It’s Time to See Millionaire Mitt Romney’s Missing Tax Returns
Back on Oct. 14, we asked if Mitt Romney had something to hide since he’s never released his tax returns despite running for or holding elective office for the better part of two decades:
Rick Perry Wants to See Mitt’s Missing Tax Returns Too
Yesterday morning, when rolling out his own highly regressive tax plan that would benefit the wealthiest Americans while threatening Social Security and Medicare, Texas Gov. Rick Perry called Mitt Romney a “fat cat”:
JOHN HARWOOD: And you mentioned class warfare. In 1996, when your advisor Steve Forbes was running on a flat tax, Mitt Romney said it was a tax cut for fat cats. If he says that about your plan, what are you going to say to him?
RICK PERRY: Well I would said that he ought to go look in the mirror I guess. I consider him to be a fat cat.
Later in the morning, Politico’s Ben Smith asked the Perry campaign if they wanted to see millionaire Mitt Romney’s tax returns. The answer:
Governor Perry has always released his tax returns and Mitt Romney and the other candidates should do the same.
The Romney campaign followed up with a non-response:
But Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom said his candidate wouldn’t even consider releasing them until next spring.
“We’ll take a look at the question of releasing tax returns during the next tax filing season,” he said. […]
Fehrnstrom didn’t offer a defense of Romney’s position but attacked Perry on an unrelated transparency issue.
Who Else Wants to See Mitt’s Missing Tax Returns?
- Iowans: Progress Iowa, a local progressive group in Hawkeye State, who called on Romney to release the returns when he visited the state last Thursday.
- Virginians: Progress Virginia, a local progressive group in Virginia, who called on Romney to release the returns when he visited the state today:
Virginians deserve to know once and for all whether Romney is one of the 100,000 millionaires who is paying a lower tax rate than many middle class workers. Unless Romney has something to hide there’s no reason he can’t follow President Obama’s lead and show Virginians his tax returns.
What Might Mitt Want to Hide?
- The fact that he’s worth as much as $250 MILLION and uses tax loopholes to cheat the system and pay a lower tax rate — some estimate as low as 14 percent — than many middle class Americans.
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