Forum Post: The Indirect Look at Mitt's Returns - Mitt's advice to Marriot
Posted 11 years ago on Aug. 8, 2012, 6:42 p.m. EST by brightonsage
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We can't see Mitt's returns directly, so here is an article that is an example of his tax strategy as head of the audit committee of the Marriott board. . Did Romney enable company's abusive tax shelter? By Peter C. Canellos and Edward D. Kleinbard, Special to CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/08/opinion/canellos-kleinbard-romney-taxes/index.html
One relevant line of inquiry, largely ignored so far, is to examine what exists in the public record regarding his attitude toward tax compliance and tax avoidance. While this examination is hampered because his dealings through his private equity company, Bain Capital, are kept shrouded, there are other indicators.
A key troubling public manifestation of Romney's apparent insensitivity to tax obligations is his role in Marriott International's abusive tax shelter activity.From 1993 to 1998, Romney was the head of the audit committee of the Marriott board.
During that period, Marriott engaged in a series of complex and high-profile maneuvers, including "Son of Boss," a notoriously abusive prepackaged tax shelter that investment banks and accounting firms marketed to corporations such as Marriott. In this respect, Marriott was in the vanguard of a then-emerging corporate tax shelter bubble that substantially undermined the entire corporate tax system.
Son of Boss and its related shelters represented perhaps the largest tax avoidance scheme in history, costing the U.S. many billions in lost corporate tax revenues. In response, the government initiated legal challenges that resulted in complete disallowance of the losses claimed by Marriott and other corporations.
In his key role as chairman of the Marriott board's audit committee, Romney approved the firm's reporting of fictional tax losses exceeding $70 million generated by its Son of Boss transaction. His endorsement of this stratagem provides insight into Romney's professional ethics and attitude toward tax compliance obligations.
So, maybe we don't need to see the returns, because they may just show us more of this and it is already in the public record?
Some may remember in 1994 when Romney demanded Ted Kennedy disclose his tax returns, while not disclosing his own. Eight years later when other candidates disclosed theirs, he said he would disclose three year's returns WHEN Kennedy, who was not in the race for Governor, disclosed his. Is this man sane?
Which matters more: 1)blatant cheating on taxes, 2)raising your taxes, or 3)strapping the dog's crate to the roof. (Mitt's mutt matters?)
Mitt R-money / Mittens Romulan / Mitt for B(r)ains is beyond a joke & he will represent The Corporate Oligarchs & Bankster Parasites like none of his predecessors ever could or would !!!
For an insight into his real constituency :
"America’s 10 Largest Corporations Paid 9 Percent Average Tax Rate Last Year",
by Travis Waldron :
"America’s 10 most profitable corporations paid an average corporate income tax rate of just 9 percent in 2011, according to a study from financial site NerdWallet reported by the Huffington Post. The 10 companies include Wall Street banks like Wells Fargo and JP Morgan Chase, oil companies like ExxonMobil and Chevron, and tech companies like Apple, IBM, and Microsoft.
"The two companies with the lowest tax rates were both oil companies. ExxonMobil paid $1.5 billion in taxes on $73.3 billion in earnings, a tax rate of 2 percent. Chevron’s tax rate was just 4 percent. None of the companies paid anywhere near the 35 percent top corporate tax rate, providing more evidence to debunk claims that America’s corporate tax rate is stunting economic growth and job creation (Despite the high marginal rate, American corporations pay one of the lowest effective corporate tax rates in the world).
"The study also calculated the overall amount the companies owed in both domestic and foreign taxes. This includes deferred taxes that will, theoretically, be paid in the future, once the companies bring foreign profits back to the United States. Apple, for instance, avoided $2.4 billion in American taxes last year by utilizing offshore tax havens.
"If Republicans have their way, however, those deferred taxes may never be paid. Switching to a territorial tax system, a policy leading Republicans have considered, would allow corporations to repatriate foreign profits back to the United States nearly free of taxation, costing the country billions of dollars and thousands of jobs."
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radix omnium malorum est cupiditas ...
~
[This article was originally published at Think Progress : http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/08/07/653201/corporate-tax-rate-nine-percent/ & please use this to access the relevant embedded links]
Good post. It is the effective rate that matters. "Never pay list price."
looking at someones returns i think just shows ignorance, whats next, look at his religion (like a bigot), or how about wifes panties? Stick to the issues, you soon to be enslaved people!
As in what does romney bring to the table as he arrogantly tries to represent us. I think it arrogant that any man think he could represent any of us dont you? A true leader, would esteem others as greater than himself.
Should I trot out all of your birther buddies' quotes? Probably just change the subject. We are already enslaved by Mitt and his friends. The question is, shall we try to throw off the yoke? The yoke's on you.
Remember Spiro Agnew? His returns might have revealed the scandal we later found out about. How did that end? You wanna rerun?
How long did it take to learn the full extent of Nixon's criminality? It must be tough to have a father who had some character? A little transparency might go a long way. Mitt hasn't disclosed even ONE complete tax return. How many did McCain require or get from him? How did that work out?
