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Pablo Martinez Monsivais / AP
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks at the Christ Central Community Center in Winnsboro, S.C. on Wednesday.
WINNSBORO, SC -- Newt Gingrich said Wednesday he paid 31 percent of his income in taxes in 2010.
While continuing across the Palmetto State on his bus tour, the former House speaker told reporters he hopes to release his 2012 tax returns tomorrow, which he said he had been told would reflect the fact that he paid nearly a third of his income to the federal government.
Gingrich's statement comes amid efforts by Mitt Romney to parry attacks by his rivals in Saturday's South Carolina primary after Romney had estimated his effective tax burden at about 15 percent over the past year.
It's part of a broader effort by Gingrich and fellow GOP presidential candidate Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, to put pressure on Romney to release his tax returns immediately. The former Massachusetts governor has been reluctant to release his tax records, but has suggested he might make public his most recent returns in April should he have secured the nomination by then.
In the meanwhile, Gingrich has used Romney's words yesterday to needle the frontrunner in the South Carolina primary, a contest which Gingrich has transformed into somewhat of a last stand for conservatives looking to halt Romney's march to the GOP nomination.
“We are going to name our flat tax the Mitt Romney 15 percent flat tax,” Gingrich told the roughly 150-person crowd today. "My goal is not to raise Mitt Romney's taxes, but to let everyone pay Romney's rate."
This back-and-forth between Gingrich and Romney is just one of a number of heated topics between the two campaigns. Gingrich has been especially eager, too, to highlight Romney's private sector record at Bain Capital, the private equity firm he helped found and which led to most of his wealth.
Gingrich seems to be gaining momentum in South Carolina with just three days until the state primary and the Romney campaign is taking the threat to sealing up a sweep of the early nominating states seriously.
In response to the former speaker's push, Team Romney has begun responding, labeling the former Speaker as an “unreliable leader," and holding a press conference call with campaign advisers, creating a new website, and releasing a new web ad.
“I mean where do they get the gall to run these kinds of an ad?” Gingrich told reporters after being informed of the new Romney campaign ad that says he helped re-elect a Democrat. “Maybe they’re bored. Maybe they have excess money. Maybe they want to throw the kitchen sink.”
The speaker is staking his campaign on the primary Jan. 21 and wants conservatives to rally around him as he believes he is the only candidate who can beat Romney.
“I am trying to get every conservative voter in this state to decide, while they may like somebody else, that historically we need to get the vote for Gingrich,” the Speaker said, noting that it would be “helpful” if either Perry or former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum dropped out of the race.
South Carolina voters will cast their ballots Saturday.
Leave a Comment:
OUCH!
If true - that is going to sting!
When you have Governor Crispy Creme calling for Willard to immediately release his tax returns, Willard is clearly between a rock & a hard place...
Willard made well over 300K in speaking engagements last year alone, compare that to the average American families salary is approximately $40,000!
This moron believes we are buying his crap?
Feisty, I think your just trying to piss me off.
and if romney made his money in speaking fees or though office work etc. he would have been taxed at 35%. but the fact of the matter is that romney was already taxed on money made through his labor at the top rate and now is paying a further tax of 15% on his investments. What money did he invest with? Money he already earned and was taxed on. you dont even attempt to be fair in your posts.
Why would we compare someones speaking fees to a middle class family?
If he earned his income legally- good for him.
If a football player makes $5 million, good for him.
Why criticize how much someone was paid? If it is your money, your tax dollars given away, your firm that paid a speaking fee...take it up with them. Don't fault the guy for taking the check or paying taxes on it. Jealous much?
Dear Fiesty,
I don't think it helps the discourse to refer to Governor Christie as "crispy creme" and Mitt Romney as "Willard".
Huh?
LOOK at the size of him - the man is morbidly obese who cannot walk 100 yards...
Not to mention an egotistical BULLY!
Sorry, is that not Romney's first name?
Feisty, Well you try to call Gov. Christie " Crispy Creme" quite often.
Go look in the mirrow and ask yourself; If someone offered to you $300,000. to speak, would you take it?
@Feisty Redhead: You are extremely rude to refer to either candidate as you have. You certainly are entitled your opinion, but expressing it as you do makes you solidly a part of what is wrong with our society; bullying, rude speech masquerading as intelligent commentary or discourse.
You have a lot of company, sadly.
Anyone wonder why our children and young people are so careless about how they treat people? Wonder no more.
Feisty, you cherry pick the comments you reply to. You also legitimize calling Mitt Romney, Willard because that is his name. So what are your feelings on calling Barack Obama by Barack Hussein Obama? After all, that's his name. Personally I'm opposed to belittling either man on the basis of their name for partisan points. I'd rather focus on the issues. But that doesn't suit you does it? You would rather solely take jabs at any Republican. After all, taking jabs is what has this country moving gracefully forward, right?
Aww poor baby - seeking some attention...
Feel better now?
HA HA HA whiners!
Don't bother using your right wing psychological propaganda study group findings to bring her down.
If a billionaire has money for a new yacht.. you think they EARNED it.
If an average worker has enough money to eat...you think they STOLE it.
Feisty, Well I wouldn't exactly call you quite and demure.
He is not paying tax on his investments but only on his capital gains and writing off his capital losses.
not at all I dont want recognition, i want REBUTTAL!!!! thats what these message boards are intended for. You dont respond to the posts that make valid points.
When you can point one out - I'll respond!
Deal?
I think the point is that the rich have access to many schemes to avoid paying taxes on the mountains of wealth they have accumulated. They have lobbyists and friends in political office who they pay to protect them. They get laws written and passed to give them preferences. They continue to get wealthier and crowd out the opportunities for the rest of us. Left alone, our current system will end up with six people owning everything. The writers on this page who are defending the rich drank the Kool aid of Capitalism. I have nothing against people getting wealthy. What I am against is the wealthy trying to take and keep everything for themselves. Please forget ideology and just look at what's happening and you must realize we can not continue with the status quo and remain a stable society and we can never go back.
sorry, i didn't know i would have to take your hand like a child and walk you through this one... this is copied from my post above
You also legitimize calling Mitt Romney, Willard because that is his name. So what are your feelings on calling Barack Obama by Barack Hussein Obama?
Fly Over, FYI - "Willard" is Mitt's first name. Did you cry when people refer to the POTUS as "Barack HUSSEIN"? I'm betting the answer would be no.
Feisty - gonna sting?
Why would that be?
Or is this just because you have no clue how the tax system works.
I love libbies - they just don't know what they don't know.
Most (not all) of you right-wingers & especially the ones that are proud teabaggers throw plenty of slur names when your referring to Democrats but OMG !, holier than thou & lecture others when its referring to a republican.......how self-rightous of you.
Feisty Skankhead isn't very bright. Doesn't known how the tax system works...most likely because she's on Government assistance and has never paid taxes.
Charlie its wrong on both sides! thats the point im trying to make! its just partisan BS. And since when do two wrongs make a right?
If the shoe fits wear it, Governor Crisco. I called him by a nickname that fits him, as did Feisty.
