Posted on 08/21/2012 6:29:58 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
The presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States and wealthy businessman Mitt Romney at a press conference last Thursday said: “Over the past 10 years, I never paid less than 13%” in federal taxes.
No doubt Romney had considered carefully how to handle the tax issue before deciding to just put the 13% number out there and then move on: “I just have to say, given the challenges that America faces — 23 million people out of work, Iran about to become nuclear, one out of six Americans in poverty — the fascination with taxes I paid I find to be very small-minded.”
Really? This statement ignores rather than confronts President Barack Obama’s narrative that the big issue before the American people in this election is fairness and social justice. And the idea that someone who makes $22 million in a single year pays only 13% in federal income taxes will be used to feed the envy and resentment the President hopes to ride to re-election.
I can only wish that Romney had engaged this issue by adding the following sound bite: “Properly calculated, my tax rate was about 30%.”
Such a statement may have led to howls of protest from his opponents and the liberal press, with accusations that Romney was obfuscating how he was able to lower his tax rate.
So what. At least this approach would have given Romney the opportunity to engage the debate over fairness and social justice on his own terms. Explaining a tax system that on its face seems unfair would have treated the American people with respect and been consistent with Romney’s identity as a serious man who will be honest and direct with the voting public.
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Confusing title.
Good article. Romney did miss a chance to show how fair the current cap gains tax rate is and attack double taxation of corporate profits. Those don’t bring in much money at all anyway.
Confusing subject and Romney’s better off focusing on the economy in general, but the tax code does need a major revamp. This will be discussed like inside baseball. The average voter just wants a job and a growing economy.
What really burns me is that they act like this is his income tax rate. This is the normal tax rate paid on dividends from investments. That money that is earning dividends was already earned and had the taxes already paid on it at a 28% to 35% rate. Many seniors that are retired are living on the dividends from their investments! My mother and my wife’s grandmother are both living primarily off of these dividends. The to use this to promote class warfare and envy is disgusting. Shame on you Obama. I hope that Romney is using this tax issue as a rope a dope and pounds Obama on this after the convention,
Useless article. Convoluted, grasping and twisted logic trying too hard to force an explanation of something that may be the law but it is wrong.
Flat tax, no advantages and no disadvantages for anyone after a minimum tax on a household size and inflation adjusted threshold amount.
Favoring success and the wildly wealthy is the same as penalizing everyone else. Favoring failure is the same as discouraging success. Neither course provides equal opportunity.
Unless you know the actual tax rate of the companies in which he owns shares, you cannot accurately assess the true tax rate. Liberals are making the argument that the tax rates paid by these companies are minimal due to their taking advantage of offshore activity. I would love to see a real analysis of this topic.
Hell, if Romney paid $100 in Income Taxes, that'd still be $100 MORE than Barry's Crony, GE did, which was ZERO!! And it'd be $100 MORE than 50% of all tax filers who not only pay ZERO Taxes but then, they get a %$# @$%& 'REFUND' on money they never paid in the first place!!
Those %$#*%$@# LEECHES are at a Negative Tax Rate.
Grrrrrrrr!!!!!
Meanwhile turbo Tim can’t even pay the right amount in the first place.
When Timmy blamed TurboTax I almost fell off my chair. Anyone who uses 'TT' knows it was an unbelievable LIE as it's basically impossible to make an 'honest mistake' if you follow it step by step, or answer each question honestly.
And if I owned TurboTax or was Chairman, CEO -- whatever, I would have sued him for slander and defamation of my product and have him prove in court how the TT program 'made a mistake'.
If Timmy had said 'TaxCut', I'd almost believe him. I used that once, by accident, and errors were made on my return. It wasn't major ($100-$200 iirc) and thankfully the IRS caught it and adjusted my return and refund.
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