Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (663504)	7/23/2012 1:40:48 AM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1578704

What's Romney Hiding in His Tax Returns? Posted by: Joshua Green on July 17, 2012 As George Will and many others have noted, there must be something truly damaging in Romney’s pre-2010 tax returns for him to willingly endure the criticism and scrutiny that has accompanied his refusal to release them—a refusal he reiterated on Friday, even as the issue, and the matter of his departure date from Bain Capital, has engulfed the campaign. *“The cost of not releasing the returns are clear,” Will said on ABC’s This Week* on Sunday. “Therefore, he must have calculated that there are higher costs in releasing them.”** So what could it be that Romney is so determined not to disclose? Last night I had dinner with some (non-Bain) private equity executives, and I took the opportunity to quiz them on the topic and test my own theories about Romney’s tax returns. Let me emphasize that I have no idea what is in those returns, and neither did anyone I spoke with. What follows is unfounded, though not implausible, speculation. The most intriguing scenario that emerged about what could be lurking in those returns is as follows: When the stock market collapsed in 2008, the wealthiest investors fared worse than everyone else. (See, for instance, this Merrill Lynch study.) The “ultra-rich”—those with fortunes of more than $30 million—fared worst of all, losing on average about 25 percent of their net worth. “There was really nowhere to hide as an investor in 2008,” Merrill Lynch’s president of global wealth management pointed out in 2009. “No region ended the year unscathed.” As a member of the ultra-rich, Romney probably wasn’t spared major losses. And it’s possible he suffered a large enough capital loss that, carried forward and coupled with his various offshore tax havens, he wound up paying no U.S. federal taxes at all in 2009. If true, this would be politically deadly for him. Even assuming that his return was thoroughly clean and legal—a safe assumption, it seems to me—the fallout would dwarf the controversy that attended the news that Romney had paid a tax rate of just 14 percent in 2010 and that estimated he’d pay a similar rate in 2011. The “zero tax in 2009” theory—again, this is sheer speculation—gains further sustenance when you consider it’s the only year for which nobody knows anything about Romney’s taxes. He’s revealed what’s in his 2010 and 2011 returns, and he reportedly submitted 20-some years’ worth of returns to the McCain campaign when he was being vetted for vice president in 2008. Steve Schmidt, McCain’s chief strategist in that campaign, said on MSNBC last night that while he didn’t examine Romney’s returns himself, nothing that McCain’s vetters found in them disqualified Romney from consideration. That would indicate that 2009 is singularly important and, if there’s anything to this theory, incredibly vexing for Romney because there’s no way he could release additional returns without including that year. And the chaos that would ensue would be bad enough that it’s probably worth enduring significant damage to avoid. Green is senior national correspondent for Bloomberg Businessweek in Washington.

To: i-node who wrote (663504)	7/23/2012 11:49:58 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1578704

Don't look for Bush in Tampa By Steve Benen - Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:42 AM EDT Getty Images In mid-May, former President George W. Bush expressed his support for Mitt Romney's candidacy, delivering a four-word endorsement -- "I'm for Mitt Romney" -- as elevator doors were closing. Romney wasn't eager to publicize the support, and generally prefers not to even say Bush's name out loud in public. But looking ahead, we're just a month away from the Republican National Convention, where party activists generally celebrate the leaders of their party. Perhaps we'll see a passing of the torch from the last GOP president to the man who may be the next one? Um, no. Former President George W. Bush will be skipping the Republican National Convention this summer, his office said Friday, continuing the relative seclusion -- and self-imposed remove -- from presidential politics that he has kept since leaving office. A spokesman for Mr. Bush, Freddy Ford, indicated in a statement on Friday that Mr. Bush had been invited but declined to attend the convention, which starts in late August in Tampa. "President Bush was grateful for the invitation to the Republican National Convention; he supports Governor Romney and wants him to succeed," he said. "But in keeping with his desire to stay off the political stage at this point in the post-presidency, he respectfully declined the invitation to go to Tampa." The announcement was made late on Friday afternoon, when most the nation's focus was on developments in Aurora. What a coincidence. It's worth noting how very unusual this is, at least by modern standards. Presidents Ford, Carter, Reagan, H.W. Bush, and Clinton all attended their party's first convention after leaving office. Indeed, all were very well received by their respective party's crowds. And yet, Bush won't be in Tampa. It's almost as if Team Romney is afraid to be seen with the guy -- which I suppose makes sense, given how spectacularly he failed while in office. For what it's worth, the most recent Republican president may not be headed to his party's convention, but it's wrong to say his presence won't be felt. After all, Romney has already hired a team largely comprised of Bush administration officials; the RNC recently conceded that a Romney presidency would be the same as Bush's presidency " just updated"; and Romney has been eager to cozy up to Dick Cheney, whom Romney sees as a model vice president.