Perhaps if the Governor of New Jersey did not eat so many crispy creams, he'd be called something else, equally appropriate.
Like blowhard.
What's the problem - isn't that his name?
Hey, slight right, do you know how Romney actually "made" that investment income?
It wasn't from earned income he invested. Bain Capital has a nasty habit of acquiring companies, cashing out their pension funds and borrowing lots of money against their assets, and then buying Bain Capital stock with the money.
Guess what that does to the value of Romney's and the other Bain Capital managers' stock? Yep, it went up. (Money for Mitt.) Then some of those companies they leveraged all the cash from went bankrupt - and all their creditors got the shaft. Translation: Bain stole money from workers' pensions and creditors and padded its own stock value.
Vulture capitalism at its best. Now explain one more time how "poor" Mitt shouldn't be taxed at more than 15% on that money? He didn't pay taxes on the money Bain stole. He didn't pay Medicare & Social Security taxes on it, either - unlike all us working stiffs who only have earned income. And now you want to cry over his having to pay 15%? All I can say is, there's a sucker born every minute.
slight right
sorry, i didn't know i would have to take your hand like a child and walk you through this one... this is copied from my post above
You also legitimize calling Mitt Romney, Willard because that is his name. So what are your feelings on calling Barack Obama by Barack Hussein Obama?
=========
...absolutely nothing wrong with it when you can assure the intent of the user to imply that anyone named "Hussein" is not an American Citizen and/or '...with a name like that surely can't be one of 'us'...', is not the case.
'Willard' definitely comes across as rich, but I don't hear anyone claiming that Romney is secretly of the Mexican Drug Lords society simply because his Father was born in Mexico.
Kaybeetoys, I heard your crap last week and I didn't like it then. I am always respectful and never call people names. FYI I was just joking with Feisty
kaybee, so only democrats can discriminate? is that what you're telling us? its ok to ridicule a man over his weight? Holding extra weight increases cancer risk. Would it be appropriate to poke fun at ted kennedy for his weight? your ignorance is disgusting.
allen, is it also a name that might be from a Mormon family?
Naa, JFK - they just have a very limited understanding.
They are W-2 employees. They file returns without Schedule C's, depreciation schedules or anything even remotely complex. They earn $0 in passive income, and until recently had never heard of such a thing.
But by golly here they are talking about all the hoorible 'loopholes' and 'unfair' tax rates.
God bless them.
Of course that's why there arguments fail. All this stuff is well established tax law. Funniest part is, they don't even realize who wrote it,or why.
FEISTY
Keep with CRISPY CREAM , I love it and it fits him well . We can't call him the pop & dough boy because that belongs to NEWT . Every one needs a nick name !!! ( or should I say {love } handle ) ..
bob
Paraphrasing the worst Secretary of Defense in modern history Spank? You know the guy responsible for the deaths of thousands of your fellow Americans either directly or indirectly because of his arrogant bumbling of the DOD? Remember those supply chain issues with protective gear for our GI's and my fellow Marines? That's right Spank..I would submit that guys like you who never served don't know what you don't know!
Slight right
You also legitimize calling Mitt Romney, Willard because that is his name. So what are your feelings on calling Barack Obama by Barack Hussein Obama?
Willard is his first name, Barack is also a first name....
so whats your problem?
calling someone by their first name is the usual thing to do...
Feisty despises people who have great personal success unless they are a liberal.
I don't think of Willard as Mormon.
I think of him as the king of rats from a 1972 horror film.
And that's what the future of America looks like to me with Willard as President.
well realamericansfirst, unlike feisty redhead, i will actually respond to valid questions. first off whats with the "poor" mitt romney? I dont know of any defenders of him who would go so far as to call him poor. Regarding the vulture capitalism allegations who knows, not you or me. did some companies fail? of course. but many others were successful. people were even laid off in the successful acquisitions but I would rather have 500 people laid off from a company that employed 2000 than 2000 people be out of work because the company cant make their bills. During the years that he was wiht Bain he paid a higher rate. More than his fair share. He is no longer directly employed by them and his income comes from his past investments. These investments he made with what was left after his annual pay was taxed at the top bracket. I see nothing wrong with that.
Tell me again why I should give a damn how much money any candidate makes or what his tax rate is.
By the way, lefties, one of the richest candidates ever was John Kerry. How many of you didn't vote for him because of that.
Dan, this is taken from my above post
Personally I'm opposed to belittling either man on the basis of their name for partisan points. I'd rather focus on the issues.
ps your niners are losing to my g men this weekend
slight right - How do you know that Romney paid any taxes while he was at Bain Capital? Have you seen his tax returns?
Do you know that a lot of people like Romney use "carried interest" as their source of income? And they can pay 0% taxes on that money (by leaving it in the firm and "borrowing"' against it in unlimited amounts for living expenses.) At most, he'd have paid 15% on his earnings, not 35% like a regular working schmuck.
Are you SURE he paid taxes? If not, quit defending him until you can let us know.
in response to the article (I know novel concept),...
Newton needs a better tax advisor. Unless he is counting SALES tax on his account at Tiffany's?
Go Giants
spider - Do you give a damn about the deficit?
If you do, you should give a damn about tax rates.
Screaming bloody murder about one and dismissing the other is either the height of hypocrisy or the height of stupidity.
realamericans, do you know what the likelihood is of being audited is when youre pulling in mitt romney money? of course he paid his taxes. can i prove it definitively? no but i also cant prove that he is in fact not from mars or that I am not the main character in the truman show.
If Newt paid 31 percent he got his income through EARNED income not UNEARNED income. Newt is hoping people are too stupid to realize that. What is said is that most people have no idea how to create any level of wealth and thus think anybody that can create wealth is doing so illegally. The class warfare effort from the WH is helping ignorance grow.
There is no investment without savings first which comes from some form of earned income. Currently capital gains for EVERYBODY held long-term is taxed at 15 percent. Dividends that usually is received by those close to or at retirement is taxed for most around 10 percent. If no income was received by earned income any marginal rate will not apply. Additionally, many people invest in tax free municipal bonds that further reduces there tax burden. So should investors avoid those tax exempt municipal bonds? Has anybody noticed that nobody is calling for those exemptions to be reformed? That is because that status is what allows that debt to be sold.
Newt wants to suggest he is somehow "better" than Romney because his tax rate is higher which is utter nonsense. Newt is just grasping at this point for something to cling to. First, he called Mitt a moderate. Is that bad? Now he is suggesting the way Mitt receives his income is somehow morally not right? Have these guys ever been audited or their tax returns reviewed by the IRS? I know that Buffett has not paid taxes in a couple years due to tax disputes. Do you think that Buffet is trying to pay more taxes to the government?
Stop the hypocrisy and let's talk about serious issues.
just an update, Fiesty has been back on this board but i still have no reply while she has denied cherry picking.
I'm respectful to those who have earned my respect. The Governor of New Jersey does not fall into that category. Crisco is a politician whose obvious health issue is of relevance to potential voters.
By the way, my parents taught me not to use words like "crap".
