537 SHOULD DO SO
Mitt Romney is creating trouble for himself. His wife Ann has thrown fuel on the fire. But there are a lot of hypocrites being exposed, even if not their tax filings.
Yes, Romney should release his previous tax reports, but then so should President Obama and every member of the House and Senate. That's my take at least. Every one who stands for election should be honor, if not duty, bound to release their tax reports. If you stand in the public square and ask your fellow taxpayers to "hire" you, to pay your salary and your benefits then yes, by all means as your employers we should see your records.
It is disingenuous and worse to demand that Romney release his filings and refuse to volunteer your own. All we can do is speculate how the wealthy Romney might appear to us through his tax records, but his wife hinted as much when she said something about there would be more to criticize. It could be that way for many of the 100 members of the Senate and the 435 members of the House as well.
Official Washington has become a kind of club with privileges, probably excessively so. If it is good enough for members of Congress, should it not also be good enough for
their employers-you and me? I'm talking about insurance, pensions, inside options on stocks, perks, favors and privileges. If every tax paying citizen is not entitled, then why should "official Washington" be entitled?
Plumbing out tax filings sort of gets at that itch. But it is only a little scratch at a big problem. Government professionals have become a class unto themselves. We used to mock the old Soviet Union where the pals of the politburo were "more equal" comrades than the proletariat. Well, to quote the Beatles "Back in the US, back in the US, back in USSR, boys!"
Give 'em up Mitt. Give 'em up Peosi, Reid, Boehner, Ryan and for that matter, Geitner, and every member of the cabinet and everyone on Capitol Hill. What are you hiding?
DAY FILE
REFLECTIONS
From collected driftwood and an old thrift shop mirror, Lana created a hanging for the fence. I love the way it
captures the neighboring mountains.
It is dry here, but that is normal for the Central Coast this time of year. Not so normal for some of you who are suffering through historic droughts. We hope you get the rain you need, soon.
See you down the trail.
Its been raining a little in SoCal. About three this morning it rained really hard. It lasted about 5 minutes. A few years ago Jan and I went to Boston on vacation in September. It rained everyday while we wer there, it was heaven. All our friends were whining about the rain while we had stupid grins on our faces.
ReplyDeleteI saw on David Hovde's forecast that a remnant of a tropical storm was coming up from the South. We had a few dark clouds and a bit more humidity today, but no rain and the clouds have moved on.
ReplyDeleteWell said and ditto for Obama's school records.
ReplyDeleteMaryann
Maybe all candidates academic reports, though thinking back to some of mine, some things might be best left to history. :)
DeleteI agree with your observations about that Washington crowd on the hill; show your taxes! As for that other hill, the one in your backyard, it looks so peaceful and relaxing. Do you spend much time there?.
ReplyDeleteStephen:
DeleteYes I do spent time there. It is a great spot for quiet reflection and meditation.
I've actually worked out some writing issues sitting up there and staring at the mountains.
Absolutely, they should ALL reveal their financial situations and how they got there and certainly where they're hiding it. We're their gol-dang bosses (so the myth goes).
ReplyDeleteAnd here's something that has scratched my craw for many moons: Why we have to treat them so royally when they're in office. What's this "The Honorable..." crap? We know that 73.4723% of our elected Congress-slugs are as honest as a 2.9-Penny Opera. Who granted them this honorific? Likely some earlier self-serving, back-scratching, beady-eyed version of Congress. I say we should make them undergo the Milgram Test. Strap them to a shock generator and ask them questions about their finances, who they influence and who influences them and with what. The first lie gives them a little shock. Each subsequent lie, the juice is turned up another notch or three. Video the whole damn process and show it on YouTube every night. The networks would be reduced (or not) to showing re-runs of Mr. Ed, the Talking Horse, Sky King, Soupy Sales, etc.
[Wow!, that felt good.]
Felt good reading your comments and thinking about the "shocking" prospects.
DeleteTom: thank goodness for applying same set of requirements to ALL, no matter which party affiliation. So often one is slammed, ignoring those doing the same thing on the other side. A prize to you for doing what I wish others would do, especially in the media. Then, maybe, they'd earn some respect from the rest of us.
ReplyDeleteOn another matter, a prior blog used the word "avoid" when referring to Romney's usage of the tax laws in in existence at that time to REDUCE his taxes. When a middle class person asks his high priced CPA (me), if paying into an IRA will reduce his taxes and I agree that he should do that, is he guilty of "AVOIDING" his tax? When I suggest another to maximize his 401k contribution and he does, is he guilty of using his high priced accountant to AVOID taxes or simply utilizing existing tax deductions.
The wealthier tax clients are FORCED to use and pay high priced professionals due to the myriad of complex AND ever changing tax laws passed by our illustrious congress, both to save on their taxes and hopefully not do something that is not legal. Even that is difficult because many off our laws are not black and white and very open to interpretation. The middle class and poorer clients generally don't need the services of high powered professionals because they're not willing to risk their capital in complicated transactions so they don't have the problems that the wealthier clients have.
Thanks again for today's blog which is very much on target. Jeannie
taxes or is he simply doing what Romney did.
Jeannie-
ReplyDeleteThanks for the catch. You'd make a good editor. Actually Reduce is the more correct word. Having been a ceo and entrepreneur with complicated business arrangements and tax profile I understand what you are saying. Still, in the case of men and women running for public office, the use of those advantages/advice/opportunities are probably relevant to public discussion, when the vast majority of voters are simply trying to make a living. Their expectation of what government can and should do is different than wealthier or more privileged voter.
The real culprit is the tax code which has been written to create "advantages" or is on balance unfair because of inherent inequity and complexity.