I hadn’t thought of this before, but why on earth did Romney keep the Swiss bank account?
“Put any three consultants of either party in a room six years ago and you can’t tell me they wouldn’t have told him: Get rid of the Swiss bank account,” Trippi said. “He just seems impervious to what things sound like or look like and that they make people who otherwise might vote for him very wary.”
Patricia Kayden
He’s a robot. He doesn’t understand people.
Patricia Kayden
He’s a robot. He doesn’t understand people.
dr. bloor
This is the unifying principle behind everything we’ve seen.
I think his decision to share his innermost thoughts about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with a roomful of checkbooks is going to hurt him a lot more than the 47% shit. For some, his thinking is morally unacceptable, and for others he just shit the bed by making the implicit “run out the clock” strategy explicit. Even if you agree with him, the strategic error is unforgivable and irreversible.
MattR
Obviously making every last dollar possible trumps winning the presidency (no pun intended)
Emma
He really doesn’t see why he shouldn’t have one.
dmsilev
He’s not actually a very good manager.
For more hilarity, take a look at the NY Times’s account of how the Romney camp spent yesterday evening:
The sweaty and stinky reporter is just the icing on the cake.
Brachiator
Romney clearly refuses to be inconvenienced by anything that might ruffle his fabulous lifestyle. He is as rigid about this as he is about refusing to release his tax returns.
Besides, he probably thinks that everyone has a Swiss bank account.
At least, the non moochers.
Jewish Steel
Six years ago? Hasn’t he been running for public office on and of for 20? You’d think anyone with an ounce of political savvy would see that kind of shit is toxic.
TR
Because he lives in a bubble, where if it’s legal, it’s not a problem.
And you people don’t need to know what’s in there anyway.
Violet
Now would be a good time to renew calls for Romney to release his tax returns. Is he one of the mooching 47%?
JCT
I am still amazed that no one has just come right out and asked Romney if he received AMNESTY (BOO!) in 2009 for his Swiss Bank account. Simple enough question.
Villago Delenda Est
@dmsilev:
WTF is Rmoney’s problem?
He’s fucking up the refs’ off duty time for three questions, and stalking off as the fourth is being asked?
Does he want the entire media establishment to hate him? Does he think that’s the key to getting 50.000000001% of the EC vote? Or is he under the impression that the national popular vote is what counts?
He does realize that at least three electors (all Paulistas) who are nominally pledged to vote for him should their states go red have already publically announced they’ll vote for someone other than Mittens?
The stooooopid. IT BURNS!
Waynski
I’ve thought for awhile now that he’s just an over-glorified tax attorney and that all these “He’s a great businessman” stuff was always, always bullshit. He was good at looting and hiding money and he didn’t give a shit who got hurt in the process. A genuinely smart business man turned politician wouldn’t need a political consultant to tell him to close the accounts. He would have closed them before he even entered the race. The man’s a sociopath in an expensive suit.
MattF
I guess it’s not nice to say this, but we’re dealing with a believer in the ‘Triumph of the Will’. Doubters can say whatever, but if Der Mitt truly believes it’s OK, then it’s OK. Period.
IowaOldLady
I see that Jimmy Carter’s grandson was the one who connected David Corn to the videos. Given the digs Romney’s been taking at Carter, I’m beginning to think there is such a thing as poetic justice.
burnspbesq
The main entrance to my office building is about 50 feet from the stage entrance to the Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall. Too bad I left at 6:15; apparently I missed quite the fire drill.
Violet
@Villago Delenda Est: Everyone already hates Romney. He’s just making everyone hate him more. From watching body language, I think even his wife doesn’t like him. And his kids are afraid of him. No one actually likes him.
Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker
Charlie Pierce said he talked to an old Republican friend who worked on R-money’s state campaigns, and the guy said Willard just doesn’t listen. Not surprising that the CEO isn’t interested in underlings’ advice.
And now John Sununu is on MSNBC. Who thinks that’s a good idea? and now Bay Buchanan is a regular on TV for him? I hate Willard, and I almost feel sorry for him when I see the bottom of the barrel he has to scrape for surrogates.
danielx
Fixed. Just because.
The Ancient Randonneur
When Joe Trippi can tell you why you f*cked up, you are in very, very deep sh*t.
burnspbesq
@JCT:
Wrong question. There are a surprisingly large number of people who applied for the 2009 OVDI whose cases the IRS hasn’t finished processing. You would ask whether he “participated” in the 2009 OVDI. Harder to parse your way out of that.
Violet
What was up with Romney’s hair last night? That’s the one thing that always seems very controlled and predictable. And yet last night he looked unkempt. Did he not even comb his hair and add another layer of 1950’s hair pomade?
NotMax
@MattF
Heil Mittler?
Wapiti
I hadn’t thought of this before, but why on earth did Romney keep the Swiss bank account?
I think it’s because Mitt Romney worships Mammon. I wish I were kidding, but I’m not. I think Money is his god and he doesn’t value anything more than Money.
fuzz
Because to him it’s nothing to be ashamed of. He’s lived his life in a bubble where having a Swiss account is a sign that you are a serious and accomplished man. He probably thought people would be impressed by it.
Jon Rockoford
I’m surprised that more people in the MSM have not noticed what is increasingly and clearly evident: Romney is a very inept person.
He has constructed a myth of competence and many have accepted it because he’s been financially successful. But his life has been one gift after another. He may be intelligent enough to speak in complete sentences, but his successes were the direct product of sponsored social and economic mobility.
His stint at Bain is particularly instructive: he was hired and promoted because of his prominent family and private school education but he created nothing and managed nothing. He was not Jobs or Gates. He just played with other people’s money. He was not an entrepreneur, he did not have a single creative idea and seems to have had no skills whatsoever.
