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Subscribe to RSSGOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum is riding his momentum from a trio of caucus wins to the top of the latest national polls. NBC's Peter Alexander reports.
Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum sought to draw another sharp contrast between himself and Republican rival Mitt Romney when his campaign released four years of tax returns Wednesday night.
The documents, reported by Politico, show Santorum and his wife, Karen, earned more than $3.5 million from 2007 through 2010, but paid more than one-quarter of their earnings back in taxes. The most they paid in taxes was in 2010, when they earned $923,411 and paid an effective tax rate of over 28 percent.
Romney's 2010 tax returns show the former Massachusetts governor and wife Ann earned $27 million and paid a tax rate of 13.9 percent.
"I felt very successful in making money. Also, I was very successful in paying taxes," Santorum told CNN on Wednesday. "I think our tax rates were ... between 25 percent and 28 percent. You know, I do my own taxes and maybe I didn't have all the deductions and exclusions that I could have. But I was trying to be as straightforward as I could and paying the taxes I thought I owed."
New Gingrich's 2010 tax records, however, show he paid even more than Santorum in taxes, earning $3.1 million that year and paying back 31.5 percent.
The Santorums filed an adjusted gross income of $659,637 in 2007, that rose to $945,100 in 2008, $1.1 million in 2009 and $923,411 in 2010.
'We've been very blessed'
While the candidate acknowledged his success, Santorum was quick to point out that he has two children in college, a special needs child and a home that has lost 40 percent of its value.
"I took a lot of that money and actually paid down a rather significant mortgage to the point where ... my mortgage was still below the value of my house," he said. "And that's been a bit of a hit for us. And I have two kids in college and a child with a disability and needing care, so, you know, we've had some expenses and we've been very blessed to have the opportunity to be able to handle those and still be in the black.
The release does show the former Pennsylvania senator's wealth grew since he lost his re-election bid in 2006. The latest Republican to surge in the polls has disputed the notion he has cashed in from his time on Capitol Hill.
But shortly after the information was made public, Santorum sought to use it to play up the blue-collar background he speaks about so frequently on the campaign trail.
He referred to himself as a "grunt lawyer" in a Pittsburgh law firm before getting to Congress.
Santorum took a break from stumping in Florida last month before the Sunshine State's primary to return home to ready the documents that he himself files each year, never relying on an accountant.
He also points to his re-election loss as an opportunity for him to gain private-sector experience, something Romney has critiqued Santorum for not having.
"In many respects, I have to say the people of Pennsylvania didn't always give me what I wanted, but they gave me what I needed. And in retrospect, Piers, it was probably the best thing that ever happened to get away from Washington to give me a perspective on things," he told CNN's Piers Morgan.
"It was a really great opportunity to get a whole bunch of different life experiences in the private sector and I think it's made me a better candidate coming forward here for president," Santorum added.
Four years worth of tax returns is the most any GOP presidential hopeful has released. Ron Paul now becomes the only candidate who has yet to make his returns public.
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This is the oldest and most transparent political ploy out there. Tear your opponents to pieces to make yourself look good. And it works well with the majority of voters because most of them have under-developed powers of discernment. The Repub lineup is a confederacy of dirt bags - always has been and will be eternally.
This becomes of lesser importance than what the President and his family cost us every time they take a trip. Paris it took over 500 to make the family safe and other amenities (four hair dressers on call for the First Lady). Each time he takes a "business" trip it is more like the business of the country takes a back seat to his fundraising (ie-- Los Angeles and then Newport Beach). There were agents and police in droves around the Corona del Mar home so he could attend a $35,000 breakfast so people could shake hands and meet him or the lesser important attendees paid 3500 just to have breakfast. Every time he or his wife depart on one of their jaunts it costs the tax payers. I realize the family needs their down time, but in hard times, our President is not showing the world how he has downsized to reflect the plight of his populace. I am fatigued from people shouting "tax the rich" when their leader is milking the coffers for his own personal gain.
First, who cares what Frothy paid in taxes. Who cares what Rombo paid in taxes. They both paid their taxes, according to the IRS rules. Frothy has little income from capital gains, Rombo has all income from capital gains. That is the reason Frothy paid more actual $ than Rombo did, it's a different tax code.
dnew, how much did it cost us everytime Bush and Pickles went on vacation? Didn't hear you bitch about that, expensive brush cutting trips, right? It would be better for your mental health to get over your hate. And since the baggers are bound and determined to give Obama his second term, you really need to get control of the hate problem.
I don't think the tax code is anything the PANIC about, but it definitely requires some changes to make it more fair and evenly distributed. The original tax code in the US was that way. However that will not happen until we can get a fair and decent candidate in office. Since many companies have ETHICS policies which prevent employees from contributing to a campaign it it difficult to find someone willing to take the risk.
Yet one more tool to help educate people about the candidates based on their RECORDS, not what a biased media wants you to believe:
election4uspresident2012.weebly.com
Please use it. Thanks!
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will you do my taxes?
The "inevitable nominee" for the GOP: A chicken hawk, multimillionaire Morman cultist, who believes that he will one day attain godhood and populate his own world with his spirit babies, that Jesus Christ and Satan are twin brothers, and wears magic underwear. Bye, bye, GOP. You just lost your last ounce of credibility as the party that was supposedly the champion of Christianity and morality. What a joke. And people are calling President Obama the anti-Christ! What! Notice that no one is even mentioning what the cult of Morman believes in and why the are NOT Christians or Catholics. They are an absolutely heretical cult by every definition. SHEEP. "Baa, Baa."
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MSNBC - you know of your distortions but must lie, cheat and steal for the Obamanation. Romney is a good and descent man, Barack is not. Romney pays all taxes owed to Caesar and 150% of that required by God. Who among you can throw the first stone. Demorats in many areas try to be stupid on purpose.
Records show that you are an Idiot!