patching...
Breaking: Eastside Boys Fall in 3A Soccer State Championships »
Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

Poll: Should Mitt Romney Release His Tax Returns Dating Back to 2000?

President Obama's IRS filings since 2000 are a public record, but former Republican Gov. Mitt Romney has disclosed only one.

 

Pressure is mounting for Mitt Romney to reveal more of his tax returns. His presidential rival, Barack Obama, has made public his filings dating back to 2000. But Republican Romney has disclosed one year: 2010. Even if he has nothing to hide, should Romney give up his privacy rights? Or should he meet a higher standard of disclosure as a candidate for the highest office?

Note: You now have to be signed in to vote. To register (its free), just click Join in the upper right of the homepage. When signing up, you can check boxes to receive the daily Patch newsletter and Breaking News Alerts.

  • Should Mitt Romney publicly disclose his annual tax returns back to 2000?

    (Voting has been closed for this question)
    • Yes, since his IRS filings may inform voters.
        21 (67%)
    • No, since Americans have privacy rights.
        8 (25%)
    • Unsure, since issue has become political.
        2 (6%)
    Total votes: 31
  • Your vote will only count once. This is not a scientific poll. View Results Vote!
Related Topics: Barack Obama, Mitt Romney, and Tax Returns

David Merrill

10:39 am on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

I think this country is slowly going down the drain. Presidents are not elected by the people anymore, they buy there way in with there big money and large contributions and special interest. Mitt Romney will win the election this November due to the over whelming money that he has. The country will go further into debt, and more soldiers will die in far away lands cause the republican war horse will once again be in charge. I fought for this country, but I can honestly say that if I was well off like all the politicians in washington were, I would move to another country to live. I have lost all faith in our Government, and we as citizens should not have to live in fear of our own Government.

Reply

Chaplain Greg Smith

10:49 am on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Sure! As soon as Obama releases his academic records.

Reply
Comment_arrow

reg

11:06 am on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

That request might have been honored had it not come from Donald Trump, who made that request to save face after his juvenile "birth certificate" claims.

JIM HOOD

3:44 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

when Obama releases His records completely, then He can complain about someone elses records.

Reply

Shalom \Aleichem

5:33 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Ummmmm…Kemosabe…let’s see if Tonto has this right
Obama and Clyburn put the nation 15 trillion in debt—and no end’s in sight
Yet “Opinion” asks if ole Mitt has disclosed returns since 2000, and we
Are asked to be so dumb as to believe this really is an issue for voters in SC?
Why yes, Tonto—that’s true, you know—and “Opinion” says “pressure is mounting”
So…”Opinion” must be one of the three Demwits here, if…anybody is counting
Well, Kemosabe—they can count on this—come November we get to explain
The Tea Party’s not drinking their koolaid when we run over them like a train
And Raghead Jake and Setzler who reapportioned Gilbert into bat-cave Aiken County
Both might want to get a horse and a badge, because…Canada needs new Mounties !!!

Reply

Donald Mook

6:28 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Mitt Romney is one of the wealthiest self-made men in our country but has given more back to its citizens in terms of money, service and time than most men.
And in 2011 Mitt Romney gave over $4 million to charity, almost 19% of his income.... Just for comparison purposes, Obama gave 1% and Joe Biden gave $300 or .0013%.

Mitt Romney is Trustworthy:
He will show us his birth certificate
He will show us his high school and college transcripts.
He will show us his social security card.
He will show us his law degree.
He will show us his draft notice.
He will show us his medical records.
He will and did show us his income tax records.
He will show us he has nothing to hide.

Mitt Romney's background, experience and trustworthiness show him to be a great leader and an excellent citizen for President of the United States.

Reply
Comment_arrow

Robert Kelly

8:30 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Except, he is not self-made, he was born into extreme wealth, and then made the most of it. Except, by his own admission he was a businessman, not giving back to the country, but making lots of money for his company, not for the workers at the companies he shut down. Gifts to Church of Latter Day Saints are not really the same as gives to charity. LDS uses money for fabulous buildings and self aggrandizement, and also some for charity. Granted, so do other churches, but it is still not charity when you give money to an organization that glorifies itself. And since every other candidate for president has set the standard of clarifying where they earned their money and what they paid in taxes, for several years of record, Mitt seems to have something embarrassing to hide. Not illegal necessarily, but maybe embarrassing for a person who claims to be a job-creator and supporter of the AMERICAN economy. I realize the people of Bermuda appreciate his stashing his money there, after all, as they said "everybody does it!". Have you? I know I haven't.

Comment_arrow

reg

4:55 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012

All these "he will show us" notes; why would anyone believe any of them, especially when we know of them ("did show us his income tax records") is completely 100% false?

Frank Jones

6:58 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

I have no qualm with hard work and success in this country and have worked for a true "self-made" billionaire...a person who literally started with nothing. Romney, on the otherhand, (like Trump), started with a lot and turned a lot into a whole lot...Good for him, but he wasn't truly "self-made".