Where is the discrimination in calling a spade a spade? How is it ridiculing Governor Crisco to point out that he has a big problem? Ted Kennedy did not even compare. No politician in my lifetime has compared to Crisco. If he is offended by that reality, then he should change it. I can't do it for him.
There is no reason for you to be offended on his behalf, unless you are his cook or his doctor.
PC=BS
Dan, this is taken from my above post
Personally I'm opposed to belittling either man on the basis of their name for partisan points. I'd rather focus on the issues.
ps your niners are losing to my g men this weekend
FIRST let me say the Giants will be tough, but without your run game, NOBODY runs on my Niners, in the mud, we win....even the saints could barely make cuts and it was dry...
your front 4, while really good, didnt get to Rogers that much, just some pressure...Gore and even the kid will run right past that 4 man rush...
As far as Willard is concerned, there is a TON more than just a name we can use to belittle him, the name part is just a bonus
He is not paying tax on his investments but only on his capital gains and writing off his capital losses.
Do you know that a lot of people like Romney use "carried interest" as their source of income? And they pay 0% taxes on that money
__________________________________________________
If anyone is looking for proof that lefty liberals don't have the first clue about the US tax code, here's a couple of quotes from posts above that prove it.
LMAO!!!!
Well, Joe - you might want to read this article from the Congressional Budget Office on the subject of carried interest and educate yourself.
http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=8599&type=0
Romney wouldn't have paid ANY taxes on income he took as carried interest until he used it as income. And then he gets to pay only 15%. It's NOT taxed twice. Hell, it's barely taxed once, if you compare it to the way we treat the income of actual WORKING people.
And if he took his income as a loan against his carried interest, it's taxed at 0%. Wise up.
Still sounds like Romney is the smart one. BTW How much did Gingrich give to church or charity?
Mit gave 10% of his gross just to the church.
@Fiesty, why do you have a problem with overweight people? why do you have a problem with people who earn more money than the average American?
You seem to have a mental problem, and I'd like to assist you in finding help immediately.
If you use how much a candidate makes or how much he is worth as a criteria for being in touch with the common man, wouldn't you pretty much rule them all out along with most all politicians? Are you telling me Obama, Clinton, Pelosi, or Reed are in touch with the 99% based on that criteria?
Martie - how do you know Mitt gave 10% to his church? If you have some tax returns for us, we'd love to see them.
If I may... speaking only for Obama and Clinton, both of whom came up the hard way and earned most of their wealth from the books they wrote-- all by themselves, no ghostwriters-- if anyone can identify with the common man and with the ability to become a success in this country despite humble beginnings, those two can.
You cannot take that away from them no matter how you spin it.
The smoke screen continues! We have one very wealthy man (Gingrich) pointing out that he pays his taxes at a higher rate than one extremely wealthy man (Romney). Gingrich's income is about 2.6 to 2.8 million dollars and comes mainly from "working". Gingrich is worth between 20 to 31 million. Romney's income from "working" is way less than Gingrich's. His net worth is also far greater at between 190 to 250 million. The vast majority of his income comes from investments. Capital gains tax rate is way lower than the tax rate on income derived from working. ISN'T THAT THE WAY THE RICH BOTH DEMOCRAT AND REPUBLICAN WANT IT? Funny when Obama pointed out this very issue EVERY Republican took issue with it and in mass chanted the GOP mantra of "IT CLASS WARFARE". While wealthy Gingrich is not even anywhere near the wealth class of Romney. Gingrich earns about what a journeyman player in most pro sports earns and Romney earns what a team owner makes. Apples and oranges folks. With a boat load of hypocrite manure.
Romney wouldn't have paid ANY taxes on income he took as carried interest until he used it as income.
And if he took his income as a loan against his carried interest, it's taxed at 0%.
_______________________________________________________
So, what you are saying is that the "income" tax only applies when payments are considered "income" under the US tax code, and since a loan (debt) is not considered "income", it is not subject to the "income" tax.
Yeah, I guess if I was as smart as a lefty liberal, I would conclude that not paying income tax on a loan is just plain wrong.
BTW, does that mean a mortage loan, or a car loan or a 401(k) loan should result in an income tax bill to John Q. Public?? Wise up.
Likelihood of an audit for the uber-rich is about 1 in 10, which is a bit higher than for us normal folks (something like 1 in 50, I think). The IRS recently stepped up its auditing of the wealthy in an effort (largely just PR) to demonstrate its commitment to ensuring that all pay their share. So, it is not necessarily a fair inference that, because Romney makes lots of money, has has recently been audited or will feel compelled to be very honest in his tax returns.
Mitt is not be taxed twice, he never paid taxes in the first place because it was never earned income. And we will never know how much he parked off shore. The way his game works, it was an investment from day one, although all he was doing was stealing the pension fund, loading the companies down with debt, and then walking away with the cash while thy went bankrupt. Unfortunately, it was legal to throw hundred of people out of work, and leave thousands with no pension.
So Mitt, show me how I can walk in with a $5 investment and walk out with $1,000 in two years. You may call this work, I call it highway robbery, Rick Perry calls it vulture capitalism. This is why no one on wall street will be prosecuted; they paid Republicans to get the laws off the books (called it financial de-regulation) before they broke them. So no foul, even if they stole trillions of dollars from our economy.
Feisty has never made a post of any substance. Just a jab here and there and always wrong in her facts. A real class act, too.
But, Joe, as a regular working person, I can't take my paycheck as a "loan" against "carried interest" instead of getting it as wages and paying taxes on it (payroll taxes, too!)
So why should we let hedge fund managers and equity capital boys like Romney get away with it?
Just a tax dodge bought & paid for with money chiseled from American companies to buy politicians like Romney now wants to be.
Let's be real, everyone wants to make a lot of money, and everyone tries to pay the least tax rate possible. Despite how Romney earned his money (which you may take issue with), or how much he made, who can fault him for playing the same tax rules/game everyone else is? If there is some consensus on changing the law, let it happen, not expect people to voluntarily pay a higher tax rate.
Newt is pulling out all the stops in the dirty tricks handbook, and if there was ever a clear instance of class warfare, this would be it. It goes something like: the economy is down, we're all poor; Romney is rich; therefore he is bad. If this sways the choice of voters, they are not thinking very hard.
[Disclaimer: I support neither, but at least within the GOP field, you'd hope they would stick to substantive issues. Far cry from where Newt was several weeks ago, calling for a stop to negative campaigning.]
31% huh ?.......Will bet the Grinch is paying a hell of a lot less than 31% tax on his overall income. The Grinch has been caught so many times for lieing he makes the little boy who cried wolf look like a saint.
Gingrich says he paid 31%. That's a pretty broad statement. Was that personally? Was that one of his many LLCs and corporations? Was it the consultant Gingrich or the book writer Gingrich?
I dont know about you guys but this tax argument is silly. The goal for every American come April 15th is to pay the LEAST amount of tax possible, is it not? So why should this be any different for the rich?
Unless you people that are whining about other people not paying enough only take the standard deduction and write nothing else off, you have nothing else to say on this matter.
