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Cash rich but personality poor Mitt Romney is probably going to have to fire someone today which will probably give him a boner or something. It seems that when he filed his personal financial statement his “people” forgot to include information about a few silly little Christmas Club accounts he had stashed away in tropical offshore havens and a socialist European hellhole:
Some investments listed in Mitt and Ann Romney’s 2010 tax returns – including a now-closed Swiss bank account and funds located in overseas tax havens – were not explicitly disclosed in the personal financial statement the GOP presidential hopeful filed last August as part of his White House bid.
The Romney campaign described the discrepancies as “trivial” but acknowledged Thursday afternoon that they are undergoing an internal review of how the investments were reported and will make “some minor technical amendments” to Romney’s financial disclosure that will not alter the overall picture of his finances.
A review by the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau found that at least 23 funds and partnerships listed in the couple’s 2010 tax returns did not show up or were not listed in the same fashion on Romney’s most recent financial disclosure, including 11 based in low-tax foreign countries such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.
Many of the undisclosed funds are affiliated with Bain Capital, the Boston-based private equity firm Romney ran for 15 years. Several others are apparently unrelated offshore entities with mysterious names such as Babson 2006-1, which is based in the Cayman Islands, and Barracuda Investments, which has an address in Dublin but appears to be solely owned by Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm based in San Francisco.
Oooooo. San Francisco! There is another debate coming up. Maybe Newt Gingrich should mention Mitt Romney’s “gay money problem”….
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Has a presidential candidate ever gone to jail for tax evasion? We might be witnessing a first.
Moments like these prove that there is a kind and loving God smiling down upon us, by making sure Romney’s rival is the one person most likely to introduce the idea that hiding funds in oversea tax havens in order to escape taxation is unpatriotic. Watch for it in tonight’s debate.
One of the MOTU called to account for criminal behavior? Not in this universe.
Mitt has a liquidity problem. as in: his campaign is swirling the drain.
Oooooo. San Francisco!
“Rice-a-Romney
The San Francisco twit”
So Mitt has even more money than he is telling us. Any bets Mitt hopes public pressure will back off and he never has to reveal just how much he really has? Any bets the damage is done and Mitt after the election is over will argue that a rich man cannot get elected in America if he has to show his tax returns.
Sure most of us here call Obama, Newt, Ron etc rich nobody has run for President in how long we could really call middle class. But Mitt is super rich and I think that Mitt is wrong Warren Buffet could be elected President why because he did not make his money destroying American jobs.
I do have a problem with his McDonalds investment they pay their workers slave wages but if Warren were to run on taxing the rich more like he says he supports then I could be persuaded.
What was the old saw that No one can be too rich or too thin?….Maybe R is the evidence that one really can be too rich…certainly true if you can’t even keep track, poor dear.
Was the Swiss bank the one bank that was found to have a huge number of American accounts that were opened purely to evade taxes?
Perhaps the GOP should open a help center for ethics and financial disclosure statements. Maybe Clarence T. and Willard R. would contribute. Call it the Thomas/Romney Center For The Forms Challenged.
I believe so. I heard somewhere today that it was UBS, which was the bank in question.
Man oh man, Luxembourg, Paris, San Francisco, I can’t believe this is the presumptive Democratic nominee, haven’t we learned anything? The Republicans are gonna have a field day, I mean remember what they did to Kerry just for speaking a little French..
Oh he’s a Republican? Well alright then.
!
There’s another debate? What are they, every night now?
Speaking of thanking Providence, whoever designed this nightly clown parade must have had a Democratic win in mind, I swear. Months and months of watching the craziest and most corrupt people in the country swat each other silly on national TV. And the last one standing will be your Republican nominee!
There was a great line from one of the West Wing episodes where they were describing to the President how traditionally each year they brought in two Thanksgiving turkeys for a kind of contest and “the winner gets a pardon and a full life at a petting zoo, and the loser gets eaten” and Martin Sheen responds “See, if the Oscars were like that, I’d watch!”
UBS – also the bank of which Phil Gramm (remember him? One of the first who pushed to destroy regulation on banks, like Glass-Steagall) was a director. Or possibly is still, I can’t keep up.