His campaign is inept because he’s inept.
Kristine
@NotMax:
::rimshot::
danielx
Mittens: Because everybody who is anybody has one. Why would I get rid of it, and why should anyone be offended?
I know Mitt Romney and his ilk live different lives from most of us; that I can handle. However, the increasing evidence that they are not even members of the human race, much less living on the same planet as the rest of us, is becoming difficult to ignore.
SatanicPanic
@The Ancient Randonneur:
Can’t wait for Mark Penn to start chiming in
Villago Delenda Est
Perhaps this guy is a performance artist, and his goal is to do the impossible: lose this election 1964 style.
I know, everyone says he won’t go below 47%, but I think he sees it as a challenge to surprise everyone and pull only 40%.
Kristine
@Jon Rockoford:
Born on third base, and thought he hit a triple.
Oh, if Ann Richards and Miz Molly were alive today….
BudP
Money is his Aqua Buddha
burnspbesq
@danielx:
Bah. Swiss bank accounts are for pikers. If you really want to impress me, show me your Liechtenstein anstalt.
Villago Delenda Est
@Kristine:
The guy seems to think that the opposing team will defer to him as he attempts to steal home while doing the backstroke.
He’s that delusional.
JCT
@burnspbesq: Good point — though I remain amazed that the subject hasn’t been broached in any form.
burnspbesq
@Kristine:
Imagine the conversations Molly Ivins and Steve Gilliard are having in Heaven. Sigh. Gone too soon, both of them.
burnspbesq
@Kristine:
Born with a silver foot in his mouth.
NotMax
Simply put, Romney conflates monetary success with virtue.
TK-421
A DFH already answered this question, FWIW.
My own paraphrased but essentially same answer: because for Mitt, when push comes to shove (i.e. would you rather have the bank account or the Presidency?), he’d rather have the money.
What a patriot.
Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker
@Kristine:
Yup
“I have inherited nothing.” He remarked, “There is a perception, ‘Oh, we were born with a silver spoon, he never had to earn anything and so forth.’ Frankly, I was born with a silver spoon, which is the greatest gift you can have: which is to get born in America.”
That’s the man who raised the Mittlets.
SpotWeld
There is a turn of phrase that is trite, but can be used as a point of insight.
“Treat the world like your neighborhood, not your neighbothood like your world”
The general point was for people living in cities to be aware of the wider world around them (usually as part of a think global: act local campaign).
When you apply this to Romney, you realize his neightborhood is his world. The small percentage of people who are in the top 5% are his world. The rest, simply doesn’t exist.
Get rid of his Swiss bank account? Why? Everyone (in the world) has one, why should he suffer by being the only one who doesn’t?
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
@Violet:
__
The old wisdom used to be that in Washingon, if you want somebody to like you, get a dog. For Mitt, even that wouldn’t work.
Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker
@burnspbesq:
And David “Frank Burns” Broder is trying to file official complaints about their foul-mouthed, vituperative and unseemly jocularity, with all due respect to Father Mulcahy.
burnspbesq
@JCT:
Be just a tiny bit careful there. The United States serves as a bank secrecy jurisdiction for a lot of rich Central and South Americans. A Delaware corporation is every bit as opaque to foreign tax authorities as a Liechtenstein anstalt is to the IRS. The reason why the Florida congressional delegation is going bat-shit crazy over FATCA is that they understand that foreign countries will want reciprocal disclosure, and if there is reciprocal disclosure billions of dollars of flight capital will get withdrawn from South Florida banks.
Carnacki
To the people that matter, you know, people like him, a Swiss bank account is normal. The rest of us, who we are, what we say or think, does not matter to him.
The Other Chuck
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ:
“… and don’t strap it to the roof of your car.”
muddy
We had a Swiss account when living in the Middle East, but it was a function of being wary of the stability of their banking and general uncertainty of what might go down politically, not to hide the money. It wasn’t a lot, but it would help you in getting out if you needed it, I guess. Altho if things went *way* off the rails, one might have to get over a border first.
What’s Mitt’s excuse?
khead
@Villago Delenda Est:
Earlier in the summer I was arguing with a dolt who thought Mitt would win by 5-10% in the popular vote. I said I would gladly take the 5 and I would give him 2-1 odds if he’d give me the 10.
Anyway, I decided to look it up and discovered that in my lifetime a person would’ve gone 8-2 taking the losing major candidate +10. So then I tried to get folks to give me Romney and 10.
I mean, even Dukakis and Carter covered the 10. But Romney appears to be trying really hard to fuck up a good gambling trend.
Brachiator
@burnspbesq:
Why didn’t they just go all out and call it FATCAT?
jibeaux
@Kristine: I saw somewhere today, on the twitter I think, born on third base, thought he hit a triple, and is trying to steal second.
Haydnseek
@Violet: I agree. We should definitely pump up the volume on Rmoneys tax returns, especially since it has come to light that he demanded TEN YEARS of tax returns from his potential veep prospects.
ThatLeftTurnInABQ
The Dems should air a TV add featuring a family sitting around the table playing a new board game: ROMnopoly. Just like regular Monopoly except that with every role of the dice somebody from the family lands on a property or draws a chance card where Mitt and his millionaire friends win and they lose. Complete with evil cackling laughter in the background from the millionaires.
Culture of Truth
Many of us have been wondering this for some time.
It’s not the greed, it’s the stupidity.
PurpleGirl
@burnspbesq: Oh yes. Gilly’s place was my first daily blog stop. The initial announcement is still up but they’ve taken down the picture of him.
