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Wealthy Romney reveals 14% taxes
BBC News ^ | 01/24/12 | Mark Mardell

Posted on 01/24/2012 10:50:12 PM PST by EnglishCon

Mitt Romney pays a lot more than most Americans in tax, but he also pays proportionally a lot less.

He paid more than $6m (£3.8m) over two years at a rate of just under 14%. The average American pays around 11% tax, but the top rate is 35%.

What all this underlines is that Mitt Romney is very, very rich, earning more than $45m dollars in the last two years.

I suspect how people will see the bald facts will divide fairly neatly along party lines, at least at first.

But it underlines a damaging perception that could hurt him in a presidential election if he does end up as the Republican candidate.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Front Page News; News/Current Events; Philosophy; Politics/Elections; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: romney; tax; wealth
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Posted for information.

This story, or a variant, has been playing in second or third news slot on every news channel here since Tuesday afternoon our time.

Lot of Leftish disdain of wealth and snide implications of "It is unfair" - BBC News is as unbiased as it can be, but the talking heads and columnists let their bias show, and the author has been pretty much in the tank for Romney. Apologise for that, but it shows that the Newt/Perry hits on Romney's record are gaining traction even outside the US.

Comments on the article are well worth reading though.

1 posted on 01/24/2012 10:50:22 PM PST by EnglishCon
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To: EnglishCon
Lot of Leftish disdain of wealth and snide implications of "It is unfair"

Yea that is the main argument against Romney from Newt.

2 posted on 01/24/2012 11:01:38 PM PST by byteback
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To: EnglishCon

It’s not socialism, capitalism, or corporatism-—it’s just politics. A guy who doesn’t have a job and makes $50,000.00 per day, is going no where politically in 2012 America.


3 posted on 01/24/2012 11:10:10 PM PST by VinL (It is better to suffer every wrong, than to consent to wrong.)
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To: EnglishCon

Hey the liberals have staged performance art they call ‘occupy wall street’ just to prime the election IF Romney is the nominee.... See Romney and his army of workers have been under the assumption they were going to win the nomination. Their campaign is by design to woo the supposed ‘Independents’, and I assure you touting Romney’s business success was not their number one priority. But the below link demonstrates their thinking in how they intend to connect with the ‘Independents’. Which makes Newt and Perry’s words sound prophetic.

http://thehill.com/video/campaign/203497-romney-likens-work-at-bain-to-obamas-auto-industry-bailout


4 posted on 01/24/2012 11:10:20 PM PST by Just mythoughts (Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.)
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To: EnglishCon

Obama: Millionaires Should Pay At Least 30 Percent in Taxes [No Deductions: Households Over $250k]


5 posted on 01/24/2012 11:19:44 PM PST by Salvation ("With God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26)
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To: Just mythoughts
all the Romney income for that period was Capital gains..that is the going tax rate for Capital Gains, as I understand it...Right?
It was not earned income from employment, subject to Federal taxes??? the family is very wealthy ,we have always known that, it is not a sin.. It is the wealthy who has made this country prosperous and gets passed down to folks who work for wealthy corp. Both my adult children work for very wealthy Corporations, I've never heard either complain about their 'rich boss' they are grateful to have steady employment in today's economy...
6 posted on 01/24/2012 11:22:58 PM PST by haircutter
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To: EnglishCon

I’m as pro-Gingrich as anyone on this board abut I think this tax return business is a non-issue. I also think Romney is completely out of line with much of his anti-Gingrich rhetoric. The republican versus republican rhetoric is out of control and needs toned down IMO. They need to compare and contrast their records against Obama’s record, not each others.


7 posted on 01/24/2012 11:27:56 PM PST by RC one (the majority of republicans agree, anyone but Romney.)
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To: haircutter
all the Romney income for that period was Capital gains..that is the going tax rate for Capital Gains, as I understand it...Right? It was not earned income from employment, subject to Federal taxes??? the family is very wealthy ,we have always known that, it is not a sin.. It is the wealthy who has made this country prosperous and gets passed down to folks who work for wealthy corp. Both my adult children work for very wealthy Corporations, I've never heard either complain about their 'rich boss' they are grateful to have steady employment in today's economy...

I would say yes 'capital gains' is his major source of income. Why he does not say, folks, I am NOT running to make money but to show how money is made is beyond me. But I think because of the belief that he needs to entice those 'Independents' he must woo them sounding Obama 'lite'. I have no problem he is wealthy, but it sure appears that he wants to hide it.

8 posted on 01/24/2012 11:30:06 PM PST by Just mythoughts (Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife.)
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To: byteback

I was under the impression that Newt was more attacking shady business practices and unethical dealings.

The phrase you highlighted is my personal frustration with the media (and most politicians) here, where wealth is seen as a wrong to be righted by legislation and confiscation.

Though the US system is far more robust than it is here - Romney would be eaten alive by our vulture capitalists.

A pleasant thought that ....

One of the things that got me looking hard at Newt as a potential POTUS (I far preferred Perry or Palin for the slot, but alas, they are out) was actually the attacks on Romney about Bain.
You already have someone in the WH that puts personal gain and his agenda against the welfare of the country. Really want another one?

I live in the exact sort of place the US will become with 4 more years of Obama, or 4 years of Romney. I go to work - a walk or drive of 2 miles - and I pass and am recorded by 17 CCTV cameras.
I employ people and pay their salary. I also pay out roughly as much again in hidden charges for having the temerity to run a reasonably successful business. Should I need to lay off someone, I cannot. It is actually cheaper for me to continue to pay someone than fire them.
Our much vaunted free health care? When I actually needed it fast, I had to go private. Had I not, I would have been dead, the waiting time was that long. I had to pay on top of the 9% of my GROSS income that goes to the state for health and welfare. Then of course, I am taxed 40% on what is left to pay for government boondoggles.

