Taxing candidates
In recent weeks, presumptive Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has been under much political pressure to release several additional years of his tax returns. His refusal to do so has sparked speculation by some — namely Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid — that Romney hasn’t paid any taxes in the past 10 years. For this reason, many Republicans have urged Romney to release his tax returns just to dispel these irresponsible accusations.
However, I believe that Romney should stand firm and not release another page of his tax returns. What purpose would it serve? We already have two years of returns, and it is no secret that he has amassed a great fortune. The only reason Democrats want the tax returns so desperately is so they have more political fodder to attack Romney as an out-of-touch rich guy. We have no evidence of Reid’s outlandish claims, and Romney has no obligation to answer to such irresponsible and outrageous accusations.
Some claim that this is about transparency, but this argument can only be viewed as absurd coming from those who support a president as secretive as Barack Obama. We elected a president with an unknown past and a laundry list of questionable associations without a question asked by those who blindly followed his empty message of hope and change. Until Obama becomes more open about the truth of his past, Romney should hold back his tax returns to avoid any cheap political points that may be scored by his opponents as a result.
Ryan Ward
Brewer
Bangor walk
There are many talented minds working to defeat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Doctors, researchers and scientists spend countless hours conducting clinical trials and time-intensive studies to find an answer that will solve this puzzle, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
However, because ALS is still considered a rare disease — the ALS Association estimates that 30,000 Americans may have the disease, with 5,600 being diagnosed annually — we are fighting to raise awareness and research dollars.
ALS affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord resulting in the body slowly failing. Daily routines like showering and dressing become challenges and eventually physically impossible. All the while the brain remains sharp, trapped inside a failing body. There is no cure for ALS and there are no survivors, only fighters.
The Bangor Walk to Defeat ALS is working to fund vital research and make a difference in the lives of those with ALS. Drs. Greg Cox and Cathy Lutz of the Jackson Laboratory have been working to understand the causes and find a cure for ALS, which is made possible in part by
the money that comes in from organized efforts like the Bangor Walk. Over four years, about $160,000 has been raised to fuel research and community-based patient service programs in Maine.
On Aug. 25, at the Fifth Annual Walk to Defeat ALS in Hayford Park, supporters will help increase awareness of the disease and The ALS Association. To find out how to get involved, visit walktodefeatals.org and click on Bangor, Maine.
Janice Von Brook
Hampden
High school placement
So let me get this straight: Gov. Paul LePage gets front-and-center placement with the “story” about his unfounded comments concerning Maine students being looked down upon, while the “item” about John Bapst Memorial High School being named the No. 1 high school in northern New England by no less than the Washington Post was buried on the very back page of the state section and the bottom story in the online edition of the BDN.
LePage’s drivel about the general public’s perception of Maine students and education notwithstanding, what a morale buster for the students, faculty and administration of this wonderful asset to the Bangor community and the state of Maine to be so marginalized in the local paper. And right before the 2012-13 school year is set to get under way.
Why not run a front page story celebrating the fascinating history of the school and highlight the various reasons that make it No. 1? Highlight some of the school’s alumni and their achievements and the campus’ beautiful architecture.
If this is the best that you can do for a school in your own community, well then it’s no wonder that Maine students might be overlooked in the scheme of things. If indeed that assertion holds any truth in the first place — I, for one, think not.
Kathleen Rogers
Ellsworth
Support Joel
As a faithful reader of the BDN each day and, based on the stories I read, I am often left feeling discouraged by Maine’s political landscape. I know many of my neighbors feel the same way.
However, after learning of Joel Pitcher’s bid for a seat in the House of Representatives, I’m feeling much more optimistic.
If elected, Pitcher, a Democrat, will work hard to represent House District 50, which includes Waldoboro, part of Jefferson, Bremen and Nobleboro. He is a longtime resident of Jefferson and has worked as a shipbuilder at Bath Iron Works for the last 14 years. He can relate to working Maine families and especially to those in Lincoln County. He has lived here all his life except for his time in the military where he served with distinction.
Pitcher serves as the chairman of the Human Rights Committee at BIW where he supports the health and wellbeing of workers and their families by ensuring fair working conditions and equality and by assisting employees through difficult times. Through his work as chairman, he
has a breadth of experience finding compromise amidst differing opinions and beliefs and knows how to support and listen. Pitcher is the kind of person we need in Augusta. He has my support, and I hope that on Election Day he has yours, too.
Betsy Wooster
Waldoboro
Wasted vote
I’m not writing to express my support for any particular political candidate. Who I intend to vote for isn’t something I will make public. I will, however, tell everyone that I will not waste my vote by voting for Ron Paul. It doesn’t matter if you think he should replace President Barack Obama or if you think he should be the candidate running instead of Republican Mitt Romney.
Paul stands the proverbial chance in that hot place of being the candidate for the office of the president of the United States.
Kevin Grant
Belgrade
Janice Von Brook, Kathleen Rogers, Kevin Grant: good letters.
Ryan Ward; it’s about the tax-free off-shores …
It’s also about when he stopped being on the Bain payroll and whether he tithes. If he had nothing to hide he would have released the 1040’s in question by now to clear the air.