There was a tweet implying that this “trivial” forgotten amount is around $3million…anybody know if that’s true, or just snarking?
They really just don’t get it, do they? Mitt and his people just are so enmeshed in the bags-o-money world they don’t even see how calling an amount like $3mil “trivial” will play.
Or the fact that they overlooked ANY money.
Don’t they remember McCain’s “uh…I dunno how many houses I own”?
Ah, Bev…it wasn’t really an old saw – well, maybe it became one, but considering the source, it shouldn’t have. It was the Duchess of Windsor. A soulless example of the worthlessness of rich aristocrats if ever there was one.
i have a ‘gay money problem’. i can’t keep up with my gay friends’ spending :/zing:
The original “Great news for McCain!”
They probably remember, but like Halperin, they wear those Republican contact lenses that turn everything upside down.
Hey, let’s be fair — JFK was a lot more wealthy than Mitt.
“Life is unfair” — JFK
Sarah Barracuda?
If it is around $3million, that’s why Mittens thinks it’s trivial. Mitt’s not a 1%er; he’s something like a .00006%er. $3millions is – in Mitt’s exhautled universe – chump change. And truly, it probably is difficult for Mitt to keep track of all of the million$$$$ he’s amassed destroying the jobs and lives of USA serfs.
The Germans have noticed: here’s a taste of an opinion piece from Der Spiegel
On edit: I’m not so sure about whether any of their fellow Republicans are cringing; they really don’t know that this isn’t how decent people behave.
FTW, so far!
Update: yes, it seems $3 million was the amount in the undisclosed account, with $1700 in interest needing to be reported, that wasn’t.
Yes, so trivial.
You linked to the “Life’s Unfair” quote, but where’s your link demonstrating that JFK was actually “richer than” Mitt Romney?? Would like to see back-up for that assertion.
Sure seems like it. I don’t get the purpose of ‘em, myself, other than to give vapid talking heads, like Wolf Blitzer, the opportunity to demonstrate their capabilities to avoid asking anything remotely like a real question. How anyone can take these Kabuki Show Acts seriously is way beyond me.
Look….he ADMITTED he is worth between $180-220 MILLION. I think it’s damn generous of him to spread the wealth around to these other countries’ banks.
Remember how NPR’s resident “very serious moderate” Cokie Roberts had a field day mocking Obama for taking a vacation with his family in “exotic” Hawaii? I can’t wait to hear her take on Romney sending his money on vacation in Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Switzerland. Oh, wait, scratch that — IOKIYAR.
It WAS UBS!. They were recently convinced by the USA/IRS to turn over the names of some 5,000 Americans that had accounts there that were “suspected” of evading taxes.
A reminder, “avoiding” taxes is legal. “Evading” them is NOT!
And also, too, besides, this is about a serious topic – money!One has an obligation to place one’s money where it will do best for one. Everyone (of the right people) knows that.
Vacations, now, that’s just sheer shiftless laziness, and it costs money! Those people don’t deserve to vacation!
See the difference?
I know, I can sort of imagine that each of them thinks that any public exposure is a good thing, thinking “Great, this way the people will get to see who I really am!”
In all of human history there may never be a better demonstration of the truth of the old expression “be careful what you wish for”.
Im so glad you remembered…I really had thought it was someone a bit more interesting.
Also this isn’t 1962, some people might have noticed.
Duly noted that AitchD hasn’t bothered to provide a credible link for his undocumented assertion that JFK was allegedly “richer than Romney.” Still waiting…
I think it might be called: Let’s baffle the rubes with bullshit.
At least, that seems to be what’s happening.
And y’know, now that I think more about it, I believe that skinny little Duchess was a great example of the falsehood of what she said. Too skinny and too rich. She’d fit in so well with today’s .0001%, but she probably wouldn’t deign to hang out with the likes of Mitt.
I’m still dealing with/reeling from yet another crazy Arizonan making my poor state a laughing stock. We had this little brief respite with Napolitano where we were just kind of plain – before that Bruce Babbit did fine – but honest to Chuy it’s tiresome to have everybody in the world think you and your home are completely idiotic.
That really is a tacky pic of your gov. wagging her finger at the President. No class, I guess, is the word. Or mean, maybe.