I know full well someone will suggest I move. I am tempted - I have dual citizenship (triple if you count my rights as a spouse of a citizen of another country) so can leave and go to a place where everything is done by bribery and backhanders - substantially more honest than this system - or a country in the early sociallist phase which will probably last out my life time.
My children can’t leave as easily. Nor can their children.

The whole thing fills me with frustrated, baffled rage. Where did everything go wrong? And why is the USA, the best exemplar of a democratic government BY the people, running to play catch up with what we have to put up with?

In conclusion - GO NEWT! GO TEA PARTY! Heck, GO SANTORUM!

Just, don’t go where we went. You’ll regret it.


9 posted on 01/24/2012 11:32:33 PM PST by EnglishCon
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To: EnglishCon

It doesn’t bother me of how much money that he has made it was just way too weird to hear Romney say that he was happy to pay all of these taxes. If it were to come out later, he has some fishy business deals, that can be addressed.


10 posted on 01/24/2012 11:34:05 PM PST by Christie at the beach
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To: RC one

I agree totally.

I am in favor of airing points that the dems will attack the eventual nominee on - pulling their teeth, if you will and making them old news - yet I would like to see more meat.

Whoever it is has a lot to fix. I don’t want to hear Romney bash Gingrich, Gingrich bash Romney, Santorum whine or Paul being insane any more. I want to hear HOW they will fix things. Actual details.

Cain tried. Perry tried. Bachmann tried (I think). They got cut off at the knees for the sake of TV theatre.


11 posted on 01/24/2012 11:40:12 PM PST by EnglishCon
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To: EnglishCon
And the ENEMEDIA's army is the stoolpeed fleabaggers.

Think how much time and money they have spent on this ridiculous story about vagrant rabble!

Seems like they have Mitty Square on target! No wonder they want him to win so bad!

12 posted on 01/24/2012 11:45:10 PM PST by rawcatslyentist (It is necessary that a person be born of a father who is a citizen; ~Vattel's Law of Nations)
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To: EnglishCon

Okay assclown media faggots, raise the capital gains tax. That will certainly stimulate economic growth.

BTW, what was Kerry’s tax rate? Kennedy’s? Oh, that doesn’t matter, does it?

I hate the media and hope they all become unemployed.


13 posted on 01/24/2012 11:54:28 PM PST by Jeff Chandler (Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati)
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To: EnglishCon

Its the same thing with Buffett. If you dont make money off of income, but make it off of investments, you are not going to hit that top marginal rate, but just the 15%. It is why Buffett is so full of it when he whines about paying a lower average rate. He knows why he is.


14 posted on 01/24/2012 11:55:09 PM PST by Raider Sam (They're on our left, right, front, and back. They aint gettin away this time!)
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To: EnglishCon
Ronmey is paying taxes on investment income. I remember all the class warriors going after Forbes Flat Tax plan because Forbes plan did not tax investment income at all. Forbes reason for not taxing investment income was that the money used to invest has already been taxed once so he felt it was unfair to tax it again. Forbes lost the argument and the GOP nomination. But here in the USA investment income is taxed at a lower rate then income from an employer. It should be noted that investments can be lost, there is no guarantee that a investment will bring a return so to encourage risk taking it is taxed at a lower rate.
15 posted on 01/24/2012 11:56:46 PM PST by jpsb
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To: Jeff Chandler

I hate the media and hope they all become unemployed.


You and me both mate. I worked in the MSM for a while when I was younger.
Of course, that was back when the key part of being a reporter was REPORT. No inference, no opinion, no speculation. Just facts.

The MSM today live in their own little echo chamber of manufactured outrage (Niggerhead ranch, anyone?) and paid talking heads. They no longer report the news, they spin the news, presented in the least threatening way possible by attractive bubbleheads.


16 posted on 01/25/2012 12:01:14 AM PST by EnglishCon
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To: jpsb

Thank you. That makes sense. Shall read up on the Forbes Flat Tax plan.


17 posted on 01/25/2012 12:03:59 AM PST by EnglishCon
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To: haircutter

Most of Mitt’s income is from capital gains, which in the US are taxed at a lower rate (15%) than income taxes. This is because cap gains are double-taxed. Profits are taxed first as corporate income and then taxed again as capital gains.

The US has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world (35%). The EU is second at 25%. Add the US corp tax rate and throw in state and local taxes and Mitt’s actual effective tax rate is well over 50%.

If the 15% cap gains rate is ‘unfair’ then drop the US corp tax rate to compensate. It would make the US way more competitive abroad and end the practice of companies keeping profits offshore to avoid the huge tax hit. Companies would bring the money back to the US for growth and investment here instead of the perverse tax incentive to make it cheaper to reinvest abroad


18 posted on 01/25/2012 12:04:11 AM PST by Gideon7
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To: EnglishCon

You would like Steve Forbes, he wanted the USA to blow off joining the WTO and wanted the UK to blow off joining the EU and form a trade alliance with the USA instead. Kindof like the old commonwealth yall used to have. I am still sorry we wound up with Bush instead of Forbes. Forbes was much smarter and his daughters were hot too.


19 posted on 01/25/2012 12:09:16 AM PST by jpsb
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To: haircutter

“all the Romney income for that period was Capital gains..that is the going tax rate for Capital Gains, as I understand it...Right?”

It’s not a non-issue if you are in a race against a guy who can be tagged with the attributes the other side is pounding on. He’s going to lose because of this and it’s the beginning of smashmouth politics, which ain’t beanbag. His lead is gone and the MSM is no longer going to line up behind him.

Chackmate.


20 posted on 01/25/2012 12:21:08 AM PST by jessduntno ("'How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don't think." - Adolph Hitler)
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