How many years is Mitt requiring from his VP candidates? Zero? Now there is Commander in Chief leadership. How about a banker as VP? Regarding esteeming others as greater than himself? That would be one correct judgement and a pinch of leadership.
Republicans tell Mitt Romney to show tax returns
Mitt Romney is facing a rising tidal wave of pressure to make public more tax returns — and that’s from his supporters.
The list of prominent Republicans and conservatives urging Romney to put out more than the two years of tax returns he has promised is continuing to grow each day. If he simply hands over, say, five to 10 years of returns, they argue, Romney can end the controversy and focus his campaign on the nation’s economic woes to defeat President Barack Obama.
Continue Reading Text Size -+reset Latest on POLITICO
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Over the last few days, a number of prominent Republicans and conservatives - including Haley Barbour, George Will and Bill Kristol - have called on Romney to quickly release years worth of his returns, and more stepped forward with the same message Tuesday.
(Also on POLITICO: Do Americans care about tax returns?)
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) became the latest Republican to urge Romney to put an end to the tax returns flap and release more information. Paul told POLITICO on Tuesday he thinks it would help the presumptive GOP nominee “politically,” adding that “in the scheme of things politically, you know, it looks like releasing tax returns is what the people want.”
Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday joined in the debate and called for more transparency in the presidential race.
“I’m a big believer that no matter who you are, or what office you’re running for, you should be as transparent as you can be with your tax returns and other aspects of your life so that people have the appropriate ability to judge your background and what have you,” he told reporters in Austin, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Perry, who has released his tax returns dating back to 1992, added, “I think anyone running for office, if they get asked within reason to give people background about what they have been doing, including tax returns, should do that. That’s my deal on it.”
And Republican consultant John Feehery weighed in, saying on Tuesday that Romney should share the tax returns now, in the doldrums of summer, and put the storyline to rest. “Yeah, and he might as well,” Feehery told MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell on Tuesday. “Couple years, get it over with and start talking about your solutions.”
But in spite of the mounting calls for more disclosure, Romney continues to just say no. On Tuesday, the Republican candidate told the National Review’s Robert Costa he stands firmly by his decision to release two years of tax returns — and that’s it.
“In the political environment that exists today, the opposition research of the Obama campaign is looking for anything they can use to distract from the failure of the president to reignite our economy,” Romney told “The Corner.” “And I’m simply not enthusiastic about giving them hundreds or thousands of more pages to pick through, distort, and lie about.”
That’s a big mistake, say a slew of Republican commentators, strategists and fellow politicians.
Democrats and the Obama campaign have long hammered Romney on his refusal to divulge more financial information. If Romney is unwilling to release more tax returns, they charge, it must be because he has something to hide — and it further plays into the narrative of Romney as an out of touch, wealthy and secretive businessman with nothing in common with the average voter.
“Tax havens, offshore accounts, carried interest: Mitt Romney has used every trick in the book. Romney admits that over the last two years, he’s paid less than 15 percent in taxes on $43 million in income. Makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all,” the Obama campaign said in a new ad released Tuesday.
And the suggestion that Romney has something he’s trying to hide could be devastating for his campaign if it takes root, several Republicans say.
“If you have things to hide, then maybe you’re doing things wrong. I think you ought to be willing to release everything to the American people,” Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said at the National Governors Association meeting this weekend.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78616.html#ixzz232DmRMww
what if Romney didn't get his repub nomination at the end of this month even though he won the popular vote in the primaries? hahahahahahahahaha
That would be a laugh riot.
I must practice, Bwa, hahahaha, hahahaha, hahahahaaaaa? Is that right? Probably not quite. Just haven't done it enough..
i think it's a very small possibility they could dump him at the end of this month. He only had about 50% of the votes in the repub primaries and he loses to Obama in almost every poll.
So I would definitely get the dump Romney laugh ready just in case. Haha
Although then you have to worry about some other a-hole repub.
One thing the have plenty (Pawlenty) of and that is a-hole ammo. Some of it is "use by" dated.
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You can't seriously want mittens as the POTUS. I mean really?
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Nixon did that many years ago.
Where have you been?
Watchin' TV?
And the ones who will, wouldn't really care if there was an axe murder on the resume, except they would have preferred a gun. What's the question? Never mind, the answer is....guns.
You do know that he demanded Ted Kennedy disclose his in 1994 (three years), don't you? Eight years later, he said the offer to release his when Kennedy did, was still open. Although all of his opponents did, in that race, he stll refused. Etch a Sketch. You would rather have a tax cheat than, .....well, just about anything, as long as it was male, white, and hates all of the right groups, with discretion, of course.
But maybe they have billions to invest in Bain? You don't think it is only about power, do you? We have all recently learned a well kept secret. That the majority of us have been attacked continuously for decades. And we have been passive about it and as a result the predators have been picking us off, group by group. It is changing from fratricide to war precisely because the victims are finally resisting the slaughter. And the apologists for this, Hmmmm Tokyo Rose comes to mind.
Obama started it? Absurd! He was very late in noticing it. Better late than never. How about you?
Mitt is a villain. He already talks about how he wants to bomb countries if he wins.
You don't know that for sure - where are the facts. It's easy to condem someone but it's much harder to provide the facts to back up the condemnation.