It could also be that the 14% tax rate he paid in the 2 years he released was higher than the rate he paid in other years – years where he was not considering a run for the presidency. He provided his tax returns to McCain – why not to the public??
After McCain saw Romney’s returns 4 years ago he chose Palin…. come clean with the American people Willard.
McCain asked for 23 years of tax returns from Romney. And then didn’t pick him. Ryan gave Romney several years of taxes but now says he will only release, as Romney, two years.
It’s not right and they will be hurt by that decision.
Ryan Ward: Following the long-standing precident of previous presidential candidates, President Obama and Vice President Biden, and Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, have all released twelve years of tax returns. Those tax returns are available for anyone to see.
For some unfathomable reason you think that makes them “secretive.” Yet President Obama’s taxes, and his whole life, were long ago laid out clearly for everyone to see.
Governor Romney says he won’t be that forthcoming. He won’t do what John McCain did, or what George W. Bush did, or what Bob Dole did, or what George H. W. Bush did, or what Ronald Reagan did, or what Gerald Ford did.
He won’t do what his father Gov. George Romney did more than forty years ago, and which candidates have done ever since.
Under pressure to do so, Gov. Mitt Romney finally released two years of returns, but he says he won’t go any further than that. His attitude appears to be that whether or not he has been hiding his wealth in the Cayman Islands or Switzerland to avoid paying taxes, that’s none of our business. We don’t need to know.
Mitt Romney wants to be president of the United States. If he has nothing to hide, he should do what his father did, and what other presidential candidates have done ever since, and release twelve years of taxes.
What’s O’Bama hiding? Like you said, if he has nothing to hide…….
I didn’t know Obama was Irish?
It’s Gaelic for “from Alabama.”
Couldn’t be. Alabama is still part of the US and I’ll be ex_ungue_leonem is a Birther.
Thank you for discovering Barak Kevin O’Bama’s Irish roots!
Of course Obama is hiding nothing, which is why he, and his wife, and VP Biden, and his wife, have all released 12 years of tax returns. It is Romney who is hiding, and won’t release his returns. It was good enough for his father, Gov. George Romney, and for Ronald Reagan, and all of the other presidential candidates — but Romney alone is hiding. What is he afraid of?
Right, keep reading mother earth news.. the nation.. all you need to know
What is Romney hiding?
Taxes paid, or lack thereof.
R-money has a Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself. He will keep those tax returns secret until his crushing defeat. Then the right wingers, believing that R-money lost because he wasn’t conservative enough, will nominate an even more reactionary zealot, like Santorum or Ryan, to run in 2016.
Being big believers in the Second Amendment, the Republicans will always be willing to shoot themselves in the foot when it comes to running presidential campaigns.
Funny how if you happen to be a republican, no matter what rumors they throw out there you are somehow guilty until proven innocent.Look at what Obama has been associated with in his past and somehow it is all overlooked and if you question it they try and play the race card. Enough is enough. Harry Reid made accusations with no facts I guess they figure if they throw enough crap at the wall maybe some will stick!!
Penzance’s post accuses Romney of nothing beyond having had Swiss Bank accounts (true, from what has been released thus far) and investments in the Cayman Islands (also true). He invites her questions by his secrecy.
Tell Republican Senator David Vitter, who was involved in a prostitution scandal and confessed, that he was judged by a higher standard. Andrew Weiner got run out of office for his transgressions and Vitter got re-elected.
And Obama is leading the country down the path of self destruction and you and the other libs are cheering for him
It’s the Republican’s who have been leading this country down the path of self destruction for 30 years.
Please explain why this president has outspent all presidents in history and attempted to install more socialist programs than most of us even imagined
Darn those socialist programs! Whatever happened to good ol’ “sink or swim” programs!??!
Boot straps. That is what we used to call them. Pull em and get to work. No one is responsible to provide you a job. You have a duty and responsibility to be useful so you can provide for yourself. Today, far to many people are depending on their neighbors for subsistence. plucking for feathers from the golden goose (successful people) instead of trying to emulate their success is a prescription for further dependency..not freedom.
But someone HAS to provide the job otherwise we’d all be working for only ourselves! And those who actually do provide jobs for those who want jobs are not as numerous these days as they had been in the past. What are people supposed to do when there are no jobs to work?
Yeah, my grandmother pulled herself up by the bootstraps when she was left a widow in her 80s and had pittance for social security. If it hadn’t been for these pinko socialist programs, she’d have had next to nothing to eat and would have had to move to a nursing home (which, ironically, would cost the state more). Yeah, she’d provide for herself if she could have, but when you’re old and arthritic with a replaced hip and poor eyesight, what can you do? Maybe it’s just best to let people like that to sink or swim.
This myth of “far too many people” is a mindless mantra uttered by cold-hearted people who can’t see anything beyond the anecdotes they read in the comments section or hear from friends or on talk radio. Of course there are people who abuse the system, but do you ever see the people who don’t? We never hear about those people so it’s far too easy for far too many people to believe that all social programs support fat and lazy slugs who just want to “pluck the feathers from the golden goose.”
