On Monday,
New York Times Op-Ed columnist and economic guru
Paul Krugman observed that
“the contrast between George Romney and his son Mitt — a contrast both
in their business careers and in their willingness to come clean about
their financial affairs — dramatically illustrates how America has
changed.”
George Romney unsuccessfully ran for President in 1968. At that time,
the candidate got in front of questions related to his finances by
releasing 12 full years of tax returns, a demonstration of transparency
that ought to make those of us in 2012 nostalgic for a simpler time when
the people who sought our vote actually treated us like adults. Instead
this year, we have another Romney – Mittens – with a far more
convoluted financial back story involving blind trusts, mysterious
portfolios and offshore accounts, seeking to spoon feed the voting
public a bunch of bull. Apparently if he tells America that “there’s
nothing hidden there,” we should all act like the hypersensitized
lemmings he believes us to be and take his word for it.
Romney has adopted the typical tactic employed by candidates who wish
to dodge questions, calling repeated requests for information a mere
attempt to distract voters.
Mittens, come on now: how could your refusal to come clean possibly
be none of the voting public’s business? You are asking us to entrust
you with our very nation and all its resources: military, financial,
social and otherwise. Do we need to explain to you that in order to make
the best judgment of your potential for stewardship, we need to
understand your personal history in depth? If this is something your
father understood, why can’t you?
And while we’re on the topic: can we talk about that blind trust? According to a report this morning from
Yahoo! News, the “Republican nominee insisted he has little to do with his personal investments because they are managed by a blind trust.
‘I don’t manage them,’ Romney said. ‘I don’t even know where they are.’”
Can I see a show of hands from folks who find this credible? A man
who has built a business empire and a Presidential campaign predicated
upon his financial savvy, a quality that he claims is powerful enough to
warrant the unseating of the highly-competent current
Commander-in-Chief, would just love to have it both ways. He is both a
wizard and a naive foundling, witlessly trusting those whose job it is
to count his millions.
The Yahoo! Report goes on: “Responding to reports that some of his
investments have been overseas, Romney insisted his ‘trustee follows all
U.S. Laws.’ He added: ‘All the taxes are paid, as appropriate. All of
them have been reported to the government. There’s nothing hidden
there.’”
The double talk here is literally mind-bending. He is ignorant of his
investments, can’t understand why we’re even interested, but rest
assured, he hasn’t dodged any taxes. How do we know this? Because he
says so. Stop it Mittens. Enough of this. Be a man and release ALL of
your financial records and let us make decisions for ourselves, as we
have been politically trained to do since we were old enough to vote. No
one believes what you’re saying anyway – even the members of your own
party. The best way to convince your constituents that you are not
hiding anything is to stop hiding. It’s an idea that your father
comprehended.
But what else should we expect from a man who has changed his tune on
just about every issue before him? The Romney cynicism appears to know
no limits.
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