LOL. Poor you. Take it from a resident of Texas, I feel your pain.
BriBri Palin titshimmied back to Alaska. That’s one potential future political black eye for Arizona temporarily avoided.
The ‘Mother’ is still in the North Scottsdale compound however. With the bent-nose boys.
Great…that was front page our paper…Nice.
Right, I just meant that even if he were, sensibilities have changed just a little since 1962.
This U of A alum counts her as an honorary Sun Devil!
Well, but besides that – the Kennedys believed in giving back. For all his (many, many, many) faults, Joe K & Rose absolutely instilled in the kids the belief that “from whom much is given, much is expected.”
I suppose we could argue that if there were a WWII type war chickenhawks like Gingrich & Mitt might have actually signed up to fight (or at least do PR for the military), the Kennedys did join up, and they believed in public service, and even in paying one’s fair share.
Does anyone know what time the debate will start?
I can’t begin to tell you how sorry I am that I was away, in my kitchen and then in my dining room. If you don’t know on your own that the Kennedy fortune was estimated at around $300 million in old-money dollars (pre-1960), you could always look it up. You shouldn’t pretend to rely on a shit like me.
Joe for president!
Jeb will show up soon…
Ummm, I’m thinking this is relevant to this thread, if not precisely on topic:
be sure to read to the end, where this once “throwaway child” explains just why she is proud to pay taxes. H/t to MotherJonesMagazine.
She’s a dental hygienist, failed community college fool, a native of Glendale, CA. This UA employee deplores her, entirely.
There is ABSOLUTELY nothing to suggest a similar sensibility in Mittens or any of the rest of the sonsofbitches. For them, to whom much is given means only that they will keep absolutely all of it.
Yup. That’s part of what’s changed. I blame Paris and Nicole and Kim (& her whole family). Or something.
personality poor”
Ain’t that the truth?
Hahahahahahahah.
All true. Many differences, but just on the critique of Romney that being seen as Mr Moneybags is going to make it hard to get elected, saying “well, JFK was rich too, and he got elected” has very little bearing on the current race since things have changed since 1962. Hell, things have changed since before OWS.
AbsoLUTEly! As somebody has been saying, it ain’t that they’re rich, it’s his attitude toward his money, what he does with it, and how he chooses to live his life, along with, of course, his intended policies toward the rest of us who don’t have money.
Which is what I was trying to say above…maybe not so clear as I should’ve been.
When Caroline Kennedy (who has that “similar sensibility” or shows it by her actions) sought the NY Senate seat vacated by Clinton, a very significant (in number and degree) firedoglake contingent disqualified her by virtue of her political inexperience and complained about her extraordinary wealth and privilege.
And of course JFK was a vet, had been injured….did not flaunt his wealth in vivid ways…only Jackie seemed to get criticism for that from time to time.
What’s your point? Inexperience and priv’l were accurate….Not to say disqualifying
The rumor on the street was that Joe Senior bought the primary victories and paid for the Chicago voting ‘irregularities’, which, had they been challenged by Nixon, would have resulted in Nixon’s being the winner. I thought everyone knew all this by now.
I made two points. That one, and that she was reviled here for her wealth and privilege. Make of it what you will, I’m merely a troll.
Not relevant to the point. Point under discussion is simply why Mitt’s wealth draws hostility where Kennedy’s didn’t. What you’re talking about has no bearing on that question. You can’t go back and change the way the voting public reacted to Kennedy in 1960. And that is the subject.
On edit: the same applies to your comments about Caroline. Not the subject under discussion.
No it was perfectly clear, I’m just saying they’re sort of separate issues. Kennedy was not Mitt Romney, to be sure. However if say Joe Kennedy’s finances got the same scrutiny in the press that Mitt Romney’s are getting, I mean let’s face it, it was a different world.
Tom Wolfe in The Right Stuff charecterized the press of the 1960s as a sort of Victorian Gentleman, who knew which things to avoid ever asking about and never dug into them, let alone God forbid writing articles about it. That’s one of the things that’s changed the most since then.
It would be sort of like someone in the mid/late 1990s saying “Oh, Clinton won’t have much trouble from this Lewinsky thing, look at all the affairs that Kennedy had, and nobody ever talked about that much.” Different times.