Yay for you.
not enough tax payers left to pay for more life jackets
Obama put the bills for the wars on the books, that doesn’t mean he spent more, it just means that he isn’t hiding the true cost.
Explain to us how Reagan TRIPLED the national debt and Bush II added almost $7 trillion dollars to the debt?
Republican Presidents have increased the national debt more than Democratic Presidents have the past 42 years.
Bush II did add about $4.5 trillion dollars to the national debt and was certainly bad for the country. $1.5 trillion of that was added in the last 2 years alone under a DEMOCRAT controlled congress. Bush should have vetoed the spending. Problem is that after the way democrats demonized the government shutdown under Clinton the republicans are cowards to do what is right.
Forgotten, or carefully not mentioned, is the fact that the shutdown led to budgets that gave Clinton the distinction of almost balancing the budget.
But your exaggeration of claiming $7 trillion does nothing more than prove to me that anything you claim should be taken with a grain of salt at best.
In 2006,the lame duck Republican Controlled House passed the unfunded Medicare Part D which is the reason the $1.5 Trillion was added to the debt. That unfunded mandate of the Republicans is continuing to add to the debt every year.
Compound that by adding in the costs of two unfunded wars started by the Republicans and kept off of the books to hide the true costs. Obama took those wars and put them on the books so that the American People would know the full cost accounts for another $1.5 trillion.
Lastly, the unfunded Bush Tax Cuts added another $1.5 Trillion to the debt and did nothing for the country except allow the rich to part hundreds of billion of dollars in off shore banks.
I noticed you did not refute that Reagan tripled the national debt and that the majorityof the debt was incurred while Republican’s were at the helm.
It appears you do not understand the different terms used when discussing this issue.
The wars were kept off the books to make the “official” federal budget look better. However, these “off budget” expenses did become part of the Gross Federal Debt. There is only ONE Gross Federal Debt. It includes budget deficits, off budget items paid for with borrowing, and debt owed to other federal accounts such as the social security trust fund.
http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/spending_chart_1990_2017USb_13s1li111mcn_H0f
The whole thing is hypocrisy and smoke and mirrors on both sides. Just look at the table in the link and you will see the numbers that actually mean anything. It doesn’t matter is something is on budget or off or where the money is borrowed from. The number that counts is the total yearly deficit and the total debt owed at the end of the year.
Looking at the table, (you can adjust the years displayed), you will see that there was never an actual surplus with Clinton either. The OFFICIAL budget showed a surplus, but only by ignoring the fact that they were borrowing from the social security fund to cover the real deficit. They were pretending that money borrowed from other government accounts is somehow different from public, (meaning actually from private sources), debt.
Tax cuts do not add to debt unless you fail to balance the budget. Spending cuts would have taken care of that.
Medicare Part D was a major mistake. However your $1.5 trillion is over at least 10 years if not much longer. And the majority is in the out years so it is completely misleading to charge this to Bush’s years in office. Or are you willing to add the projected cost of Obama care, (now estimated at $1.5 trillion and going higher with every new estimate), onto his deficit? It isn’t fair to either one of them. Now, taking Both of them to task for their role in future liabilities is entirely another thing and IS fair.
Medicare Part D was estimated to cost $511 billion from 2004 to 2013 but has actually cost only 69% of projections. This shows just how much can be saved with a program that encouraged market forces to control costs.
http://www.kff.org/medicare/upload/8308.pdf
Of course Obama has just increased the government expense for this program drastically by closing the doughnut hole. I don’t see you complaining about this however.
You really should take a look at who controlled congress who actually controls spending rather than who is president.
FACTS!!!!!!! Obama has outspent all and economy is worse than ever
FACT:Republican Presidents have added more to the debt then Democratic Presidents.
FACT:Reagan triple the national Debt while increasing spending and cutting taxes.
FACT: Republican economic theory caused the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
FACT: Republican’s have no plan to fix the economy except to continue the same economic theory that got us here in the first place
I realize that you would like to change the subject, and not discuss the fact that Mitt Romney won’t release 12 years of tax returns. His father did it. Ronald Reagan did it. The Obamas and the Bidens have done it. This has been the standard for all presidential candidates since Gov. George Romney did it more than 40 years ago. What is Romney hiding?
Who cares. Why do you care. This current administration is tanking the US economy. Manly because this sitting president does not understand the capitalist system. The only thing that should matter is getting a positive change in the White House.
This election will come down to Obama and Romney. If you want to replace Obama, you must have someone better. That’s not Romney.
We want to know whether we can trust Romney: a flip-flopper on every position he has ever taken; the man who passed but now now opposes Romneycare; “Mitt the Twit” on his foreign tour; the guy who told the FEC he was in charge of Bain Capital when they were killing jobs, but now tells the voting public he wasn’t in charge — and the guy who won’t do what every other major presidential candidate has done for more than forty years by releasing 12 years of taxes.
I don’t know whether Romney believes in anything — he has no principles he is willing to stick to. But I am sure he has plenty to hide, because he won’t tell us what every other major presidential candidate has been willing to tell us for over forty years. If it was right for Ronald Reagan, why is it wrong for Mitt Romney? What is he hiding?