Valdivia
Is there confirmation the PA Supreme Court overturned the voter law? Saw it on twitter
JGabriel
__
__
DougJ @ Top:
Because MONEY is more important than appearances.
Besides, who cares what people without MONEY think? They are moochers and takers, says the quarter-billionaire who paid only 13% in taxes on $20,000,000 of capital gains in 2010, who still hasn’t submitted his 2011 taxes, and who won’t show the country his previous tax returns so we can’t see how small a percentage of his income he paid in previous years.
That’s the man calling us moochers and takers. There’s a word for that, I can’t quite remember it, but I think it begins with ass and ends with hole.
.
LanceThruster
Forget it, Jake. It’s Romneytown.
? Martin
Narcissist. He really believes he’s special and better than us and fuck anyone who doesn’t admire him – we’re all just victims and jealous of his success.
roc
Telling Mitt that his Swiss account was bad for optics is like telling an Occupy protestor that it looks bad when his childhood savings account of $15.32 is now held at Bank of America.
How could you attack them for duplicity or nefarious motives when it’s quite clearly not enough to matter?
Political Observer
In the end this is a three-day story at best.
dmsilev
@Villago Delenda Est: Either (a) he doesn’t feel that he should care about what any of the lesser folk think or (b) it never occurred to the clown show known as his campaign that some reporters might not be happy about being dragged out for a nothingburger.
Culture of Truth
Is it true France was 70% Mormon before Mitt got there? It seems plausible.
Bill in Section 147
@NotMax: Mittler ist der Sieg!
I love the smell of Mitt in the morning.
The thing I noticed most about the video was how relaxed and comfortable Mitt was when he was talking to regular people and not the unwashed masses. Like Mittrie Antoinette at the Petit Trianon as opposed to in the tumbrel.
ding dong
Josh marshall has a twee5t yesterday or early today saying tpms got something on romney being part of the 47 percent? Anybody seen anything?
Political Observer
This is a three-day story, at best. In the end it call comes down to the economy.
NotMax
@Jon Rockoford
Once again calls to mind paraphrasing Peter Schickele’s description (ref.) of P.D.Q. Bach (original in strikeover):
His
plagiarismconceitwasis limited only by his faulty technique.Maude
@Valdivia:
PA Inquirer says the voter ID is vacated by judge. They will post derision when they have it.
Yeah, Kay.
Johnny Gentle (famous crooner)
My guess: His team decided they were a selling point. Elite-sounding “Swiss bank accounts” are a status symbol for the GOP, a way of illustrating how rich and successful their CEO candidate is.
It’s also a clear show of unity with the Galtian overlords who run and fund the GOP. Just like them, Mitt doesn’t believe any of his wealth should be taxed to fund the 47-percenters’ welfare-queen lifestyle.
J. Michael Neal
@burnspbesq: Romney was born with a silver head up his ass.
WereBear
It was only a couple of months ago that I threw Mother Jones the $5 they were asking for.
And just look at what I received in return!
Now is the time to give back.
Culture of Truth
It makes you wonder if he was shifted to out of the consulting arm to Bain Capital to get rid of him and give him something to do.
Haydnseek
@LanceThruster: Nice!
e.a.f.
If everyone else in your social circle has a swiss bank account, than that is the norm & then you just don’t understand the problem. I would suggest Romney is so insulated from the working & middle class he doesn’t understand that a swiss bank account is a problem. Its just another reason why he shouldn’t be president.
Romney most likely has more than a swiss bank account & closing them & moving his money into the U.S.A. would open a can of worms he won’t get into, even if it cost him an election.
bushworstpresidentever
Rmoney kept the Swiss account because he didn’t even disclose it to his political operatives, and it didn’t show up on his earlier returns for those years. That is why the missing FBAR form for his 2010 incomplete tax return is important, as is his 2009 return, as those forms would show that he participated or applied for the 2009 tax amnesty for undisclosed Swiss bank accounts. In other words, he had to admit to felony tax evasion to get the amnesty.
burnspbesq
@JGabriel:
So? There’s nothing wrong with putting your return on extension. This is the first year in the last 15 that I filed in April, and the only reason is that we had to finish our return in order to fill out the kid’s financial aid form.
Culture of Truth
@Valdivia: YES!
burnspbesq
@WereBear:
Return on investment FUCK YEAH!
Keith
Because he’s a terrible politician. SATSQ
Violet
@burnspbesq:
Yep, filing an extension doesn’t mean anything. I’m not bothered by the 2011 taxes that are still within the allotted extension time. If he doesn’t produce them by October 15 or 16 or 17 (it’s delayed a day or two this year, right?), then there’s an issue.
But my problem is with the previous years. He requires Ryan to submit ten years of tax returns to him, we should be able to see ten years of his returns. And Ryan’s for that matter. Why can’t we see him? We’re deciding on whether or not he should have a very powerful position. He’s trying to run on “trust me”, but he won’t choose his VP that way. Hypocrite.
burnspbesq
@bushworstpresidentever:
The FBAR is not part of the tax return. If your grounds for saying Romney’s 2010 return is incomplete is that the FBAR is not attached, that’s not only wrong, it’s stupid. If you have some other reason for believing that Romney’s 2010 return is incomple, let’s hear it.
Also too, participating in OVDI is absolutely not an admission of criminal evasion. If you think it is, let’s see your legal analysis.
/facepalm
burnspbesq
@Violet:
Agree 100 percent.
FWIW, individual returns that are on extension are due on October 15, which is a Monday. The Monday holiday for Columbus Day is October 8. The due date for calendar year corporate returns that were on extension was pushed back to September 17 because September 15 was a Saturday.
Hoodie
why on earth did Romney keep the Swiss bank account?
