Posted on 01/17/2012 12:37:34 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
After weeks of stalling, Mitt Romney did an about-face on Tuesday and said he will release his tax returns in April and that they will show he pays close to 15 percent of his income in taxes.
Romney, a multimillionaire, has been under pressure from his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination and others to release the information. He'd previously said he wouldn't release it. He suggested Tuesday that he would make public only one year's worth of information, for 2011.
Speaking to reporters after a campaign stop in South Carolina, Romney said most of his income comes from investments, not regular wages and salary. The tax rate on investment income is 15 percent, much lower than the 35 percent rate applied to wages for those in the highest tax bracket.
"What's the effective rate I've been paying? It's probably closer to the 15 percent rate than anything," Romney said. "Because my last 10 years, I've ... my income comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past, rather than ordinary income or rather than earned annual. I got a little bit of income from my book, but I gave that all away. And then I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much."
(Excerpt) Read more at abcnews.go.com ...
Why do the rich owe any more in pure dollars to support the government?
Many of the rich are milking the government in one way or another. I agree with the flat amount system if the amount is zero.
...well, then keep reading.
Not sure I understand. How did he get Tarp money?
Newt better be careful with this one. Let others criticize Romney’s returns.
And what is Herman CAin’s unconventional endorsement?
Ok, I understand. His big donors rec’d TARP.
Rush pointed out that the ony candidate who opposed the TARP bailout was Newt.
You know, you (mening I) tend to worry about how Newt will do in these debates... but then I think about the conservative priniciples, which Newt understands, and I think he tends to take that bent when he answers the questions.
In other words, the question goes in, and come out with a conservative answer.
Only, Newt does something special, he brings in history or an anecdote.
And he doesn’t repeat it, e.g. Romney not being a career politician because Kennedy beat him...You can only use that once.
I also got the idea that Rush was excited about Newt’s answers. Newt clearly, in just a minute articulate what we all here believe in.
Yes, Santorum and Perry do too....even Romney in his own way does it....
BUT NEWT HAS A SPECIAL WAY OF SAYING THINGS, KIND OF LIKE REAGAN DID WHEN HE CAMPAIGNED AGAINST FORD. REAGAN WAS FULL OF ACTION...STRONG...VIBRANT...HE WAS THE SAME WAY WHEN HE BEAT CARTER, BUT FLARED OUT HIS LAST FOUR YEARS.
Interesting that the fact that the Heinz-Kerry tax return showed millions of dollars of income taxed at 0% (municipal bonds) garnered hardly a peep from the media...
They’re not income taxes. They’re capital gains taxes, or other taxes on investments. Romney apparently doesn’t earn wages in the traditional sense. That’s the same reason Warren Buffet claims that he pays less in taxes, as a percentage, than his secretary, but it’s apples-to-oranges. If we want to encourage investment, we tax it at a lower rate.
“How would you feel if Obama was as dodgy about his tax returns as Willard is being?”
I really wouldn’t care...and I certainly haven’t paid attention to Obama’s return, when he has released it.
But I got curious and looked at a few ‘tax release’ stories. Here is a story about Kerry and Bush releasing their returns: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/04/13/politics/main611620.shtml
They tell us that Bush paid ‘about 28 percent’...they don’t do us the favor of calculating Kerry’s (I did and its 23%)....they do make a point of telling us that Kerry gave $43k to charity. Then they go to Cheney, and state he paid “just 20 percent”. So I get it - Cheney paid ‘just 20 percent’, while we are left to calculate Kerry’s 23 percent on our own.
But what about John Edwards? This story leaves him out - so I looked it up. He paid 7.3% in 2003. Thats right - Mr. ‘Two Americas’ paid 7.3%! No wonder they left it out of the article.
Well lets peruse Obama’s 2007 return. Here is a story where he paid 33%: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/04/obama_releases.html
They do make a point of stating that his income ‘pales in comparison’ to Hillary Clinton’s - he’s a man of the people after all. The article also mentions that Clinton still wants to see his 97, 98, 99 return. I can find no story where he ever gave out this information....imagine that, he’s in the primary, his opponent wants to see his return, and he won’t release it. Well now maybe I am indignant...not really.
Seeing that any story ever written about candidate’s tax returns is used as an opportunity to smear the right, and cannonize the left, I think we would all be better off if nobody released their returns.
Here is a nifty site, though, if you are real interested in past president’s returns:http://www.taxhistory.org/www/website.nsf/Web/PresidentialTaxReturns
Fo kicks, I looked at FDR’s 1936 return. Its hard to read, but it looks like he paid $13k on $75k, or 17%. Whut? Mr. Big Government himself only paid 17%? Possible conclusion - maybe we should worry less about who is paying what, and concentrate more on what we’re spending....which is why I refuse to get tied in knots over anybody’s return....even if its Romney’s.
When you figure Federal and State...I'm paying near 40% if not more, on my short term gains.
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