Remember Reagans partner when he was an actor, Bonzo even that would be better than Obama
Deflection, transference …
Dont you think it is about time to start to focus on their ability to get the country back on an even keel not the past
More tax money might have helped with educating people about how to use punctuation.
What about the Republican nomines gives you the faintest hope of any ability to get the country back on an even keel?
There plan is the same thing that got us here in the first place.
America, love it or leave it. Canada awaits you with its Conservative government.
WOW!!! did you just prove your lack of knowledge Conservative Canada???????? You are a joke
One of us has proven his or her lack of knowledge. The Prime Minister of Canada is Stephen Harper. He is the leader of the Conservative Party. His party has the majority of seats in Canada’s House of Commons.
It is far better to remain silent and let people think you are a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
You really need to educate yourself on the meaning of conservative, right wing, liberal, left, and moderate in other countries. Just because Harper is the leader of the Conservative Party doesn’t mean that the party is conservative by American standards.
Conservatism is dead in America. It has been replaced by a nihilistic reactionary movement which would not nominate Ronald Reagan for dog-catcher, given his support for such things as tax increases and the Earned Income Tax Credit.
Please note that the original post, which allowed Overtaxed to display his ignorance, referenced Canada’s “Conservative government.”
Do I have to educate you on the use of capital letters and the meaning conveyed thereby?
That is both a radical and delusional statement, plain and simple. Just ridiculous.
Maybe you wouldn’t be so “overtaxed again” if you spent as much energy telling Republicans to stop giving your tax dollars to oil companies, and the bloated military industrial complex, and, indeed, to the already mega-rich in the form of a sickenly unfair tax system that gives them even more tax cuts while the burden falls ever more onto YOUR back. As if Bill Gates needs another tax cut. What did he have to actually sacrifice in the Great Recession? Nothing. So, feel you’re overtaxed? Then tell Republicans to stop taking your money away from you and giving it to the rich.
Wrong. Obama’s records are sealed. Wayne Root attended Columbia, took the same exact classes as Obama, and graduated at the same time that Obama supposedly did. Neither Wayne, nor any of his class mates that he contacted had ever heard of Obama, or anyone by his previous name Barry Soetoro. How then, did Obama get into Harvard? If his grades were so outstanding, why would he seal his records? Wouldn’t he want us all to know how smart he is?
Of course…if he entered school as a “foreign exchange” student, that would explain how coming from a poor family, he could afford it, and how his grades wouldn’t matter.
If you want to talk about someone’s sketchy past, you better look at Obama’s. All Obama would have to do is offer to un-seal his records in exchange for Romney’s tax returns. And while he’s at it, he could let us all know how he got a Connecticut social security number.
You will only confuse them with facts, the libs will not give a straight answer when confronted with facts
That’s funny, I was thinking the exact same thing about some conservatives….
I want to see Mitt Romneys birth certificate — the real one from the Planet Mongo. I won’t accept any fake Michigan birth certificate. We all know he is a space alien.
What is O’Bama looking to hide by sealing his records. If he isn’t hiding anything then why not release the records. What is O’Bama hiding?
He didn’t seal his records. The law that seals them is the same law that seals mine.
He can have them unsealed. What is O’Bama looking to hide by sealing his records. If he isn’t hiding anything then why not release the records. What is O’Bama hiding?
They are not sealed. He can give permission to have those records release, but he has not “sealed” them. My records can not be release without my permission either. Columbia has said that he attended and graduated. What is there to hid? Nothing. Is Columbia no credible?
It is leonem who has no credibility.
Oh, good grief. And then we’ll want to have Romney’s transcripts from college, which aren’t available either. And his birth certificate from the Planet Mongo.
But you are just trying to change the subject, which is:
Why can’t Romney do what his father did, what Obama has done, what Reagan did, and what every other major presidential candidate has done for more than 40 years, release 12 years of tax records? What is he hiding?
Are you from The Valley?
Seal is actually not even the correct term. No Court has “sealed” Them
I was being sarcastic. *I* don’t believe any of this nonsense.
The Valley, brah-is 818 your area code?
What are you hiding? That’s not your real name, is it? You must be hiding something sinister…..
What is O’Bama looking to hide by sealing his records. If he isn’t hiding anything then why not release the records. What is O’Bama hiding?
So he should release everything about himself? they are not Sealed. You need to stop saying that because that is just plain incorrect. He attended and graduated which Columbia confirmed.
Okay, if you want Obama’s transcripts, give us Romney’s transcripts, too.
But the issue here is tax returns. Why won’t Romney do what all other major candidates have done for more than 40 years, release 12 years of tax returns?
I know you don’t want to answer the question — you want to change the subject. But why won’t Romney release his tax returns? what is he hiding?
Support your claim that ALL major candidates for president for more than 40 years have released 12 years of tax returns.
You should know.
you now his records are seal by the same exact law that seals my records right? They are not public. Columbia has said that he attended and graduated.