RAF:
[Well, Joe - you might want to read this article from the Congressional Budget Office on the subject of carried interest and educate yourself.]
Don't you worry none about little Joey from Albany, here...he voted for Caarl Paaladino, and conservatism is a mental illness.
What??? Millionaires are paying high taxes???!!! Pity them. We need to go back to the top tax rates of the 1950's, 60's and 70's....you know....back when we had REAL jobs in this country! Then those economic elite can have something to cry about.......
Wow! If this can be verified then it will cast a new light on Newt. I don't care what anyone claims, there are damn few who would pay 31 percent in taxes on money they have stolen. Cheapskate Romney claims to have paid only 15 percent on interest gained from his ill gotten funds. We have yet to hear from Perry. Probably still trying to compile a sum comparable to the least amount of criminal suspicion. Gwad!, these SC evangelicals may have elicited a modicum of honor from among a pack of thieves.
The obama's made 1.7mil odd in 2010 and paid 26% federal tax. Newt should hire their tax lawyers.
Obama's income is chump change compared to the folks in the GOP pack. Plus, his income was nowhere close to 7 figures until he wrote his best selling book a year before the election. He is new to the Robber Baron group. But give him time. Seems about everyone who goes to D.C., of BOTH parties, either get filthy rich during or after they play ball with their lobbyist and "constituents." Seems like there are turnstiles from the Capital building/White House to the richest Corporate and Financial institutions of America! Soon after they "serve," they get sweet multi-million dollar jobs with the very folk they worked for while in office! Sickening.
"slight right
and if romney made his money in speaking fees or though office work etc. he would have been taxed at 35%. but the fact of the matter is that romney was already taxed on money made through his labor at the top rate and now is paying a further tax of 15% on his investments. What money did he invest with? Money he already earned and was taxed on. you dont even attempt to be fair in your posts."
That's not quite true. He is paying 15% on the profits he receives from his investments. It's not double taxation as you imply it would be. Had he 'earned' $1000 on a speaking engagement he would pay 35% but since he invested monies he already had (regardless of how he got it) he only paid 15% on the same income.
That's the inequity most are upset about. Because he had that $1000 to invest he gets to pay 20% less on the proceeds than someone who worked and earned the exact same amount they would be paying full price.
This is one guy I would never trust or believe; then again, I don't trust any politician. Per previous comments, somehow they all end up filthy rich by the time they retire from government (and often before).
As a middle-class earner in the NW, my back of the envelope calculations usually expect 25% in various taxes off the top, and I get a little back in April. For what I get out of this country/state/county/city/neighborhood, seems like an alright deal, but obviously could be better.
I wonder where do other stand on that figure? Newt seems high.
(Come to think of it... that figure doesn't account for my 10% sales tax. Damn.)
That's hilarious...the 'conservative' almost giddy at paying 31% to show he's paying more than the 'moderate' paying 15%.
Moderate in name only. The guy's a shark.
That is funny .. Gingrich is pulling a Buffet on us. But on another note, considering Newt is a habitual liar, how can we believe his 31% claim? After all, anything he tells the media, and then is quoted by the media, is a LIE!!!
I know. I'm just using Newt's terminology. I just find it funny in the GOP, the guy paying the lowest tax rate is the one getting hammered.
Great point RedDev - what ever happened to the 'Buffett Rule?'
Seems they all abandoned that one. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact they are all so very rich?
Getting hammered Allen? maybe, but it sure doesn't seem to be working, and look at all the lovely dialogue we are now having.
Capital gains are great, right?
Hey, I wonder what everyone will be saying if there were no income tax or capital gains tax?
You think any of this would be an issue?
@RedDevPS Newt is a liar, everything that comes out of his mouth is skewed for personal gain. I bet he is including all his property taxes, state taxes, sales tax and luxury tax from his half million spent at Tiffany's to get his Total tax rate up to 31%
Newt is going to release his tax returns this week and you will be able to see for yourself.
Newt needs a better accountant. "Picking competent people" is an important presidental skill.
Newt is a liar and a hypocrite. He sits there with a straight face saying how his current (newest) wife led him to Catholicism. Yeah, I guess that would be easy as he was having an affair with her while still married to the previous wife. I don't trust a word that comes out of his mouth.
Do you know how Romney actually "made" that investment income?
It wasn't from earned income he invested. Bain Capital has a nasty habit of acquiring companies, cashing out their pension funds and borrowing lots of money against their assets, and then buying Bain Capital stock with the money.
Guess what that does to the value of Romney's and the other Bain Capital managers' stock? Yep, it went up. (Money for Mitt.) Then some of those companies they leveraged all the cash from went bankrupt - and all their creditors got the shaft. Translation: Bain stole money from workers' pensions and creditors and padded its own stock value.
Vulture capitalism at its best. Now explain one more time how "poor" Mitt shouldn't be taxed at more than 15% on that money? He didn't pay taxes on the money Bain stole. He didn't pay Medicare & Social Security taxes on it, either - unlike all us working stiffs who only have earned income. And now you want to cry over his having to pay 15%? All I can say is, there's a sucker born every minute.
How do we know that Romney paid any taxes while he was at Bain Capital? Haven't seen his tax returns.
A lot of people like Romney use "carried interest" as their source of income. And they can pay 0% taxes on that money (by leaving it in the firm and "borrowing"' against it in unlimited amounts for living expenses.)
At most, he'd have paid 15% on his earnings, not 35% like a regular working schmuck (who would also pay an additional 7.65% Medicare/Social Security on the first $110k).
Are we SURE he paid taxes? If not, quit defending him until you can let us know.
Spanky-
Great point RedDev - what ever happened to the 'Buffett Rule?'
Seems they all abandoned that one. I wonder if it has anything to do with the fact they are all so very rich?
Getting hammered Allen? maybe, but it sure doesn't seem to be working, and look at all the lovely dialogue we are now having.
Capital gains are great, right?
=========
I like Romney and this issue. I believe 'how' he got his wealth can potentially serve as an actual example to the public about the 15 trillion page tax code as often repeated by most in the GOP and how it is geared to those with wealth.
This issue isn't about generically throwing out a term like 'capital gains'. It is about Romney's ties to Bain and his ability to limit, if not all together write off losses and then pay minimal on all the gains.
From my perspective, since Romney likes "tradition"...traditionally success has been defined as the outcome of hard work, intent, elbow grease, steadfastness. In my mind there is a vast difference between that and 'gaming' the system to it's nth degree.
Disgagree with me if you want, but if there was any validity to the argument in 08 that the President had no commonalities to the general public, I'm sorry, Romney can't even register on the scale.
What a freakin hypocrite! Anybody that trusts Blingrich is an idiot!!
Well Real American, are you implying that Romney broke the law?
Cause not paying taxes that are owed should get you in trouble.
Unless your name is Rangle, Sharpton, Geitner.......
White Collar - carried interest is not against the law - just against the interests of 99% of the American people.
See this article from the Wall Street Journal to learn more:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903885604576486541761322496.html
This is great! Go ahead Newt! Keep throwing dirt on Mitt...You two need to really take it up like "gentlemen". You two are the kind of "gentlemen" that go to clubs that read: "Gentlemen's club" HA HA HA
Anything but gentlemen in those places...just like in politics.
