-obamas-is-better-but-with-challenges/
There is mountain of stink building around this guy and his personal and corporate finances, as well as greater wingnuttia, who seem to have thrown away whatever inhibitions for lying that they once had.
Therefore, due to my concern that this horse race is not shaping up to be suitably even steven, And also too, Booooring, my recommendation to the Romney camp is to swing big for a VP pick. Like maybe this guy, that would send shivers down the backs of Obots everywhere. So manly, with broad shoulders, you could land a spaceship on, and an excellent plan for killing medicare dead as Caesar. America is yearning for someone with the courage to stand up to welfare king Obama, and his dubious army of selfish seniors begging for handouts.
maven
I called Reid’s office yesterday to thank him for his stance on Romney and also for his comments on global warming. They were Very appreciative (since I’m not from Nevada) and I said I felt I could comment since his is my party’s Majority leader.
He may like the moral support:
202-224-3542 if ya got a minute…………
Carl Nyberg
@4tehlulz:
The transcripts will show Obama benefited from affirmative action. He’s Black, you know.
And Europeans like Obama. The reason the Europeans were rude to Romney is that he’s more American and knows American values.
And did you know Obama dated a White woman in college.
And Mitt Romney got rich, so that proves he can fix the economy.
hueyplong
If there is a God or other benevolent power that loves us, Harry Reid will disclose his source only by his codename, which will be “Knuckleball” or “Slider.”
Butch
But even Josh Marshall is climbing on the Reid is horrible bandwagon, which I guess kinda indicates why I rarely visit TPM any more.
Culture of Truth
As others have pointed out he did not take a salary while serving as Governor or running the Olympics, which took a few years. Romney doesn’t point this out too often, admirable though it might be, because it would remind people that he’s super rich, and raise the plausible question of whether he paid any income tax in those years.
MikeJ
@Culture of Truth: Why is it admirable to not take a salary for work done? Should we only vote for the super rich? Should workers in other fields strive to be as virtuous by not being compensated?
Ben Franklin
Reid’s awful sin is that he used an anonymous source to make a plausible accusation about a set of documents that have been routinely disclosed by Presidential candidates from both parties for years. Is that so different from what journalists do every day?
Yeah, and sometimes they’re rat-fucked like Dan Rather in 2004. Prepare yourselves for the possibility this is a set-up. Rove is still operational.
different-church-lady
Man, this place can be a real fixer-upper-for-you’er.
MikeJ
@Ben Franklin: The top marginal income tax rate is 35%. The long term cap gains rate is 15%.
The best case scenario for Mitt is that he paid 15% and people wonder why gazillionaires pay a lower rate than working people. The more likely scenario is his rate is consistently in the low single digits.
There is simply no way he paid anything like the rate humans pay.
Patrick
Romney’s dodgy tax avoidance schemes look all the more embarrassing (and unlikely to be disclosed through releasing tax returns) after hi big celebrity endorser praised him thusly:
Hah! Who’s paying and who isn’t! Hilarious. Little did he know that it’s his shitty candidate who hasn’t been paying. Nope, the real issue in old man Eastwood’s enfeebled mind is the lucky duck punks who are fortunate enough to be too poor to owe federal income tax. Yeah, never mind the vulture capitalist standing beside him who used every foreign tax sheltering scheme — no matter how cliche — to avoid paying more than single digit percentages on an 8 figure income that he wasn’t even working for.
If it’s “halftime in America”, as he said, coach Clint just put in a guy trying to throw the game because he’s bet against the team.
It just goes to show, this country’s never-ending battle against ignorance and wingnuttery must even be waged in elite Hollywood.
gbear
If being history’s greatest villian is wrong, I don’t want to be right.
@maven: Thanks for the suggestion to call Reid’s office. I’ll do it this afternoon. I also want to call all my congresscritters to make a stand for limiting access to automatic weapons and bullets. I want that bee in their bonnets for next year’s sessions, even if (when) they don’t act on it. I know Franken and McCollum would be on it if the subject came up.
Waynski
@General Stuck:
I love you Stuck, but they “once had”? When was that? The Mesozoic Age?
Harlan T. Fescue
I continue to be mystified by this so-called ”story,” though I understand why it resonates with the resentful liberal fascists who peruse this outlet. If Mr. Romney was fortunate enough to not pay oppressive federal taxes in one or several years, it is simply because his patriotic acquisition of vast monies benefited this nation, or at least the Decent Folk living in it. God bless Decent and Hard Working acquirers of vast monies for keeping this nation from becoming a complete cess pool.
maya
@Culture of Truth: Schwarzenegger did the same thing in Ca . Took no salary. Left the state a bigger mess than when he arrived. Also wanted to sell off state property at fire sale prices with 20 year guaranteed state leases included. Privatization at work, again. Brown stopped those proposed scams.