Doesn’t MATTER!!! NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! UNSEAL THE RECORDS!!! PROVE IT!!! HE’S HIDING SOMETHING!!! HE’S HIDING EVERYTHING!!!!!
They are actually not “sealed” No court has sealed them. Columbia has said that he went there and graduated. You saying they have no credibility?
BUT HE’S HIDING SOMETHING STILL ANYWAY SOMEHOW STILL!!!!
~rolls eyes~
I’m pretty sure that Barry has a much tighter “seal” on his records than you have. I don’t believe what any politician says. Who cares how much money Romney makes? Would you rather have some unsuccessful person leading the country? Oh wait…we have that.
Yes, he is very unsuccessful. Actually he has no seal. No court has sealed them.
If you want to demand that Romney produce his tax returns are you also demanding that our international man of mystery also produce his bonifides?
There has aparently been over a million dollars spent by someone to keep ANYTHING about our President secret.These claims of secrecy from the “haters” of our beloved leader have never been been denied nevermind proven untrue.
Before you say that no other President has had to produce this type of records, remember that there was a demand to see W’s college records to prove that he wasn’t smart enough to be President. When compared with his oponent’s records the issue was dropped because under comparison his records looked … OK.
If you don’t demand TOTAL disclosure from BOTH candidates, then the demand for any disclosure from either is just partisan BS.
Over 2 million has been spent by Obama to keep his records secret.
And it turned out that Bush got higher grades than his opponent.
I’m glad that at least SOMEONE posting here understood mu post.
If his transcripts are sealed how do you know that Bush got better grades than Obama?
Me thinks you do lie a little.
Read the posts. The discussion was about Bush II vs Kerrey or Gore. Obama was never running in opposition to Bush.
Where have you been Obamas life and facts on him have been the most secretive in history
Well I guess that’s true I just read it on the internet so
On neutral RW blogs, no less. How could anyone disagree with them?
Ryan Ward and Kevin Grant – Great letters.
I think Ryan was referring to Obama’s sealed college transcripts, sealed thesis, sealed financial applications, sealed student loan applications, etc. Obama has sealed more of his past than he ever “laid out clearly for everyone to see.”
Also, Romney’s primary accusers, Reid and Pelosi, refuse to release their taxes for public view, but they’ll stand at the microphone and spew venomous, unsubstantiated accusations. They’re just deflecting to help their man get another 4 years. Ain’t gonna’ work.
College transcripts, theses, and financial applications are all “sealed” as a matter of federal law. The Buckley Amendment, offered by Senator James Buckley, a staunch conservative (and brother of William) authored that amendment. Why would you oppose this routine privacy right that benefits all of us? No one who has ever run for President has released these documents.
Tax returns have routinely been made public by candidates since George Romney released twelve years of returns in his 1968 run.
But there is no rule or law stating that tax records have to be released at all. Romney has released 2 years, and that should be enough, but the lefties have to deflect because they have nothing to run on.
I agree that only custom has dictated the release of tax returns.
However, even conservative Republicans are telling Romney that he is a fool not to release his returns. It is not, as you claim, only “lefties.”
He should have done this last year, so that it would now be old news. I want a commander-in-chief with better tactical sense than that, a commander-in-chief who made sure bin Laden was dead and GM was alive.
No one said it was a rule or mandated. It’s precedent.
Deflecting? Your guy refuses to reveal information that all presidential candidates in recent history have released and you want to screech that this is all a problem with the other guy? That’s pathetic and that’s what’s deflecting. You’re accusing others of having a problem because your guy wants to shroud himself in secrecy.
Have some integrity and quit it with the double standards. Obama has released way more than Romney and you’re still screeching that Obama hasn’t released enough. Day in and day out, it’s more hypocrisy from you.
Romney is withholding his tax returns because he, and his team, have determined that it will be less damaging to take the heat from not releasing his tax returns then it would be to release his tax returns.
What is he hiding?
And don’t say he isn’t hiding anything because he obviously is.
Ronald Reagan released 12 years of transcripts because that is what all presidential candidates do as a matter of common practice, a practice begun by Gov. George Romney of Michigan when he was a Republican hopeful in ’68. Are you saying that Reagan was wrong and Romney, doing the opposite, is right?
Maybe Pelosi should show how much tax payer money flew her back and forth from home to DC for years
Reid and Pelosi aren’t running for President. If their constituents want to see that information, it’s up to them to ask for it — not us. We don’t vote for them and they’re not asking for our votes.
And you’re one to talk about spewing unsubstantiated accusations. You were one of those birthers not too long ago.
Birthers? Your boy could very easily put all that to rest by un-sealing his records, which he won’t do. He is certainly nobody to be accusing anyone of a shady past. I’m sure there is a simple reason that he has a Connecticut SS#.
I think it’s because he’s a Muslimic Fascist pinko from the Belgian Congo or something like that…
Me too.
Obama has released a lot more than Romney has released. Why won’t Romney release as much as Obama — and Reagan — have done? What is Romney hiding?
What is O’Bama looking to hide by sealing his records. If he isn’t hiding anything then why not release the records. What is O’Bama hiding?
You are acting like a dog with a bone….. obsessed with nothing and delusional..