Another twerp with Daddy issues. The Swiss bank account is part and parcel of the whole “no apology” thing. Romney has decided to inflict on the nation his inner struggle to rationalize why he is an asshole, and can’t live up to his Dad’s example. So he spends his adult life coming up with reasons why it was a good thing he didn’t, such as he’s only trying to end the pitiful dependence of others on government support. Is the Republican Party the party of fucked up adolescents, or what?
? Martin
@burnspbesq:
You’re not running for president, either.
NotMax
To get the free toaster for continuing the account?
Because Rafalca likes their cheese?
bourbaki
So here is something I’ve been musing over today…is there going to be a point where Romney just decides to just throw in the towel? Obiously I don’t mean withdraw from the race, but maybe stop doing much campaigning (which is hard work) start leaking stuff to the press, that sorf of thing. And if so what if any effect would that have? Is there precedent? McCain seemed to soldier on but what about Mondale or Dukakis (I am too young for those days).
He doesn’t strike me as the type who is used to losing and he also strikes me as quite petulant. To be fair he did lose to Ted Kennedy and in the Republican primary in 2008. Anyone familiar with those races?
I’m probably getting ahead of myself here, but this is election is looking increasingly one-sided…
Comrade Mary
@Maude:
Great news! And I am treasuring your very appropriate typo — perfect!
Yutsano
@Violet: The original filing date was extended because April 15 was a Sunday and April 16 was a holiday in DC. None of that affects extension due date though.
@burnspbesq: That’s gonna be a fun Monday. No really. :/
Southern Beale
Well DUH. It’s the bazillion dollar question! He was governor for 2 years, spent the rest of his term running around the country preparing to run for president, failed, then ran again. It’s not like he didn’t know this was going to be an issue.
So we have two choices. He’s either so out of touch that he doesn’t care how it looks because “you people” don’t matter anyway, and the “53%” who aren’t moochers and leeches understand that a man like Mitt needs his Swiss Bank Account because who doesn’t? Or else he just loves his money more than his ambition.
Or a combination of both.
Lavocat
I’m willing to bet it has something to do with ONGOING payments from Bain.
If it had no purpose, it would not exist.
After all, R-money may be dumb, but he ain’t stupid.
Political Observer
A brand-new full-length feature film that is going to air on prime-time about disaffected Obama voters is coming out–and funded by, you guessed it, Citizens United.
This is what I’ve always dreamed of since the decision was handed down. It’s made by Frank Luntz and Pat Caddell–and the focus groups LOVED it. It’s going to turn this race around.
Story here.
Scared?
JGabriel
@burnspbesq:
No, there isn’t. Unless you’re a quarter-billionaire running for president who won’t release any tax returns earlier than 2010 and calls 47% of the country moochers and takers.
Then it looks fucking hypocritical.
.
Roy G.
Speaking of Switzerland, I hope somebody is following up on Michelle Bachmann’s promise to renounce her Swiss citizenship. My bet is that, like Mitt, she’s clenching it tightly.
The Ancient Randonneur
@Comrade Mary:
PA Supreme Court sent it back to lower court.
Maybe our resident attorneys can better explain. Kay?
Comrade Mary
Uh oh — what does “vacated by judge” mean? When I went to philly.com, this is what I got:
quannlace
Reminds me of the main character in ‘Bonfire of the Vanities.’ (Forget his name; Tom Hanks played him in the movie.)
When his son asks what he does for a living, his wife scathingly describes it as ‘moving other peoples crumbs around, while keeping some for himself.’
NotMax
@bourbaki
It was near this time of the campaign that McCain floated the trial balloon of suspending due to the economic crisis.
Mondale and Dukakis (and Dole, for that matter) slogged on right through to the finish.
IIRC, in September Dukakis still held a slight lead in the polls.
Comrade Mary
@The Ancient Randonneur: You owe me a coke :P
dmsilev
@bourbaki:
Can’t really imagine that he would, even if there was literally a flock of vultures circling overhead his bus. Besides being against what we’d expect from his personality, that sort of thing would absolutely murder GOP down-ticket turnout. The campaign operatives would thus have a fair amount of incentive to play the game out to the end, even if the Presidential race was a foregone conclusion.
Ben Grimm
Romeny seems to really resent that he has to actually run for president. He seems to think it should be offered to him, because he deserves it.
Take any idiotic political campaign that failed when it should have had an easy time due to party dynamics – Martha Coakley, for example – and you see the same dynamic: a disdain for the electoral process itself. Romney probably genuinely thinks anyone who would vote against someone as obviously deserving as he shouldn’t have the vote to begin with.
Mike G
Willard thinks he is awesome and special and the rules don’t apply to him. And it’s none of the “little people’s” business where he hides his money. A common malady among the daddy-issues sociopaths the Repukes nominate for the presidency from Chimp to McCain.
This is someone who, when his dad was governor, would dress up in a state trooper’s uniform to play pranks. Not to mention the other incidents from his school/college years that have already come out. Stuff that would get ordinary people branded as delinquents and/or thrown in jail and their lives permanently tarnished.
Culture of Truth
The higher court has decided they need more facts before they can decide whether the law can stand.
That’s the job of the lower court, so they ordered to lower court, which approved the law in the first place, to do some fact-finding on ID availability and get back to them Oct. 2.
Violet
@Political Observer:
Har. From that article you linked:
Yes, yes, it’s all about competence. And if there’s one thing Mitt Romney has just exuded in this campaign, it’s competence. I’m sure that comparison to Obama will work out well for them.
WereBear
‘Tis.
If we ever want to know what a two year old placed in a middle-aged body would be like (Horror movie alert!) we should wonder no longer.
