There is no way Romney has something to hide in his tax returns for the last two years. He was

[applegrove]

already running for President years before that. He would have been meticulous in doing his income tax over the last four years. I think this is just a bait to lure democrats into making a fuss...and then they'll be nothing there.... making democrats look foolish.

[handmade34]

1. I have no doubt

that he is legal in all his dealings... there is a difference between legal and moral... most people will not respect a person professing to love this country and then putting all his money overseas; no matter the reason

[sahidur81]

12. Spam deleted by ScreamingMeemie (MIR Team)

[sahidur81]

13. Spam deleted by ScreamingMeemie (MIR Team)

[sahidur81]

14. Spam deleted by ScreamingMeemie (MIR Team)

[greiner3]

20. Enjoy your stay;

I don't mean you, handmade34. It's just that I can't reply to Screaming(whatever).

[elleng]

2. What's likely 'there,' in all of them,

is what we already know: HUGE resources, 'hidden' away from U.S., nothing illegal but definitely NOT one of us.
Not divulging is sufficient and OK for Dems to complain, imo.

[NYC_SKP]

3. What will be shocking, I think, will be how little he paid in taxes for all he earned and his worth.

If we find out how many loopholes he used, we hope the ordinary tax payer will be all WTF?

We hope!

[EC]

4. Just like he got rid of his Swiss bank accounts?

He just thinks that because something is legal it is right and will be accepted. I think he's wrong on that. This legal avoidance of paying taxes will just highlight the preferred tax rates the rich pay (investing is how they "earn" their living and the proceeds should be taxed as income) and legal tricks to not support your country.

[Skittles]

5. nothing ILLEGAL there

but a whole lot of stuff that will let the masses know how the playing field is not level

[unblock]

6. obama playing mutli-dimensional chess is one thing. but rmoney?

gimme a break.

besides, if he "invested" millions in paying taxes he didn't need to, for the sole purpose of making his tax returns more politically acceptable, there's no way he's be playing coy with them. he'd be boasting about what a big taxpayer he is and how above-board his filing were.

[SoutherDem]

7. If Romney did what his dad did and release 12 years of tax returns and they are crystal clean.

Every required penny was paid, but not a penny more. We will know for sure. We will know what his real tax rate is. But, most important, I don't think many really feel he has done anything illegal, but the real question is if using those offshore banks and businesses are not to pay less taxes they why have them. He has said they haven't save him even $1, then what was the advantage? If someone took the time to calculate the difference if all that money was in the U.S. would it really show the same taxes paid?
Even if everything is totally legal and I guess it is the question will still be out there, Why not invest in America, the country you want to be President of.

[TlalocW]

8. Disagree

He's got something to hide. It may not be illegal - it may just look bad like 90% of his income came from people watching dirty movies in the Mormon hotel chain. But while he's been running for the last four years, he still is caught flat-footed and takes offense when the common people don't treat him like the noble he is by making "outrageous" demands on him or criticize him. Asking to see his taxes is gauche.

TlalocW

[Bluerthanblue]

9. I agree with what all the posters above have said- what he has to hide

is the magnitude of his wealth, and the lengths he is willing to go to to avoid paying any tax that he can possible avoid paying. Even if it means putting his money in "legal" but not moral places.

Remember the big stink that John Kerry had made over his boat which he docked in Rhode Island? People were all over him for what they said was avoiding paying 500,000 in state sales tax. The boat was designed by a RI builder, and purchased in RI- (though it was built in NZ) so it's not bizarre that it was registered in RI- he did change the registration and pay the tax, even though he didn't have to do so. Let's see Romney follow suit.

Mitt is hiding his 'bottom line'- he's clearly NOT above doing things that are unethical and then paying people off "out of court" to settle the issue.

That shouldn't play well for him with the public.

[Tx4obama]

10. You must be joking, right?

-snip-

The Associated Press has reported that an offshore company based in Bermuda has helped bolster Romney's wealth even though it did not appear on his state or federal financial reports for 15 years.

-snip-

http://news.yahoo.com/obama-team-targets-romney-over-taxes-republicans-cry-191702427--business.html

-snip-

"Mitt Romney bets against America," O'Malley said. "He bet against America when he put his money in Swiss bank accounts and tax havens and shelters and also set up a secret company, the shell company in Bermuda, which, by the way, in order to avoid disclosure, he put in his wife's name right before he became governor of Massachusetts."

The Vanity Fair article was written by Nicholas Shaxson, whose book about tax havens, "Treasure Islands," is considered a classic by many tax policy experts. Shaxson reported that it is extremely difficult to discern exactly how much money Romney stashed in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Switzerland, because these jurisdictions are notoriously secretive, affording wealthy individuals and corporations broad protections from U.S. tax authorities.

-snip-
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/08/romney-swiss-bank-account-offshore-tax-havens_n_1657225.html

[mikekohr]

21. UPS has a tax dodge in Bermuda called Overseas Partners LTD.

It shelters income earned in the United States from income taxes. It's existence resulted in the largest judgment by the IRS in history for back taxes. During the appeals process during the George W. Bush administration the government dropped the case. UPS, a corporate Sponsor of the "Contract on America," has one of the largest PACS in Washington DC, called UPSPAC which gives over 80% of it's money to Republicans.

All technically legal. All shameful. All so corporate and anti-responsibility. But legal.

Romney is no different. He's a corporate tool fleecing America. It's time for the money changers to be driven from the temple of democracy.

[Rosanna Lopez]

11. 2 years

I think you're right that there won't be much incriminating in Romney's returns for the past 2 years - that's why he's only releasing 2.

He should not be allowed to get away with that by either the media or the Obama campaign. They need to go after him constantly and try to force him to reveal 12 year's worth like his Dad did and like he surrendered to McCain in 2008 when he was being vetted for V.P.

[Angry Dragon]

15. He is hiding something

He pays a lesser tax rate than someone making $100,000/year
He has offshore accounts where he is paying no tax
If someone is running for national office they have an obligation to disclose their finances

How can he say he believes in America when he is not willing to invest in America??

[blue neen]

16. Sorry, I don't believe that.

At the very least, Americans will get to see how little tax he pays relative to his wealth...at the very least.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. So we should stop demanding full financial disclosure?

Is that your suggestion?

Seriously?

[applegrove]

22. Of course he should give full financial disclosure. We just shouldn't be expecting much to come of

it when he does.

[leftynyc]

18. He could have very legally

been paying about half the tax rate as a middle class person. Goes to the issue of fairness, not legality.

[yellowcanine]

19. "making democrats look foolish." Heh. Romney is the one who looks foolish with his bloated IRA,

in which he legally (apparently) sheltered over $100 million, this in addition to his off shore tax shelters.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

23. The only way Democrats could come off looking foolish

is if Romney paid a tax rate over 12 years comparable to what the average American working stiff would pay. What are the chances that over a prolonged period Mitt Romney did not take every advantage to pay as low a tax rate as possible using every accounting trick and loophole in the book? it's just not in his dna.

[quaker bill]

24. I am sure it is all legal

that however does not mean it will not smell bad. Tax shelters in the Caymans and Bahamas are legal. Making lots of money offshoring jobs to China and India is legal. Deducting 75K to take care of your olympic horse is legal. Having a tax defered 401K with 100 million in it may well be legal. Many things are perhaps legal but rather unseemly when published.

I would guess you are right, lawyers have poured over his returns to assure no legal mistakes. That does not mean they are pretty.