What is Mitt hiding? He destroyed all records from his stint as Governor and all records from when he was head of the olympics and where are his tax returns !!!
Like Romney and Ryan you continue to spread lies and completely debunked rumors. You are coming from a very ugly place.
What is O’Bama looking to hide by sealing his records. If he isn’t hiding anything then why not release the records. What is O’Bama hiding?
THE SKY IS FALLING THE SKY IS FALLING!!!!
What is O’Bama looking to hide by sealing his records. If he isn’t hiding anything then why not release the records. What is O’Bama hiding?
Endlessly repeating this stupid question/accusation which has been answered gives you no credibility, but it does make you look very stupid….as others have written, President Obama has not sealed anything.
I wonder where your mind is hiding. I suggest that you look for that. Someone above mentioned meds, have you taken yours today …. you seem to have an uncontrollable tick.
The issue isnt about me but rather why hasn’t O’Bama released or had his records unsealed thereby removing forever any and all questions about his unknown hidden background.
If O’Bama was a republican the imbeciles on the left would be screaming unrelentlessly, so drop the feigned outrage and question why your boy hasn’t released a single record attesting to his background.
BTW, I beleive that he was born in the US and have never claimed to be a birther but O’Bama is hiding something
Doesn’t every politician-heck, doesn’t EVERYONE hide something???!?!
so you say…. have no more interest in your thoughts….. ramble elsewhere….
Romney has released what is required, just like Barry. Why should he release more if Barry doesn’t? Pretty one sided.
As I’ve commented elsewhere, you let slip why you want those academic records released. Another last gasp attempt to keep the birther myth alive (last rites are due). That’s not even being Quixotic. It’s just plain futile.
All he has to do is release his records and put the issue to rest.
He probably will release them in a few more years. After his minions have had time to sanitize them and forge new ones leaving out the incriminating evidence.
Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that it is discovered that Obama’s birth certificate is a fake and that he did apply for college as a foreign student, and that his education was financed by less-than-reputable individuals. Would that make any difference to you? Or does the Constitution mean nothing? Would the entire cover-up bother you, or would you defend him because he’s a progressive Democrat?
Think of the constitutional crisis down the road when it is discovered that Obama cannot legally be president. I think every single thing signed by Obama should be declared unconstitutional, illegal, and void.
are the walls and ceilings of your house lined with tin foil to keep the government satellites from reading your thoughts?
Mine are lined be lead foil, actually. Unfortunately, I can’t lick them anymore, but I feel safer from prying radio and supersonic waves nonetheless.
And think of all the repercussions when it is finally acknowledged that Bush and Cheney were illegally elected since two persons from the same state can’t be on the same presidential ticket. (Cheney’s sudden conversion to a Wyoming resident is the ultimate in deception).
It’s a moot point because that allegation hasn’t been proven to be anything remotely true.
It was a hypothetical directed at Gopher40….. which, by the way, he didn’t answer.
Has Romney released financial applications or his student loans?
Has any president ever released that information?
Check out this link for the real facts
http://www.factcheck.org/2012/07/obamas-sealed-records/
Ryan Ward
I couldn’t agree more. Where are O’Bamas grades, both undergrad and graduate? What insights would it give the public to have a view of his application to Columbia. Would it demonstrate a different birthplace? Aid for a foreign student?
President Obama was born on the planet Mongo and was sent here by Ming the Merciless to enslave us. Ming made sure the future President received nothing but A+ grades throughout his academic career.
Typical once again avoiding the question and throwing crap at the wall, Just like your hero Harry Reid. Explain to all of us how someone can get aid as a foreign student but not be a foreign student. One or the other is not true. Answers please, not useless babble
There is absolutely no evidence that President Obama received aid as a foreign student. Your saying so does not make it true. As the right wing lunatics are demanding to see student loan applications, no loan applications have ever been released. Making things up is a sign of paranoia. Take your meds.
Are you sure your not talking about Harry Ried. He makes things up so he must be paranoid.
Learn to spell. Once Romney releases his tax returns we will see who is right, he or Reid.
There has not been any evidence produced that he even attended columbia U so I guess that is all made up too
The plane to Fantasy Island awaits you.
Except Mr. Roarke is dead. Good luck.
westernjournalism.com/barack-obama-foreign-student-american-media-threatened-into-silence/
wnd.com/2012/03/full-blown-media-cover-up-of-hottest-u-s-story/
This is a sad resort to websites with zero credibility.
Why don’t you try disproving the facts?
I get it. Hard to disprove facts when the proof is kept secret.
The “fact” at issue is the President’s birthplace. We have been shown both birth certificates, the contemporaneous birth announcements, and the accounts from individuals who saw the President when he was brought home from the hospital in Honolulu. Your response is to point to some lunatic postman who gives an affidavit to Sheriff Arpaio’s band of lunatics?
Get a life. Your party lost in 2008 to President Obama and will lose again in 2012. Your insane birtherism simply reinforces the sense most Americans have that a significant portion of the Republican Party has gone off the deep end.
It’s not often I long for the sanity of the Reagan years….