Chyron HR
@Political Observer:
So even ReaIity Check admits that Romney is currently losing?
Suffern ACE
@NotMax: Based on the past recent precedent, this is where they unleash the fake Democrat brigade to call on the President to resign for the good of the country. And to stop bringing up mean things for voters to consider…like whether or not Romney would be good for the country.
Culture of Truth
Mitt: I can win on
Obama’s recordMitt: I can win on
my recordMitt: I can win on
my policiesMitt: I can win
on competenceMitt: I can win
on likeabilityMitt: I can win on an emotional appeal
Amir Khalid
@bourbaki:
You mean, could Mitt decide to just give up trying? Possible, I guess. But wouldn’t that be a psychological blow to GOP campaigns in close House and Senate races? Their staffs would see Mitt giving up, and feel disheartened, and so would Republican-leaning voters. The party might not forgive him for causing a rout in November. Mitt’s a selfish prick for sure, but I’m not sure if he would want to risk that.
trollhattan
@Political Observer:
Tut-tut, you forgot UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH. You don’t get the dime for that post.
Scared yet you won’t be making the double-wide payment this month?
Violet
Linda MacMahon is distancing herself from Romney.
Can’t be good when other Republicans feel they need to distance themselves from him.
schrodinger's cat
HALP I is being moderated, for just adding the name of the troll to my post.
amk
@dmsilev: If any of these ‘reporters’ had any self-respect, they would have said FU to the mittbot and his stupid team for giving them the Seamus treatment. But they don’t.
GregB
It is time to start treating Mitt Romney with the contempt he deserves.
Heaping shit loads of scorn and ridicule for this Borat style campaign must be done over and over again.
The GOP and their base cannot be allowed to create their own reality.
Call in to talk radio and let them know what a buffoonish plutocrat they have chosen.
He’s losing his political home state of Massachusetts by 30%. He’s losing his vacation palace home state of NH by a good margin.
He’s losing his home state of Michigan too.
He’s a loser’s loser and the rightwing hates losing losers.
schrodinger's cat
@Culture of Truth: Data has more emotions than R-Bot.
The Ancient Randonneur
@Comrade Mary:
OK. You’re going to have to wait until Obama and Soros send me my checks.
Suffern ACE
@Political Observer:
Of something Pat Caddell was involved with? I think we discussed this the other night. Every candidate who he has worked for since Carter has lost. So no. I can’t say I feel threatened.
GregB
@dmsilev:
He’s already only doing one campaign stop a day.
You didn’t expect him to work for this did you?
Cassidy
@schrodinger’s cat: Well he did get an emotion chip…and then became a useless puddle of android jelly.
@Political Observer: no
amk
Looks verity/realitycheck, the troll, is baack.
dmsilev
@Suffern ACE: I love this bit from the Politco story:
Because nothing says “potent political argument” like “guy who made Sarah Palin suck-up film”.
Face
@Political Observer: Just wait until they get really desperate and release a “movie” near Halloween that “shows” how Obama is a convicted child molestor, college dropout, and physically abusive husband.
And pay for every non-traditional theater in the country to air it for a week.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
Paul Ryan’s in MA to campaign. Read a little of the WBZ
tonguebathcoverage on twitter. The crowds are fired up! Ready to take off the gloves!Romney down by 33 points here. Seems an odd place to waste campaign time and dollars, no?
Bill
It just hit me, now I understand:
Any normal non-psychopath would have ditched the Swiss bank account, as they would’ve understood how that sort of thing looks to people. This goes beyond tone-deaf by an order of magnitude- advisers must have told him to ditch it, he just chose not to because it would hurt the bottom line.
Corporations have been compared to psychopaths.
“Corporations are people, my friend”- Mitt Romney
He forgot to add “and I should know, because I am one”.
Mitt Romney, Corporate Citizen. MittCorp.
Xecky Gilchrist
@dmsilev: Because nothing says “potent political argument” like “guy who made Sarah Palin suck-up film”.
No doubt.
I mean, Oh noes! A film that lets people know there are disappointed Obama voters? Nevar befoar has the public been told this EXPLOSIVE SECRET!
Unlimited corporate cash doesn’t go as far as it usta, does it. Whoda thunk that corruption gave such shitty value per dollar.
(Oh, and piefilter. These bombast trolls with would-be reasonable names are tiresome beyond belief.)
amk
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: By ‘crowds’, you mean two dozen odd peeps?
Cassidy
@Xecky Gilchrist: Someon wasted money. They don’t need a film; just make an ad buy pointing to FDL.
artem1s
@Emma:
you mean the White House obviously.
catclub
@GregB: Also California, La Jolla teardown mansion with car elevator.
Unlike Barack Obama. Illinois and Hawaii. (Kansas not so much.)
Amir Khalid
@Political Observer:
For goodness’ sake, have you not been paying attention these past few weeks? Your party’s candidate for president has been painful to watch. There is no pile of UNLIMITED CORPORATE CASH big enough, no stunt it can buy that is distracting enough, to hide his arrogance, ignorance, stupidity, ineptitude, and all-round jerkosity.
WereBear
@ThatLeftTurnInABQ: That’s got brilliance in it.
“Legs” in showbiz-speak.
Dennis SGMM
@Xecky Gilchrist:
You must bear in mind that 95 cents of every one of those dollars must go into the pockets of the brave entrepreneurs who made the spot.
dmsilev
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: Maybe they’re worried about Scott Brown’s standing. Warren is up by most accounts right now. Of course, Brown has invested a lot of effort into projecting an air of “moderate Republican, not like those crazies”, so bringing in Congressman Granny-starver might not have been the optimal approach.