I love hearing an associate say how investors deserve to be taxed at the low rate of 15% or even less because they are creating jobs. Funny...I thought jobs were just part of the scene when creating or expanding a business. I didn't realize that jobs were the favors from the gods to us little banana eating monkeys and we should be "giving praise to our job creators".
We should wake up in the morning with songs of praise to our job Creators! We should offer up our virgin daughters to them! We should sacrifice our sons in the name of Their Holy Wars! Hallelujah! Hallelujah in the highest! Praise and worship and glory to our Job Creators!
I love when I hear these pundits saying that taxes are killing jobs in America.
Last I checked, companies don't base their hiring/firing on their tax rates. They base it on their ability to meet market demand in the cheapest way possible.
If you're a large multinational corporation faced with increasing demand for your product/service, you hire. Being a large conglomerate, you probably hire overseas as China/India allow slave-wages compared to the US.
If you're a small potato, you hire locally based on increased demand.
Where do profits in a business go?
To the executives, retained earnings and shareholders.
Profits don't control hirings, they only dictate firings (when it looks like the exec's bonus-package is in jeopardy)
Last I checked, companies profits have increased dramatically even during this awful recession.
Why have they taken so long to hire on more people then? You'd think with most Fortune 500's paying well below their effective corporate tax-rate that they'd be hiring HUGE scores of Americans.
Well, why aren't their ranks swelling with eager American workers?
@slight right - In response to your comment:
"What money did he invest with? Money he already earned and was taxed on."
Yes, he invested with already-taxed money, but he is not paying an additional 15% on those funds. He is paying 15% on money that he EARNED from investing those funds. Capital Gains taxes are only on the money gained, not including the original investment.
If you invest $100 of your already-taxed income by purchasing $100 of Company XYZ's stock, then the following year you sell that stock for $150, you only pay Capital Gain (15%) on the $50 that you made. Likewise, if the following year you sell that stock at $75 and lost money, you can write that $25 loss off against other earned income.
Please stop perpetuating the false theory that Capital Gains taxes already-taxed income.
This is absolutely hilarious... I can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth if Newt happens to pull off the nomination. The left's golden boy Romney is losing ground fast.
The more the left complains about Newt, the more I like him. The complaints about Romney are all about Bain Capital and his wealth... Bain Capital was brought to light by Newt and Perry about 10 days ago... the liberals latched onto it as a huge talking point. Newt is playing the left like Charlie Daniels plays a fiddle.
The way I look at it, the left exposes who they fear the most by the type of insult and the intensity. When you have one liberal more on that uses Newt's name in his handle, just so he can slam Newt... That's a fear factor beyond belief.
Go Newt! You are striking oil and it counts!
@ Brianb-999431
I'm glad you're so equal opportunity!
It's not often in this country that a convicted criminal is capable of making it as far as Newt has!
Once again, another achievement in social progress. In just the last 10 years, we've elected a recovered drug addict and a black man to office...imagine if we even went as far to elect a convicted felon as well!
^_^
The funny thing about Newt's campaign, all of the notes on how to defeat him were taken when he ran against Clinton in the 1990's. You might as well vote for Bob Dole or Ross Perot.
Newt's not going to stand too much of a chance against Obama, he's got too much of a criminal background to be able to wade through those waters. Sure, Obama is a lackluster POTUS that wasn't able to reign in the idiots in his own party, let alone figure out how to neutralize the losers and zealots in his opposition. But Newt is a hypocritical cream puff with a long track record of fiscal, ethical and social impropriety; Romney, even though he's a sycophant and giant corporate shill has got a really squeaky clean background and a track record that appeals closer to moderates than the social-conservative lunatics that routinely vote for people like Bachman and Larry Craig.
Newt may win the GOP-primary, but it will practically guarantee Obama wins the election. Why do you think so many in the GOP begrudgingly keep going back to Romney...they don't like him, but they know Newt is DOA in the general election.
The weird part is, if he really is paying 31%... does that somehow make him a better candidate in SC??
@ semaphore
It might =)
I think that we are seeing some of the last heavy blows dealt by the GOP contenders in the early primary states. They don't want to beat each other up too much because it will harm their chances of attracting the swing voters across the country who actually are paying attention.
They've already done most of their necessary God stuff to appease the mushballs in the social conservative and Religious Right category, and those that played too closely to that side are all but demolished at this point (THANK GOD!). Now they are starting their race to the middle to see who is the slightly better liar when it comes to claiming they understand AND represent the mainstream American.
I just read the oppo research on Romney, compiled for the McCain campaign in 2007. No wonder Gingrich wants to stop him before he gets the Republican nomination. Helping a Chinese company trying to take over America's favorite washing machine brand, Maytag, wow, this, and other Bain Capital endeavors are going to be hard to explain to the American voters, especially in this economic climate.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/the-book-on-mitt-romney-here-is-john-mccains-ent
Hey Amy, you OK with Obama's pick to run the OMB, Jeffery Zeints?
Cause, see, he was a Bain guy.
Guess the President thinks those folks are pretty smart.
How about you?
I know Amy. Not to mention all the other 101 under-handed and dirty tricks Romney is pulling to get money and nothing else. There was a report out last week detailing his work with the Olympics in SLC. He would buy a $5 and slice it into 8 pieces and sell each slice for $1 a piece, just so he could make a profit. What a scumbag!!!!!
It means that Obama will get four more years to fully straighten out the Bush disaster.
I think they know that if they elect another conservative now, the damage will be so bad that even the most obtuse tobacco chewing redneck won't vote republican again for decades.
Hey Amy - who owns Chrysler?
Wow! Talk about stereotyping people?
And liberal democrat fantasies.....
Ummm, Ummm, I know that one Spanky......
Is it the Kochs?....nahhh....Soros?.....nahhh...a rich American conglomerate?.....nahh
Oh yeah, President Obama made it so that Fiat, an Italian owned company could take over Chrysler ( a beloved American car Company)and lay Americans off. Fall of 2009 if my memory serves.
That Sergio Marchionne guy is a real hoot. Did you know he is the only person who is allowed to smoke in the Companies Headquarters?
Lights 'em up wherever and whenever he wants.
I think it's an Italian thing.
White Collar Auto.......
Just as everyone in the auto industry (i.e. the workers) is not responsible for its financial problems, everyone at Bain is not responsible for its excesses. That distinction is reserved for those at the top (e.g. Romney).
The above profile goes on to say:
President Obama considered Mr. Zeints' business background (and ethics) in to-to. That's what we have also done with your candidates. They are all fundamentally flawed.
BTW---Is it the "summa cum laude" thing that so bothers you? Perhaps, that is too similar to the Obama's for your taste. You folks seem to have an innate distrust of anything/anyone "intellectual". Ergo: Fox News.
@Ian so following your logic "That distinction is reserved for those at the top (e.g. Romney), you are saying we can blame Obama for all the problems in the current term? LOL...... I like it.
