WaPo columnist who swore Iraq had WMDs says nothing surprising in Romney's tax returns

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.goerie.com/article/20120727/OPINION09/307279993/Cohen%3A-Secrets-in-Romney's-tax-returns-won't-surprise

Published: July 27, 2012 12:01 AM EST
Updated: July 26, 2012 9:15 PM EST
Cohen: Secrets in Romney's tax returns won't surprise

To paraphrase Rhett Butler, I don't give a damn if Mitt Romney releases more of his tax returns. I expect to learn nothing from them, aside from the fact that he is very rich and has paid less in taxes than he has acknowledged.

He has probably taken advantage of all the loops and dodges in the tax code, piling trusts on top of trusts, securing wealth for Romneys yet unborn -- gelt unto the third generation, little taxed, slightly taxed or taxed not at all. "Let me tell you about the very rich," F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote. S'cuse me, Scotty, let me tell you about them: They don't pay much in taxes.

This is what the average person would learn if all of Romney's tax filings hit the light of day. He has so far divulged just the most recent two years and the Obama camp, smelling blood, has demanded more. The din has reached such a level that even some conservatives are entreating Romney to reveal them. They are not, however, imploring their candidate to identify his bundlers -- for this might actually reveal who has their hooks into him. The filings, I promise you, will show loopholes and financial black holes that make taxable income disappear. What we will not see is anything revelatory or, as some insist, genuine insights into the character of the candidate.

Certainly, this has been the case in the past. Richard Nixon disclosed his taxes preceding the 1968 presidential campaign. He reported hefty earnings averaging $200,000 in his years as a New York lawyer, but there was nothing in the forms relating to occasional bouts of drunkenness, paranoia, excessive self-pity or a proclivity to listen to the telephone conversations of others.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Cohen_(columnist)

Richard Cohen (columnist)

Richard Cohen, is a syndicated columnist for the Washington Post.

OpinionsSome of Cohen's social views are ones attributed to American liberalism, with his political views often hawkish. For example, he is pro-choice and pro-gay rights. However, he was originally a supporter of the Iraq War, and publicly supported the Bush administration in several other high profile instances.

In a 2003 Washington Post column, Cohen wrote "the evidence Colin Powell presented to the United Nations — some of it circumstantial, some of it absolutely bone-chilling in its detail — had to prove to anyone that Iraq not only hasn't accounted for its weapons of mass destruction but without a doubt still retains them. Only a fool — or possibly a Frenchman — could conclude otherwise." Cohen also wrote that he believed "the prudent use of violence could be therapeutic" after the events of 9/11. Cohen has since expounded upon his former views of support for the Iraq War, and his later stance against it.

[montanacowboy]

1. And Richard Fucker Cohen

has seen the Rmoney returns?

this guy is a douche, always has been always will be

[NNN0LHI]

3. He seen the WMDs too

[alcibiades_mystery]

2. Why Won't a Single Reporter Ask Romney: Did you Take Part in the 2009 IRS Voluntary Disclosure

Program (i.e., the Swiss bank amnesty). Get him on record yes or no. Not a single reporter seems willing to ask this simple question. It's bizarre.

[kwassa]

4. I don't know why Richard Cohen has a job.

He is the most philosophically incoherent columnist out there. Some columns make great sense, others are emailed from Bizarro World.