Reagan couldn’t be elected dog-catcher in today’s Republican Party.
You must be referring to Romney’s scholarships from his home planet, Mongo.
Lets make a chart and compare Obamas real life jobs and business experience with Romneys and see how it looks. Dont worry you wont need much ink for Obamas charts!!
Provide proof, please.
Flash Gordon, third year, episode 7. It was all foretold.
I remember that episode.
You wanting facts? Now that’s funny!
Hahaha!
LOL Great sarcasm.
It is the only appropriate response to the Unglued Lemon.
What is O’Bama looking to hide by sealing his records. If he isn’t hiding anything then why not release the records. What is O’Bama hiding?
It’s apparent that you are a plant by the Obama-Biden campaign designed to make right-wingers look as insane as possible.
What is O’Bama looking to hide by sealing his records. If he isn’t hiding anything then why not release the records. What is O’Bama hiding?
I guess that makes him a Mongolian. But seriously what do you think he is hiding? Like you, if I had nothing to hide I would release all. Something to hide, maybe not so much. He is a denizen of one of the slimiest political arenas and has had great mentors.
He’s probably hiding the time he got busted smoking Capri Lights in the boys room between American History and Calculus II.
Yes indeed, what is Romney hiding? Why won’t he do what Obama and Biden (and Ronald Reagan, and all the other presidential nominees) have done for more than 40 years, and release 12 years of returns. We are not asking for Mitt’s secret high school and college transcripts — only his tax returns. After all, he wants to be president. What is he hiding?
Name a single other candidate for President who has had these demands made of him or her to release academic records. If you read his first book you would realize that he has revealed more of his life than any other candidate.
Has anyone of any import asked for these records or is this an offshoot of the birther movement?
It’s Birtherism gone bonkers.
Bush II released his.
Embarrassed his opponent when it turned out Bush got better grades.
Money can buy anything.
Your right. Obama bought the presidency.
And so it seems that R&R will buy the next one, eh?
Wrong again. Google “George W. Bush Academic Record” and you will find that he, Gore, and Kerry each had their transcripts leaked to the press by students at Yale or Harvard who were apparently working in the registrar’s offices. None of the candidates released the transcripts voluntarily. Bush’s SATs were1206, Gore’s were 1355. None of the news stories list the GPAs of the three.
You should do better at fact checking. You are wrong again.
cbsnews.com/2100-250_162-700170.html
http://forums.stardock.com/26219
Finding these took about 15 seconds.
My post stated that none of these candidates voluntarily released their transcripts, they all got leaked. Your cites merely show what the GPAs were for the candidates. Congratulations on finding what their GPAs were. I saw no reason to waste my time once I had rebutted the claim that Bush II had released his transcripts but Obama had refused. Do you forget what the original post was? I don’t.
—-
Good advice for Romney !!!! Look up denizen. Your arguments are already devoid of any substance. Nothing serious about them.
Finally, you got it!!!!!!
Do foreign students get financial aid? Let me tell my kid who has dual citizenship. Maybe he can benefit from that little known fact. If it is true, that is. As far as grades go, should I ask my primary care physician, or anyone else who may have to practice medicine on me, for his/her grades, his/her class standing? Was he/she at the top or the bottom of his/her class? Where would this end? How about my undertaker in case my physician makes a mistake? Mitt should release his tax records just like his father did. We are not asking for his grade school nor his high school nor his university grades. Just his tax records.
I, for one, am uncomfortable not knowing how he behaved during nap time. If he couldn’t follow the rules then, how can we trust him now?
Check my replies to EJP on this futile, desperate wild goose chase.
Simple question is what is O’Bama hiding? Why doesn’t he release the records and end all speculation? He must have something to hide is the only answer.
What’s with Irish name?
Why are you interested in this Irishman Kevin Patrick O’Bama?
Who is he and what does he have to do with Obama and Romney?
I want to know what Romney is hiding — we’re not asking for his college transcripts, or even his birth certificate from Mongo. We only want him to do what all other major candidates for president have done for more than 40 years, release his tax returns for 12 years. If it was good enough for his father, and good enough for Ronald Reagan, it should be good enough for Mitt Romney. What is he hiding?
A different birthplace? Obviously, as you point out, Kevin Patrick O’Bama is Irish. Barak Obama, however, was born in Hawaii, as the newspapers in Honolulu noted in the birth notice section at the time of his birth, and as both his short form and long form birth certificates showed. It is Mitt Romney who was born on the Planet Mongo, and I want to see his birth certificate from that planet (I’ve been demanding that Mongo birth certificate for months now, and Romney still is hiding it).
Mr. George Romney, Mitt’s dad, ran for president in 1968. He was born in Mexico! I was very interested in this election as it was the first time I was able to vote having just become a US citizen. Why is it that the fact that he was born in Mexico and not on US soil did not become an issue during his campaign? Is it because he was Caucasian? Are you so prejudical about black Americans (oh, sorry, he is half black; his mother was white) that you cannot leave this alone? By the way, Mr. George Romney did not exit the race because someone objected to his not being born in the US. He had the guts to state publicly that his government had brainwashed him about Vietnam and he realized that when he went to visit that country when we were are war there. Anyway, in 1968, I voted for Mr. George Romney. He was still on the ballot. And even though he did not have the proverbial snowball’s chance in Hades to become president, I admired the man and his openness. So the only vote in Wisconsin for George Romney was mine. It was my first vote in a presidential election and I am still glad I did it. I admire honesty in a politician; unfortunately, his son did not learn that lesson from his dad. So, Mitt, bring on those tax returns and let us see of what stuff you are made.