A bit off topic, coming to a pension fund near you:
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/gov_public_pension_bomb_4JRP5KYgDOj5grjL2QWIFM
ksw, I am absolutly sure that Ian had no idea what he was setting up when he posted that comment.
Yep, it's the guys in charge who are to blame.
So it's official then. Two wars and the worst global economic downturn in a century is officially
ALL BUSH's FAULT!
Thank god, we finally got that out of the way.
@ Dogma no problem but as soon as Obama took over it is his to do to change it. I don't know of any new boss who isn't expected to fix the current situation. You do not get to blame it on the previous person who held the job.
No one could have fixed the mess we had after eight years of George W. Bush in just barely three years, not all the king's horses or all the king's men. Certainly not the Republicans, who want to restore all of Bush's patently failed policies.
Obama would have gotten a lot further by now if the conservative stall machine had been the least bit willing to compromise with him for the good of the country.
If you wanted someone to get us out of a safe 40 feet underwater while wearing chains and a straitjacket, you should have elected Houdini.
@Kaybee What I fault Obama for is not being a leader and bringing the two sides together. How long do you suggest he gets a pass?
ksw62118 & White Collar Auto.....
In 1990, Mitt Romney was brought back (from Bain Capital) to Bain & Co. "to engineer turnaround of the flagging company." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/17/john-mccains-200-page-romney-research-book_n_1211965.html
Nobody held Mitt Romney responsible for the serious financial problems developed at Bain & Co. prior to his return. However, as does President Obama, Mr. Romney deserved credit for resolving those problems. It (the Bain & Co. turnaround) required several years.
Unfortunately for you two, the internet stands as a ready and stark reminder of the dire straits this country faced when President Obama took over (from your Bush/Cheney economic wrecking team). Our nation is a much tougher case to resuscitate than was Bain & Co.. Furthermore, Romney did not have half the company trying to sabotage his efforts.
No matter how hard you try to weasel out of it, the preponderance of blame for the 2008 economic melt-down (and its sequela) falls squarely upon you folks. Just as White Collar Auto tries hard to deny that the white collar auto exec crowd had nothing to do with the many mistakes (and decline) of the U.S. auto industry, you try to deny blame for our recent economic woes. It won't work (in either case). The history is written.
ksw62118......
No human being can bring two sides together when one side (GOP) is belligerent, intransigent, and determined they will NEVER cooperate. The best we (and President Obama) can do is make our case to the American people and defeat you (politically). Given the extreme slide in confidence expressed toward Congress since the 2010 election, that job is well underway.
White Collar Auto.....Why do you keep dodging the question: Which (GOP) candidate do you support?
ksw, you're talking about a president who from the moment his victory was announced has been targeted by the opposition to fail, to be a one-term president.
Where was Obama's 'honeymoon' period as president? He, in good faith, tried compromise and bi-partisanship, and where did that get him?
Give him another term and he'll show he can do what he needs to do, despite the Party of No.
Don't you just hate it when your post ends up somewhere you never planned?
Hopefully, This contest will continue all the way until the convention.
Newtered pays a higher tax rate than most people but he still isn't paying the max rate now is he? This is one of the big lies from the right that they all pay 36% or more in taxes and that is simply not true...to pay the 36% rate you must have taxable income OVER 337K...frankly I doubt if most republicans come close to this level...37K is more like it...but don't let facts get in the way of your BS
Why does he need to pay the max rate?
Nobody pays 36% on every dollar. It is impossible since we have a tiered tax rate. You will always be taxed less on your first dollar, than your last.
Rick,
Since Republicans only make around 37K then all those millionaires and 1%'ers must be democrats right?
2011 top bracket is 35% for $379,150+. $37k would be in the 25% bracket.
I don't give a rat's a$$ what they pay. I just know I pay to much!!!
How so? It's merely the average
^_^
How can Gingrich release his 2012 taxes tomorrow? He can't have all the forms he needs - 1099s, etc. I realize anyone can track their own dividends, interest, gains and losses and all that, but all those earlier records say "not for tax reporting purposes," meaning the Gingrich is supposed to wait for his 1099s like the rest of us and is probably violating tax laws by not waiting.
Wait a minute... 2012 taxes don't have to be filed until 15 April 2013. Gingrich is releasing them tomorrow? Wow. Maybe he is the smartest guy in the room.
I had the same thought, Paul! Hopefully Newt meant his 2012 filing of his 2011 return. Or maybe he means his 2010 taxes?
All I know is that these guys' accountants must be dizzy figuring out how to get their clients to pay as high a rate as they can!
Paul, Gingrich most likely is referring to his returns for last year (2010 return). but it is possible that he could already have his 2011 return completed. I have done 3 so far this week for customers and have more appointments today to complete tax returns for customers.
Yes, reminds me of how the tea party in 2009 were demonizing Obama how much they paid in taxes. Even though they were paying taxes on income earned in 2008, before Obama was even President.
IOKIYAR
2010 taxes fool
Paul, You don't need to have your 1099's in order to file...Your invoices better match with the 1099's the IRS has on file if you are ever audited. Just an FYI
Romney paid way more in taxes than Gingrich suggests people should pay on capital gains. So why is he so bothered? It's like he is saying "Romney paid at the rate I would like to see people pay and that makes me mad!" Anyone else have a problem with that. And you want to know why Romney got a tax break (besides the fact that capital gains from investments are taxed differently under the current law)? It's because he pays tithing, which accounts to at least a 10% charitable contribution. It's probably higher than that. Romeny is smart enough to know this would come up and smart enough to save it for when he needs to release it. People are gonna see him as rich (big shocker) but also very charitable, which is only going to help.
What about Tiffany's? Any tax on tax?
Let's be very clear here - we don't want Mitt's tax returns for 2011. We want his tax returns for the past 10 years. I don't believe Christie in NJ made that clear. So we will.
Willard, just so we're crystal clear - we want your tax returns for the past 10 years.
Think Progress:
Over the decade since the attacks on September 11, the U.S. armed forces have signed more than 70,000 non-citizen recruits, and those recruits have stayed in longer than their citizen counterparts during a time when the military had trouble signing enough recruits and relaxed its standards to include more people.
“The interviews revealed that, relative to citizen recruits, non-citizen recruits generally have a stronger attachment to serving the United States, which they now consider to be ‘their country,’ and (they) have a better work ethic.”
************
Not only is Mitt refusing to pay the same rate we pay, his sons didn't believe 9/11 was a strong enough reason to "join up". The same people Willard wants to see go to the back of the line are the people who do all the work.
The Romneys.
Privileged elite.
Amen, Pat---great post.
I am most troubled by Romney saying he did get some speaking fees---not very much---only to learn that he received over $300,000 in a year. So Romney thinks approx. $40,000 per speech isn't very much money. And he can relate to the average American how?
Its the usual. The elites plan wars so that other mens' sons can go off and fight them. I suppose they will point to their Mormon faith-- but if that's so, why would their Dad tell us he would have no problem declaring war on Iran??