David Hunt
My personal opinion is that the consultants didn’t know about any Swiss Bank account. The whole point of such a thing is to hide money and income and I can readily see him not being willing to talk about such things in front of the
helpconsultants. I’d be surprised if more than a dozen people in U.S. knew about any such thing before he had to give a massive amount of financial date to the McCain campaign.p.s. I sometimes wonder if it wasn’t the info in those financial disclosures that made McCain pass on Romney but instead McCain getting the impression that Romney looked down on him for not being as rich as him or perhaps because McCain married into his money. McCain’s a grumpy old man and he can hold a grudge…
rikyrah
come on, Kay.
the PA SC sent the law back.
rikyrah
@Waynski:
tell it
KG
@The Ancient Randonneur: just read the decision, the Supreme Court vacated the trial court’s ruling and sent it back with instruction to investigate other issues regarding implementation of the ID law before making a ruling. Basically, the last ruling denying the preliminary injunction is erased and the trial court has to review the evidence on the motion again, specifically looking at the implementation issues the Supreme Court raised. This isn’t uncommon grounds for an appeal/writ on a preliminary injunction. Based on my reading, the Supreme Court isn’t too inclined to believe that there’s enough time/resources to implement the law in time for this election.
cckids
@Political Observer:
Why no. Have you SEEN your candidate? My Pomeranian has a better grasp on issues and visuals. Smear all the mayo on Romney you like, he’s still a sh*t sandwich–and I don’t see America ordering one of those. Not after W.
Shawn in ShowMe
@Villago Delenda Est:
Where’d you get that idea? McCain/Palin only got 45.7%. The 47% number was Mitt’s speculation about the Democratic floor.
OTOH, Mitt’s support won’t sink to 40% because there are still these highly populated areas called “Texas” and “Nascar Country.”
Violet
Nate Silver:
WereBear
@Violet: And yet, we still have about 50 days to go until the election.
What will Mitt do next?
I must say, at this point he has exceeded even my own wildest expectations.
amk
@Villago Delenda Est: I am record here that he loses by 10% on PV – 55 to 45.
KG
@dmsilev: I really can’t think of any precedent where a nominee didn’t at least fake it until the end. You’re absolutely right about it crushing the party down ticket.
Mondale admitted later that ’84 was essentially over when Reagan made his age joke at the second debate. But he still soldiered on, for the sake of the party.
bourbaki
@NotMax: I guess what I was musing on was Mondale, Dole, McCain were veteran politicians who had been through dozens of campaigns and were heavily invested in their respective parties. Can one really say the same of Romney? He has the legacy of his father, but besides that he seems to be something of a political lightweight and not much of a GOP insider. Furthermore, he doesn’t seem to enjoy campaigning (in contrast to say McCain — who seemed to get a kick out of it) — though maybe I don’t comprehend his robotic personality.
If he is in an unwinnable situation after the debates, is he really going to keep racing back and forth having events? He is going to remain an extremely rich man with little future in politics no matter how he loses. Will he really care?
M31
The Swiss bank account issue is the same as the tax returns issue. Mitt has been full time running for president since when? 2006? So sometime in 2005 he calls his accountant and says “Hey, I’m running for President, for Pete’s sake, make me look good”.
He doesn’t have to do any work or anything, but ERMAGERD maybe he makes 20mil/year instead of 23.
But then this year he produces these squeaky-clean tax returns for 6 years and he’s off the hook. Think oppo stuff about when he retired from Bain would have much traction then?
He didn’t do it. Seriously, what a privileged little tool.
One can only assume that his campaign people urged him to.
Mitt is that most special of bosses–hands on AND a complete and utter fuckwit. Thus his current campaign.
NonyNony
@David Hunt:
It’s possible, but I think it’s more likely that John McCain saw Mitt Romney as an unlikeable dipshit who needed a good thrashing. But McCain, being who he was, would put up with an unlikeable dipshit who needs a good thrashing IF he thought said dipshit brought something positive to the campaign.
The financial records would, in that scenario, be enough to convince McCain that Romney wouldn’t bring anything good to the ticket…
KG
@bourbaki: post-debates, if it looks like Romney is toast, he’ll still do campaign events, but it’ll be one or two a day, with a day off on occasion. The key will be to see whether down-ticket nominees will want to campaign with Romney and/or Ryan or if they shun them to avoid the stink of loser. Basically, they’ll be running out the clock trying to make it not as bad as they can.
NonyNony
@Villago Delenda Est:
I am on record as saying that 45% is his floor – that he can do worse than McCain/Palin but not too much worse.
In March it was a lock – then my opinion was that he wasn’t going to do worse than McCain/Palin no matter how hapless his campaign turned out to be. “No matter how hapless” has turned out to fall far, far below my expectations for haplessness in a national political campaign though. I’ll stick with the 45% floor, but I’m less sure of it than I was a few months back.
Shawn in ShowMe
@amk:
Don’t overlook the three-headed monster of Virgil Goode/Gary Johnson/Jill Stein. They should be good for 2%.
1badbaba3
@Patricia Kayden: He understands them well enough to enjoy firing their asses
@Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker: And a foul, putrid, shit-smelling barrel it is as well.
@dmsilev: Oh noes, they will unleash La Palin again? But what if she goes all rouge on all our asses again. Mine still hurtz from last time.
@Culture of Truth: I am loving this right fucking now. Teh GOP, all morans, all the time.
Violet
@NonyNony: I don’t know…McCain had Palin that got the starbursts crowd out to vote for her. Ryan has proved to be a liar far sooner than anyone would have thought. And Romney is far less competent than McCain. I wouldn’t be surprised at 43% and who knows what else might come out between now and the election. And then there are the debates…
trollhattan
@Face:
Must include intravenous drug use and his weekend DJ gigs.
Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God
@amk:
I’m not there to see for myself, but there are enough Boston Herald readers that a ‘crowd’ for Ryan isn’t impossible, if he chooses the right neighborhood. WBZ’s tweet feed was quite… fawning.
@dmsilev:
I had the same thought, Ryan’s here to get the Base riled up. But this is Massachusetts, not Georgia (or even NH), so it still seems like a waste. It’s not like the Base need to be teased away from Warren, and Ryan’s presence isn’t going to make the center suddenly go for Romney or Scott, either. (There’s a whole kerfuffle going on in the local GOP as to whether or not to sign on to the national GOP platform, because it’s so radical compared to what MA Republicans are used to).
Like the nasty Romney ads I mentioned in another thread below, makes no sense. Could be a Rovian trick to try and get OFA to “defend” its back in MA, but that makes no real sense, either.
TooManyJens
@Political Observer:
Those assclowns? Yeah, I’m fucking trembling over here.
Surreal American
@Chyron HR:
Nah, it couldn’t be Wirklichkeit. Obama’s name was spelled correctly.
Kane
How many politicians with their eye on a future presidential run would write an op-ed in the NY Times with the title Let Detroit Go Bankrupt?
Who would have thought that in the midst of the presidential campaign, a candidate would believe that it’s a marvelous time to build a car elevator inside his $12 millon beach house?
Who would have thought that in an election year where every analyst has noted the importance of the Hispanic vote, a candidate would actually propose a policy of self-deportion?
What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us? (formerly MarkJ)
@Lavocat: I beg to differ. He’s stupid.
Ed Drone
@Kristine:
And the catcher’s throws are getting damned close to picking him off, too. No wonder he’s hugging the base.
Ed
Njorl
@Wapiti:
I like to joke that alone among the fallen angels Mammon has asked for and received God’s forgiveness. So now it’s OK to worship money.
JGabriel
@Ed Drone:
Heh. I see what you did there. That phrase, nicely turned.
.
pluege
romney is a true elite:
completely isolated from reality,
only has contact with sycophants,
delusional in his view of his own magnificence,
dumb as stump from all of the above.
romney could never comprehend that others would not share in his adulation of him.
gene108
Sen. Graham (D-FL) quoted at the end of the article, with a nice knife twist into Romney’s back.
What no Republican is saying is the Party’s basically made it impossible for anyone to run based on what the Republican Party’s platform is about.
Graham’s right, Romney should be able to run on pioneering HCR and reaching compromise with Democrats, but that wouldn’t have gotten Romney out of the primaries.
rea
Why did Romney keep his Swiss bank account? Let me answer that question with another–what kind of a man would betray his true love for the presidency?
Comrade Mary
Heh. Obama will be on Letterman tonight.
Applejinx
@burnspbesq:
You just got my full attention. Exactly why does taking amnesty NOT make Romney an admitted (but not convicted, or charged) felon?
It seems to me that for all practical purposes that’s what it would mean. You’re very certain that in legal terms it does not. Why?
Yes, I did think that ‘admitted felon’ would be a ironclad conclusion- obviously not anything like ‘convicted’ because the point is he wouldn’t be.
Is there some sort of legalism where you can take amnesty and one of the conditions is that in legal terms your slate is wiped clean, so for LEGAL purposes no such criminal evasion could be referenced in another court case? Is that what you mean?
burnspbesq
@? Martin:
Fortunately for all of us.
danielx
@Ed Drone:
The Marquis can love the base all he wants (which in truth is not that much), and they still won’t love him back.
burnspbesq
@Political Observer:
Not even a little bit.
Chris
In my perfect world, obvious stage management like this would be ignored and then reported as such. Like, “Sorry, but we’re not sending reporters out on short notice to cover your non-apology, take three questions, not answer those, then run away as someone asks a fourth. Send us an E-mail instead.”
As long as “news” agencies trip over themselves to cover every utterance from an overly entitled, overly wealthy individual, garbage like this will continue.
catclub
@Applejinx: I think it is possible to have money, on which you HAVE paid all taxes, in a Swiss bank account that you have never declared on your tax forms. You have not evaded any taxes. You just have not declared the account — you forgot, or something.
Dual citizens of Switzerland and the US might be in this category.
Of course, for doing this, all of your rich friends will call you an idiot, which is the real punishment.
Applejinx
@catclub: Ah. Now I see. Part of the bait here is an implicit acknowledgement that the legal system will pretend it was an oopsie, and thank goodness none of that money was (gasp) tax evasion!
Is that it?
In that case, it’s more like: if Romney took amnesty, WE know it surely is because he was weaseling out of felony tax evasion, but nobody Serious can possibly claim he is an admitted felon for that reason, because he’s been given this convenient out. (spit)
I am left wondering what the government stands to gain, then. Does knowing the account exists help them? It seems like that is the only thing the IRS gains from the arrangement. I thought the person taking amnesty would have to give up more.
burnspbesq
@Applejinx:
All that a taxpayer admits when they enter into the OVDI closing agreement is that they owe the amount specified in the agreement. They’re not admitting that they willfully evaded tax, or that they willfully failed to timely file FBARs.
The reason the Government is willing to enter into these deals is that it avoids a shit-ton of litigation risk. It’s not easy to prove willfulness. They have to show, in effect, that the taxpayer knew they had a legal duty to do something and deliberately blew it off. In a criminal case, they have to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. In order to collect the civil penalty for willful failure to file FBARs, they have to prove it by clear and convincing evidence.