Should Romney disclose his tax returns? I say yes, and I'll tell you why. Amassing a fortune of $250 million or more can be accomplished in good and bad ways. He could have created companies, created jobs in America and created wealth for many in this country OR... he could have bought existing companies and improved profit margins by killing jobs in America and sending them overseas. He could have shorted U.S banks and other companies during the banking crisis and compounded the depth of the recession. He could have used offshore accounts to shelter income from taxation. He could have used the "carried-interest" rules and other tax rules to the extreme and commited tax-fraud.

For the ultra-rich, their character is often seen in their financial records. Yes he tithed almost 19% of his taxable income...that's good. Please note that his actual income including unrecognized gains is probably much higher than his taxable income and thus the amount tithed is probably much less. And then, there's the character of how the money was earned.

IMO...If he has nothing to hide, then show the tax records and show that he is in fact pro-America.

Reply

Donald Mook

9:49 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

You may think that Romney may not be the best representative the Republicans could have selected. At least I know what religion he is, and that he won't desecrate the flag, bow down to foreign powers, or practice fiscal irresponsibility. I know he has the ability to turn this financial debacle that the current regime has gotten us into. We won't like all the things necessary to recover from this debt, but someone with Romney's background can do it. But, on the minus side, He never was a "Community Organizer", never took drugs or smoked pot, never got drunk, did not associate with communists or terrorists, nor did he attend a church whose pastor called for God to damn the US. After high school, he spent 30 months in France as a Mormon missionary. After going to both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School simultaneously, he passed the Michigan bar exam, but never worked as an attorney.
In 1984, he co-founded Bain Capital a private equity investment firm, one of the largest such firms in the United States .
In 1994, he ran for Senator of Massachusetts and lost to Ted Kennedy.
He was President and CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games - he took over when the Olympics were behind schedule and over budget - at that point. He then took charge and had the Olympics ready ahead of schedule and below budget. It was one of the most profitable Olympics in modern times.
In 2002, he was elected Governor of the State of Massachusetts where he eliminated a 1.5 billion deficit.

Reply

Donald Mook

9:56 pm on Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Some Interesting Facts about Romney:
Bain Capital, starting with one small office supply store in Massachusetts, turned it into Staples; now over 2,000 stores employing 90,000 people.
Bain Capital also worked to perform the same kinds of business miracles again and again, with companies like Domino's, Sealy, Brookstone, Weather Channel, Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot Supply, and many others.
He was an unpaid volunteer campaign worker for his dad's gubernatorial campaign 1 year.
He was an unpaid intern in his dad's governor's office for eight years.
He was an unpaid bishop and state president of his church for ten years.
He was an unpaid President of the Salt Lake Olympic Committee for three years.
He took no salary and was the unpaid Governor of Massachusetts for four years.
He gave his entire inheritance from his father to charity.
And, unlike Obama, Rommney will say the Pledge of Alligence, and salute our flag. How can you vote for someone who doesn't even respect our flag.

Reply
Comment_arrow

Wounded Warrior

10:41 am on Wednesday, July 18, 2012

.
Well said DM.
And in the words of our current socialist during his election campaign, "Amassing a debt of trillioins of dollars is un-American/un-Patriotic." He was speaking of Bush. Now that he has amassed 3x that! What does that make him? I will answer, a hypocrite. When you cant run on what you have accomplished in your term, diversion tactics are all you have left.

Now once MR shows his returns then what? Vet bills for the family pets?

Get this social organizer out and bring in someone who can get us on track. I would take Clinton any day and 2x on Sunday to this clown

Comment_arrow

reg

4:52 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012

This is a load of garbage that's been circulated by email for almost two months. Almost two minutes after it first came out, though, it's individual lines were proven to be widely over-exaggerated or completely false. 22% of all Bain's acquisitions went bankrupt/closed doors within 8 years. Staples salaries are 51% below national average. Bain didn't work to perform business miracles in any of those companies - it simply invested in them through mutual funds, and had no management of them. How could be an unpaid intern for his dad's office for 8 years when his dad was only in office for 6 years? And since Mitt was out of the state for 4 1/2 of them - out of the USA for 2 of them? His church doesn't pay anyone to be a bishop or state president. He didn't give his inheritance to charity - he didn't have any inheritance; George Romney established an endowment with BYU - that's where his money went. As for the pledge? See the last source: http://www.snopes.com/politics/romney/realmitt.asp http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204331304577140850713493694.html http://www.indeed.com/salary/Staples.html http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2012/jan/20/mitt-romney/mitt-romney-says-he-didnt-inherit-money-his-parent/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD6bKaVW-ls

Mary Anderson

4:49 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Did Obama release his tax returns through 2000?

Reply

Leave a comment