Steeler Fan, the Mitt Romneys of the world basically want us to just eat cake. Same goes for his supporters. Look at how arrogant they all are. They don't expect nor want the GOP to explain anything to them as to why they are so irresponsible, so not giving a damn about human decency. And that's because they are all alike.
They are beyond condescending. The GOP can do no wrong in their eyes, despite the overwhelming evidence that it is the GOP who got us into this mess.They don't care.
It's easy for them to just blame President Obama or the poor or the unions.
btw, most of those who receive food stamps are white - the elderly and children. But the GOP will continue on with their lies.
And most of the media and the GOP voters wil continue to just look the other way. President Obama should be able to wipe that smile off of Romney's face in no time. The guy has zero integrity.
Romney confuses integrity with envy. That's how clueless he is.
@ Steeler So what do you think Bill Clinton pulls down for speakers fee? He pulled in a fat $31million dollars from 2001 to 2005. Just in case you need backup here you go. I am continually astounded by the one sided judgements posted on this board based on political party.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2007/clinton-speeches/list/
Pat--the whole "food stamp President" thing is so ridiculous. First because they imply that the President wants people to be so poor they need food stamps. Second because of the racial undertones and third because George Bush and the Republicans drove the economy into a ditch so that people required food stamps and they want to blame President Obama for making sure that the help was there for those people. And fourth---the cheering at the statement is as chilling as some of the other cheering they do at those debates---like for someone dying without health insurance or the jeering of a gay soldier.
@ Steeler No response to Bill's speaker fees? There were some interesting groups he spoke to as well. Several Banks, Goldman Sachs, etc...
Gingrich: Romney owes it to voters to release tax returns
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/01/mitt-romney-taxes-chris-christie-/1
Romney's tax return headache
Mitt Romney is running into tax trouble.
The GOP presidential front-runner said Tuesday that he "probably" pays a tax rate of about 15 percent, providing additional fodder for critics already calling on Romney to release his tax returns.
The admission, days before a South Carolina primary where Romney is the prohibitive favorite, is also likely to play into a general-election contest that seems destined to be fought along lines of class.
http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/204699-romneys-tax-return-headache
Christie says Romney should release tax returns now
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, one of Mitt Romney's highest-profile allies, says the GOP front-runner shouldn't wait to release his tax returns.
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/01/mitt-romney-taxes-chris-christie-/1
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Newton's strategy is bearing fruit and has Gov. Romney on the defensive. If Romney doesn't release his returns, Newton will be a pit-bull on the topic and Mitt will look like he has something to hide. If/when Romney releases his info, he will appear to have capitulated to Newton, and look WEAK...Admittedly this is a pretty brilliant move by Newton, which even his detractors should recognize as being gamesmanship of the highest order.
And he appears to be surging in the latest polls...
Why should he release his tax returns? I don't care how much money he makes. The folks who ran in the 2008 presidential race didn't release their returns until March or April.
Newt has lost all of his credibility in my eyes. I liked him until he showed his true colors.
dangerfield,
Whether one likes Speaker Gingrich or not (I freely admit to being in the "not" category), one must admit when it comes to playing the game of politics, he does do it well.
Diamond60,
In the 2008 race, the battle was still going on for the nomination. Mr. Romney doesn't want to (maybe) release his tax returns until he is secure in the nomination. I find that to be a great difference. And apparently so do those running against him.
If we can ask the current President, who won fair and square, to release his birth certificate, than you better believe we can ask these lying scumbags to release their tax returns!!!
Want to have a pool as to when we see the headline;
"Romney to release taxes"?
Want to guess who is going to be "surging" in the next couple of polls?
How many points will Newton gain in the next 4 days, whether or not Mitt releases his taxes?
How many candidates will be left after Saturday?
dangerfield,
Hopefully only three, Mitts The Grinch and the Good Dr.
I don't think Mitts understands that The Grinch continuing in the race only helps Dr Paul.... (the establishment is beginning to see the light though)
dangerfield & Egilman,
First, I am guessing 4 will remain after Saturday. Just my guess. Next, if Mr. Santorum does drop out of the race, will the Christian Coalition rally behind Gingrich or Romney?
phine,
I doubt they will coalesce around anyone until much closer to the convention.
Egilman,
If you get tired of all the noise around here, a know a nice little jazz club where it is easier to talk. :)
Romney campaign unloads on 'outrageous and destructive' Newt Gingrich
There is now polling indicating a possible Newt Gingrich surge after Monday night's debate - A Rasmussen tracking survey has him just three points behind Mitt Romney. Notably, Rick Santorum may need to start wearing a lifebelt rather than a sweater vest - he appears to be sinking fast. But the surest sign that the Romney campaign considers Gingrich the main threat here in South Carolina was a conference call just now in which top surrogates for the GOP frontrunner unloaded on the former House Speaker.
http://harndenblog.dailymail.co.uk/2012/01/romney-campaign-unloads-on-unreliable-leader-newt-gingrich.html
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Going out on a limb to say that both Perry and Santorum will drop out by the end of next week...
dangerfield,
I must admit to not having seen the latest polling from SC. I think I would trust the internal polling Romney has, though, which explains the attacks from Newt and to Newt (do you understand my phrasing there?). If Newt comes in a solid second in SC, and comes closer than expected to Romney, my home state of Florida is going to get a mite interesting the next few weeks. (No tv for me!)
As a lifelong Kennedy Democrat who now lives in South Carolina I get to vote on Saturday in the Republican Primary. I will cast my vote(the first ever for a Repugnican) for the Newster. Romney is in trouble here. Obama 2012.
IS SC an open primary?
As hard as that is to believe Yes it is.
It's gonna be an interesting night!
I am liking Newt better and better. Don't get me wrong I could not vote for the guy. But this is so much fun! He is like the Energizer bunny he just keeps coming. Get those Super Pac money presses rolling Ol' Newt is not going to go away until he creates painful boils on the Romney Campaigns inner thighs!
maybe newt should get some advice from romney, mitt only paid 15%
Was thinking the same, seahawks fan. They're down to arguing over which couldn't figure his way around tax laws better. Absurd world we live in.
I'm sure Mittens enjoyed firing the tax advisor that had him paying 20%,...lol
Well, he should be paying 31%. If you're raking in the dough, then you should pay your fair share of taxes instead of having the lower/middle-class cover your butts!
The lower income folks pay zero taxes. Perhaps you didn't notice the high income folks pay most of the taxes. Everyone should pay their fair share, but if you make a lot of money you shouldn't have to pay more than your fair share. We aren't socialists yet!!!
For Diamond60:
@Diamond60: Really? The lower income folks are exempt from sales tax, property tax, etc? Sure, they're exempt from income tax, but if you're trying to raise a couple of kids and make ends meet on less than $25K a year, maybe you deserve a break. People making over $250K a year don't NEED a break.
And BFD, so Newt paid pretty much what we in the middle class pay. Don't expect a pat on the back for that Newt, because no one gives US one.
Newt is the king of the one liners and zings but too much dirt. Romney is the only remaining candidtate with the experience to manage and turn things around!!!