The only case to date in which the Government has won the penalty for willful failure to file FBARs is Johnson, and its facts are unusual. The guy pled guilty to evasion, and he allocuted to all the facts necessary to prove that he willfully failed to file FBARS in order to score points under the sentencing guidelines for acceptance of responsibility. In effect, he traded a couple of million dollars in penalties for a couple of years off his sentence (the guy evaded a shitload of tax, so he started out in a really bad place under the sentencing guidelines).
Applejinx
@burnspbesq:
Thank you. Appreciated.
So, the taxpayer acknowledges that they are paying taxes which are owed- and pays them- and part of the deal is they can pretend they never evaded, if it matters. The government gets the taxes AND saves a lot of money in legal fees against insanely rich people who can afford to cost the government impossible sums in litigation.
Totally makes sense now.
Mind you… to Joe Sixpack, the only reason to take amnesty and pay tax money if you didn’t owe it- is if you did owe it. Otherwise you’d fight. So I can also see why Romney tax amnesty would be a deep dark secret. Nobody in government or the media could or would call him an admitted felon (except Fox, and they’re on his payroll, in effect), but explaining why he’s not an admitted felon (confess guilt and take amnesty, right?) would be an awkward conversation that would cast a light on the litigation powers of rich people that nobody really wants to see cast.
I stand corrected.
Then the talking point becomes, “how do you know he didn’t just randomly give the government tax money, out of the goodness of his heart?”
Joel
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: They’re trying to save Scott Brown; Nate Silver has Elizabeth Warren pegged at 55% chance of victory now.
Joel
@Judas Escargot, Acerbic Prophet of the Mighty Potato God: They’re trying to save Scott Brown; Nate Silver has Elizabeth Warren pegged at 55% chance of victory now.
An_Answer
He didn’t close the account because he couldn’t. He probably had some scheme running that required that specific account. It probably served as a pass through for funds rather than actually hold any money.
1badbaba3
@Joel: The sad and dammed helping the sad and dammed. Both will be jockeying for wingnut welfare after they get their lunch eaten in November. When Warren didn’t go on vacation like Coakley did when the goin’ got rough they had no plan ‘b’. “Jeez, you mean I have to debate her four times? But, she’s like a professor, like all smart and stuff. Can’t we see who looks better in undies?”
AA+ Bonds
Good and blindingly obvious advice but! why does anyone listen to Joe “Loser” Trippi
He has left a trail of wreckage in his wake, helming the presidential campaigns of such famous American Presidents as
Ted Kennedy!
Walter Mondale!
Gary Hart!
Dick Gephardt!
Howard Dean!
and who could forget . . . John Edwards, 2008!
The fact that this lunkhead still has a job proves that big-money welfare is alive and well in the political class
Give me a couple hundred thou and I too will tell you that Swiss bank accounts make you look like a Mafia don
SFAW
@Political Observer:
Well, I wasn’t … originally.
But, in the last hour or so, I was contacted by a “Chief Editor Korir”, and the videotape evidence he says he will release – timed to come out at the same time as the Luntz/Caddell extravaganza – will destroy Obama’s re-election chances.
So, yes, I’m scared.
Oops! I mean “a-skeered”!
AA+ Bonds
@David Hunt:
That would make him a fucking moron and I don’t buy it. He was a CEO, on Wall Street for Pete’s sake, and knows very well that consultants exist so that you can spill your guts under non-disclosure and have someone to steam clean the rug afterwards
As someone with a little bit of experience with that world, my guess is that the sort of Republican consultants that work hands-on with Romney (the Crossroads set) have a moral worldview about the inherent decency of such assets that they believe most Americans share, combined with a head-tripping faith in their own ability to manipulate the media that led them to believe that such assets would never become an issue
Their gameplan probably went something exactly like what we saw: if people start to talk about his assets, keep talking about how Americans like success in the marketplace and insinuate that any critics are envious Communists – insulating Romney from Obama using the same rhetoric against Obama that appeared to “work” in 2010
The problem with Rovian strategy is that almost everyone who is not Karl Rove is terrible at being Karl Rove – by all accounts, Obama’s team is doing far, far better at the Rovian core (attack opponents’ strengths) in 2012
It doesn’t hurt that people in America are slowly beginning to realize that they don’t like capitalism, they do feel envy and they may in fact be justified in feeling envious of someone whose wealth allows him to dodge taxes because of a phalanx of lawyers and agents who can outspend the American government
SFAW
@Joel:
From Nate’s “mouth” to FSM’s noodley ear-like appendages.
@1badbaba3:
Yeah, even though he tried the “Victoria Kennedy is being mean to me!” routine to duck the debates.
AA+ Bonds
The issue for Democrats is that Republican political consultants are still way more together on Congressional races than their Democratic counterparts
If they want to win, they need to fix this
karen marie
@Haydnseek: I always retweet anything that references a need/desire for Mittens to release his tax returns.
karen marie
I’m 3/4 way through watching a long Romney video (the one where he talks about Palestine/Israel) and I have to say: his picture should be next to the entry for “delusional” in the dictionary. The only people more delusional than him are those sitting around that table.
Triassic Sands
The key point is that none of that stuff is any of our business according to Romney, so he won’t talk about it.
Besides, it’s a non-issue when you consider that his opponent was born in Kenya.
Bubba Dave
@JCT:
This. They didn’t tell him 6 years ago because it was under the table until those dirty Switzers started spilling the beans about tax avoiders’ accounts and he had to pay his way out of the problem.
Bubba Dave
@Jim, Foolish Literalist and Fact Checker:
Y’know, from somebody with the self-awareness God gave a sea urchin, that might be a chance to think “I didn’t build that,” and possibly even “I should give something back to the country that allowed me to become so successful.” But this is Mittens.