Always look a gift whore in the mouth.
gbear
Dan Rather and Harry Reid are in different galaxies. Reid is not going to go down like Dan Rather.
From Rather’s recent appearances on TV, I’m glad he doesn’t have his own show any more. He’s completely on the both-sides-do-it bandwagon. It’s embarassing to listen to him.
General Stuck
@Waynski:
Why yes, yes it was.
Age of Lizards
Ben Franklin
@MikeJ:
Oh, I agree the circumstances are different. I was referring to Harry Reid’s ‘informant’ and the mittigation of this pristine message about Romney’s taxes.
Pen
@Butch: Josh Marshall has been acting like a Broderized DC pundit for years, I rarely ever go read what his site has t say at this point. Jon Stewart’s been doing a lot f the same lately.
rikyrah
Reid’s awful sin is that he called out the MSM for trying to cover for Willard on something they NEVER would have allowed Candidate Barack Obama to do.
GO HARRY REID!!
Mark S.
That’s certainly the case with the estate tax. Regular people just use the marriage exemption and yearly gifts to decrease their estate. The uber-rich do all sorts of shit that make no sense to us paupers.
Kerry Reid
@maven: Great suggestion. Thanks! I just called and I think they did appreciate hearing a friendly and supportive voice.
lol
@Butch:
Uhm… not really.
Marshall thinks it’s a low blow the way Reid has put it out there but also thinks the issue is completely fair game and has generally talked about Reid’s bare knuckle style admiringly. He’s also gone out of his way to distinguish it from the reckless unsubstantiated charges Republicans have made while actually doing some research into how Romney might have pulled it off.
Waynski
@General Stuck: Touche, General.
The Other Chuck
Mitt’s returns would show the value he placed on the contribution he made to the IRA at the time, wouldn’t they? Given how much he had to have undervalued them, then his tax returns effectively amount to self-incrimination.
Oh yes Mitt, I want you to stand there and take the fifth.
gypsy howell
Why is it that all these pundits (Drum, Marshall, and everyone else calling Reid history’s greatest monster) don’t even for a minute consider that Reid’s source might be right, and that’s why Reid isn’t backing down?
Is it SO unfathomable to them that Romney didn’t pay any income taxes for multiple years? It seems eminently reasonable to me.
The Other Chuck
@Pen: At least most of TPM’s stories stopped accepting comments (or is it all of them now?) I used to frequent Crooks&Liars until the comment section turned into the liberal mirror of FreeRepublic…
Cacti
“We don’t know whether Mitt Romney paid any federal income taxes, but we’re certain that Harry Reid is a four-pinnochios poopy pants liar, because his allegations are impolite.”
Yes, we’ve reached the point in our failed media experiment, where “fact checkers” call you a liar if they don’t like your tone.
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us? (formerly MarkJ)
I think the only low blow charges that apply are what Reid said about what Mitt’s father would think of him. He should have refrained from dragging George into it, but other than that everything Reid’s said is within the bounds of what happens every day in politics.
James E. Powell
Why is it that all these pundits (Drum, Marshall, and everyone else calling Reid history’s greatest monster) don’t even for a minute consider that Reid’s source might be right, and that’s why Reid isn’t backing down?
This. I don’t know why they refuse to consider that Reid’s informant could be both real and reliable. It makes more sense than the assumption that Reid is lying.
First, the reason that there is room for rumors and speculations is that Romney refuses to release his tax returns. And it isn’t ‘when did you stop beating your wife?’ or ‘Are you now or have you ever been?’ It’s, “What’s behind the curtain Wizard?’ The public has a right to know this information before voting.
Second, Romney refuses to release his tax returns because he knows (not suspects, but knows) that doing so will harm his election campaign in some way, maybe in several ways. So we are left to make guesses and inferences about why that should be so. What’s in there? What could it be?
Maybe the tax returns show that Romney did not pay any taxes, or that he paid very little, and that it was all legal. Or maybe it’s something worse for Romney. We won’t know unless and until he releases the returns.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
Thought experiment: Romney wins. President until at least 2016.
What then? The issue magically drops? No. Romney’s WH then spends 4+ years hoping that no one leaks those tax returns to the press. And musings like “gee, we never really did see those tax returns, no wonder there’s so little transparency in this administration” become the order of things.
Here’s why I like what Reid is doing, ‘principle’ be damned: Not only does it trick the MSM into keeping the tax return issue in the news, but it also weakens a potential future Romney Presidency.
WaterGirl
Mistermix, that sentence is a thing of beauty, Betty Crocker-worthy, even, and that’s high praise. Most of us only wish we could write like that!
Kay Shawn
You gave away the song reference in the first line!! Gee, I was feeling so smug…and then, so old.