From where do you draw this conclusion? We have had business owners in the White House before and the lot of them have performed poorly. Mitt will sell out this Country to the highest bidder. He is currently breaking ground on a new 16 million dollar home in San Diego but has not signed the paperwork yet. He stated he would not UNTIL he won the Presidency. If that's not a clear indication that this guy wants the MONEY and doesn't give a rat's a** about you are me, than you must be smoking crack. Any incoming President is not going to build themselves million dollar homes while the whole of America is suffering and living from paycheck to paycheck. That's just plain stupidity and greed!!! You would have to be a complete moron to vote for this scumbag.
Class warfare envy/jealousy, starfox. Be thankful we live in a country where people can still honestly become succcesful and build themselves $16M homes. Lots of people (who might otherwise be collecting unemployment checks) will be employed building that house, and it will generate a great deal of tax revenue.
Starfox you are the true moron. How is it greed to build a new house? Isn't he paying for it? The average new home creates three jobs for a year. I'll bet his 16 million dollar project will create a lot more. IF we had more people building homes we would have more people working instead of drawing unemployment for 99 weeks!!!
Romney gives a large portion of his income to his church, how is that wrong? Our current president bought his home below market value and a convicted criminal helped him buy it. Why aren't you outraged over that?
If he has the money it is his do do what he wants. Why the attack on capitalism?
Great. Yeah, lets all get money anyway we can, as long as we don't get caught. If it is setting up a firm to help distressed Companies by investing in them to prop them up and sell them for a profit, lets all do that. If its running a billion dollar Ponzi scheme like Madoff, lets do that as well. Woopii, Capitalism works. Everyone get as much as you can while you can. That's what the purpose of life is all about. You people are pathetic. I work in the Medical field and if any of you loser ever walked into my clinic, I wouldn't give you an aspirin to save your lives!!! You bring absolutely no value to this World and based on your comments, your motto is get what you can and screw everyone else.
Ahh guys,
I'm with starfox on this one, I don't care that he has all his money, obviously someone thought he was worth it. (he wasn't born with it)
Tying the closing to his winning the presidency is a bit over the top, like he thinks the job is his already...
VERY ARROGANT!
And class warfare has nothing to do with it since my income is 6 figures yearly you bobble heads. It is about electing someone that will do their best for this Country. Not based on the color of their skin or the fact that they use hate-filled rhetoric to degrade the current Commander in Chief, which I think should be a punishable crime.
What exactly is Romney going to do to turn things around? The only thing I have ever heard him or any of the Fab Five mention is deregulation and lowering taxes on rich folks. (unless you want to count Newt putting children to work and firing union janitors because they make too much money) How is this different from Bush? And am I not remembering accuractly didn't Bush drive the nation into the ditch with deregulation and lower taxes. What part of this am I missing. Obama is not a perfect president don't get me wrong, I am not sure about the health care bill in it's entirety and I would have prefered a single payer system. I think he has been somewhat naive in his dealings with an obviously oppositional congress, but if the choice is going to be Romney what choice is there. He offers nothing new or interesting or fair. He is so far removed, so out of touch with mainstream America it is laughable. At least with Obama I feel like the guy is on my side, and maybe with a little help he could get things "turned around".
StarFox, put down the coolaid. You obviously voted for the Candy Man...tell me something, what will Milli Vanilli do to reduce our deficit?
And next chance you get, you'll complain about how illegal immigrants steal all the construction jobs, won't you?
I'm liking Newt better, too. I lost all respect for Huntsman when he endorsed Romney, I bet he is looking for a vp position. Doesn't matter, none of these guys are going to be president. If you call putting tons of people out of work, then, yes, Romney is your guy.
OMG Newt please go away! You had your chance in the 90's and blew it. Find a nice big rock under which you can crawl, along with Rick Perry, Ron Paul (and Bimbo-Palin) until this is all over, Mitt is inaugurated as POTUS, and the Obamas are send packing back to Chicago.
Ok, Newt's made a lot of money since his Republican Revolution days.
31%? I'm finding it VERY VERY hard to believe that.
And has he been paying that consistently throughout? Or was that an exception in 2010 only?
It'll be interesting to find out...
It is because the rich has neglected to pay the same rate of tax like the middle class, now the government goes skinny, kind of malnutrition.
Now the rich should pay 30% and the middle class pay 15%. Therefore, the gap of the rich and poor are closed up a little bit since the poor has not been paid reasonably and rationally.
Don't know about most of you, but loopholes have I none! Let's tax these people on their "income," before they shelter or hide it!
Gloria, maybe you should run for public office and work to change the tax laws. Until then, as long as someone fairly pays their taxes in accordance with the current tax code, no one should have a legitimate gripe.
Newt can't file for 2012 until 2013..... get your dates right.
Does it really matter whether any candidate releases his tax returns? I really don't care how much money these people make or don't make. If Newt is paying 30% of his income in taxes, then maybe he should use TurboTax.
Maybe we should just pick a homeless person to be president. Couldn't do any worse than these guys are going to. Or have.
It isn't about how much money he is making. it IS about his lying about being just a working American just like everyone else.
I'm sure every other American would like to have the opportunities those millions of dollars opened up for him....
Newt has it nailed, Americans have a serious dislike for liars.... and Mitts I'm afraid has been telling a few little white ones....
Hell, Mitts himself is afraid because he's been telling a few little white ones.
i think a flat tax of lets say 25% acrost the bord , rich or pore would be wright
remember, spell check is your friend!
The commentary is pretty funny on here. You demand to know how much tax a candidate pays (as if it's any of your business provided that no laws have been broken). Mitt says 15% and you scream "that's not enough!" Newt says 31% and you scream "I don't believe you!" Why anyone would run for political office is beyond me.
People, before you go accusing Romney of tax fraud for 15% and Newt of paying his fair share at 31% please educate yourself first of the following facts. Mitt pays 15% because his income is largely from dividends and capital gains. He earns a small amount of ordinary (35% income) from consulting and the like, but not enough to materially impact his overall rate. Newt pays 31% because he earns most of his income from wages taxed at 35%.
This isn't about tax rates. It's about the fact Romney is one rich SOB. Romney shouldn't have to hide that fact or have it held against him. I for one think it's a GOOD thing in a presidential candidate to have proven his mettle in corporate America. Romney has what it takes to solve complex problems and get ahead. Obama was a community organizer. Romney gets my vote hands down.
You are REALLY "out there" crazy.
Come on Jason "a small amount of ordinary income".There in is the big difference. Can any of the folks on the stand tell me what a gallon of milk costs? A loaf of bread? A pound of beans? Class warfare... Hell that war has been OVER. Its bread and Circuses for the losers and I need a tax break for my 3nd home which is my Boat.. Give me a break. Ever had to decide between heat and medicine, its easy when your a granniewomen that the system failed. Whatever kills you first you pay and I should not be offended by a
gaudy display of wealth. Be it a pimps "Bling"or a "I'm not sure how many homes we have".
Remember the 50's that everyone likes to wax so goldurned nostalgic about it? When the US was great and prosperous and all that?
What was the tax rate for multimillionaires then? What was the unemployment rate?
The solution is an obvious one.