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Fri Apr 6, 2012 9:37 AM EDT
Mitt Romney's penchant for identifying his own faults and then assigning them to President Obama came into sharper focus this week -- I'm still laughing about his anti-Harvard nonsense -- with the Republican nominee taking the "I'm rubber, you're glue" tactic to new extremes.
But while some of the recent examples are more substantive than others, it's striking that Romney has chosen to go after Obama on the issues of transparency and secrecy. In reality, there's ample evidence that this is one of Romney's more troubling weaknesses.
This also reinforces a larger pattern of secrecy. Remember, shortly before Romney departed the governor’s office, 11 of his top aides purchased 17 state-issued hard drives, and purged the Romney administration's email records in advance of his presidential campaign. Soon after, Romney admitted the move was intended to hide official correspondence from the public and keep potentially-embarrassing information from "opposition research" teams.
Romney has also said he'll keep the details of his policy agenda secret until after the election.
This is the same guy who's attacking the president for lacking transparency? As Rachel joked last night, the next thing we'll hear from Romney are complaints about Obama's lousy tenure as Massachusetts governor.
But while some of the recent examples are more substantive than others, it's striking that Romney has chosen to go after Obama on the issues of transparency and secrecy. In reality, there's ample evidence that this is one of Romney's more troubling weaknesses.
Republican presidential front-runner Mitt Romney, whose wealth has become a central issue in the 2012 campaign, has taken advantage of an obscure exception in federal ethics laws to avoid disclosing the nature and extent of his holdings.It's all the more reason Romney's elusive tax returns are so important, and helps explain why he's been so secretive with the materials.
By offering a limited description of his assets, Romney has made it difficult to know precisely where his money is invested, whether it is offshore or in controversial companies, or whether those holdings could affect his policies or present any conflicts of interest.
In 48 accounts from Bain Capital, the private equity firm he founded in Boston, Romney declined on his financial disclosure forms to identify the underlying assets, including his holdings in a company that moved U.S. jobs to China and a California firm once owned by Bain that filed for bankruptcy years ago and laid off more than 1,000 workers.
This also reinforces a larger pattern of secrecy. Remember, shortly before Romney departed the governor’s office, 11 of his top aides purchased 17 state-issued hard drives, and purged the Romney administration's email records in advance of his presidential campaign. Soon after, Romney admitted the move was intended to hide official correspondence from the public and keep potentially-embarrassing information from "opposition research" teams.
Romney has also said he'll keep the details of his policy agenda secret until after the election.
This is the same guy who's attacking the president for lacking transparency? As Rachel joked last night, the next thing we'll hear from Romney are complaints about Obama's lousy tenure as Massachusetts governor.
Why Romney's tax returns matter
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Mon Apr 16, 2012 9:28 AM EDT
By now, everyone is probably familiar with the predictable political tactic: wait until late on a Friday afternoon to release news you don't want people to see. It's a routine ploy in large part because it's so effective.
With this in mind, let's not overlook the announcement from the Romney campaign, made around 5 p.m. eastern on Friday afternoon.
What's more, this isn't going away. Benjy Sarlin reported, "The Obama campaign is launching a multi-pronged effort to highlight Romney's low 13.9 percent tax rate, demand close to two dozen years of additional returns and request more information about his foreign assets."
Of particular interest to Team Obama is the fact that Romney has decades worth of tax returns; he just won't share the materials with voters.
When Romney was considered for John McCain's 2008 ticket, for example, the former governor turned over 23 years worth of returns.
And yet, when it comes to voters, Romney was willing to share last year's returns, and his campaign has said he'll eventually share this year's materials, too. What about the documents that McCain saw before choosing someone else as his running mate? So far, Romney aides insist those materials will remain under wraps. Why? They won't say.
American Bridge 21st Century's Rodell Mollineau published a detailed memo, noting the 12 things Americans could learn from Romney's returns, if he discovers the benefits of disclosure. It's not a short list, reinforcing the significance of the issue.
For the record, President Obama and Vice President Biden have already put 12 years worth of returns online, available for public scrutiny.
With this in mind, let's not overlook the announcement from the Romney campaign, made around 5 p.m. eastern on Friday afternoon.
Mitt Romney has filed for an extension on his 2011 taxes, his campaign said Friday. [...]There's no evidence to suggest there's a nefarious explanation for the delayed filing, and extensions are not uncommon. But the issue of Romney's elusive tax returns nevertheless continues to be an important one in the 2012 campaign. The presumptive Republican nominee is already earning a reputation as Mr. Secrecy, and the fact that he's being so stingy when it comes to disclosure matters.
Romney plans to file his return sometime in the next six months, and prior to the election will release it, "when there is sufficient information to provide an accurate return,'' according to a spokeswoman, Andrea Saul.
What's more, this isn't going away. Benjy Sarlin reported, "The Obama campaign is launching a multi-pronged effort to highlight Romney's low 13.9 percent tax rate, demand close to two dozen years of additional returns and request more information about his foreign assets."
Of particular interest to Team Obama is the fact that Romney has decades worth of tax returns; he just won't share the materials with voters.
When Romney was considered for John McCain's 2008 ticket, for example, the former governor turned over 23 years worth of returns.
And yet, when it comes to voters, Romney was willing to share last year's returns, and his campaign has said he'll eventually share this year's materials, too. What about the documents that McCain saw before choosing someone else as his running mate? So far, Romney aides insist those materials will remain under wraps. Why? They won't say.
American Bridge 21st Century's Rodell Mollineau published a detailed memo, noting the 12 things Americans could learn from Romney's returns, if he discovers the benefits of disclosure. It's not a short list, reinforcing the significance of the issue.
For the record, President Obama and Vice President Biden have already put 12 years worth of returns online, available for public scrutiny.