Maybe we need someone who has no experience in politics at all. The ones who have been around for a long time are already bought and paid for.
We maybe didn’t think of it as flaunting his wealth. We admired his Cape Cod beach estate, his West Palm Beach estate. Every week in Life and Look. His excellent golf game (reputed to be the best among POTUSes). Dan Quayle could have responded that he’s a much better golfer than Kennedy.
Objection sustained.
Yikes, I don’t think of you as a troll…Sorry.
You may have noticed we just said similar things. Though how yours relates to what you were quoting from me escapes me.
Claiming that Romney’s finances shouldn’t be a negative for him because Kennedy was rich too, or even richer, misses the point that this isn’t the 1960s anymore. Not even remotely is it the 1960s. That’s my response to you. If it’s not what you meant, feel free to clarify.
Did ASU reciprocate and make he an Honorary Wildcat?
A great book.
No, no. I think of myself as a troll.
Yeah that was back when he was a really terrific journalist, rather than a bad novelist. Weirdest turn of events I’ve ever seen.
Debate thread is up….
Gotta go. Please direct all responses to tejanrusa, since I think we’re saying the same thing. Actually I think we all are, someone’s just itching for controversy. Which is okay.
Touching upon the Kennedy vs. Romney discussion above:
One big difference between Kennedy and Romney that may explain why Kennedy is viewed more favorably than Romney is that Kennedy thought that a 75% Tax Rate for people in his income bracket was fair.
Also, I willing to bet that Kennedy didn’t view his Political Service as being equivalent to his Military Service.
Thanks. I was trying to use Caroline Kennedy as an example of a wealthy and privileged person who wanted national political influence and power, and whose sensibilities are pretty much the opposite of Romney’s, that she has — like her ancestry — believed in public service and giving back. Then I alluded to firedoglake’s taking her apart for being wealthy and privileged. But @ 63 I withdrew my wretched suit.
He’s not a bad novelist.
Hey! And after all the nice things I’ve said about you!
Actually, I think we are on the same page.
But now…I have become aware that it is Thursday night,and yet, there NO BASSETS on my screen!
We needz dogz, TBogg! (pretty please?)
Rich people no longer go to jail for tax evasion. They pay the back taxes and a fine and it’s all good.
Probably. They’re sneaky little devils…
BUT, I think McCain did say he would check with his accounting staff and get back to us on those houses. And he never accused us of envy either. Now that’s a rich dude you can love. Unless, of course, you ARE envious.
WTF? That’s a neat way to flip things, AitchD. Why am I supposed to do *your* work for you?? If you want to flip out an assertion about someone, *you* should do the heavy lifting to support what you’re saying.
Quite frankly, I know the Kennedy’s were wealthy (duh), but I have NO idea if they would be comparitively wealthier than Romney. WHY am I *supposed* to know that?? I don’t. And you still have NOT backed your assertion.
So why did you even bring it up?? I don’t get the relevance of it to this “conversation.”
Agree and thanks for those insights.
I am still unclear why we are even discussing JFK at this point, when the topic was about Romney.
Just saying… why bring up JFK, if not to somehow smear the left/Democrats??? Why?
Late getting here (…is anybody listening? Heh-LOO!?)…but Romney’s wealth is an issue, where previous candidates’ wasn’t, because of a) the Great Great Recession and the awakening we’ve had, via OWS, about the 1% vs. the 99%, and b) Mitt’s soul-less, uber-opportunistic career flip-floppage, which brands him as a creature of pure ambition and nothing more.
His wealth is an objective correlative of what emerges regarding his character–viz., that he is interested only in power and money. His utter shamelessness, embodied in his documented willingness to say literally anything about anything if he thinks it will advance that interest, is conveniently embodied in all that filthy lucre.
Just so you know someone listened (obssessive refresher here) – yeah, very well put.
Yes. I’m listening, too, and I agree. The topic is Romney, and the populace is slowly being awakened to vulture capitalists, such as Romney, who exist in this day & age… being presented to an often gullible public as if such job-destroyers & greedy shitheads have something of “value” to offer to the 99%.
Thank the dog that the 99% are slowly awakening to the scam being perpetrated on them.