I heard that when Obama was in kindergarten, he colored a picture of Santa with blue pants. That is proof that he is a commie spy from Kenya planted here at a young age to destroy American capitalism. Why won’t he release that picture of Santa to finally prove to the rest of the country that our delusional thoughts are true?
LOL
Kevin,couldn’t agree with you more.
Betsy Wooster
The last thing the Maine legislature needs is a union hack. Beware of union hacks, they will spend money like its someone elses.
To Ryan Ward: presumably you are not familiar with Pres. Obama’s moving, eloquent, and detailed autobiography that has been out for several years now–before he became President. I dare you to suggest that Mitt has been anywhere as open about his upbringing. Unlike most other politicians’ memoirs, moreover, Obama’s was written alone, without the help of a ghostwriter. Whatever else has he done as President, he deserves credit for being among the best writers of his generation of political leaders if not the very best.
You mean the “autobiography” written by Bill Ayers? The one with all the made up people? The one describing his felony drug use?
I did find it moving. So moving in fact that I usually had to visit the porcelain throne either during or right after reading.
9
No difference between Romney(care) and Obama(care), yet another violation of our rights. The gov’t constantly violates our rights.
They violate the 1st Amendment by caging protesters and banning books like “America Deceived II”.
They violate the 4th and 5th Amendment by allowing TSA to grope you.
They violate the entire Constitution by starting undeclared wars.
Impeach Obama, support Ron Paul.
Last link of “America Deceived II” before it is completely banned:
http://www.amazon.com/America-Deceived-II-Possession-interrogation/dp/1450257437
Wow. Meds anyone?
I will only vote for Ron Paul, the ONLY candidate who will follow the Constitution, the ONLY candidate who will bring our troops home NOW to defend OUR borders, the only candidate who has not flip flopped, who has always stood for life and liberty.
So you won’t be voting, because Ron Paul won’t be on the ballot.
I kept hearing about how great Paul Ryan is….
He voted for the bailouts
He voted for NDAA
He supports the Patriot Act
He supports the Iraq war
He won’t make any military cuts.
He’s no better than Romney or Obama.
OMG, he voted for the NDAA?? I can’t believe it.
The NDAA is the Pentagon’s annual budget…can’t believe he voted to pass a budget bill for the government.
NDAA with the indefinite detention clause. It all makes sense when you include all of information.
“The NDAA is the Pentagon’s annual budget”….and this time it includes indefinite detention of American citizens without a trial. Of course I am sure you know this and support it since you most likely don’t believe in due process for the American people.
Kevin Grant, by the end of the month, you can eat your words. Ron Paul is the William G Harding of 2012 . . .
Do you mean Warren G. Harding? No. Although his administration is remembered for corruption, Harding at least was elected president. Paul won’t even be on the ballot.
Ryan Ward,
You have written:
“Some claim that this is about transparency, but this argument can only be viewed as absurd coming from those who support a president as secretive as Barack Obama.” & “many Republicans have urged Romney to release his tax returns just to dispel these irresponsible accusations.”
As you have noted, it is not only Democrats who have been pressing Romney to release his tax returns, Republicans also have been urging him to do so.
Irresponsible accusations are, as you say, irresponsible accusations… but… the argument for transparency is not absurd…..transparency sheds light into a person’s character…..
“What purpose would it serve? It is no secret that he has amassed a great fortune. “ ….. It is also no secret that Cayman Islands and Swiss banking accounts are used for purposes of tax evasion. Mitt Romney reportedly has bank accounts in the Cayman Islands & Switzerland.
It is public knowledge that a few years ago the U.S. Government started cracking down on U.S. citizens with Swiss bank accounts. Tax evaders were fined and subsequently granted amnesty.
An article in the “Huffington Post” suggests that Mitt Romney would “rather drop out of the race than release previous years’ tax returns because he does not want it publicly known that he received amnesty for tax evasion”.
“Amnesty for tax evasion” does not look very good on a resume when you are applying for the Presidency of the United States.
Transparency is good…..especially if you have nothing to hide. Transparency can clear up any misgivings or misunderstandings… and… transparency sheds light into a person’s character.
Wasted votes??? when you vote against your beliefs, vote for evil, vote for proven liars, vote for the winner, That is a wasted vote.
For me It doesn’t matter if I think he should replace President Obama or if I think he should be the candidate running instead of Romney. what matters is Paul has a lot of the same values as I do. I want the troops home, I want the wars to end, and he cares about the troops lives, he wants to end the since less deaths. Ending the wars will save lives and help the economy. I do not feel I would waste my vote at all. I can’t make them count my vote, but legally they are suppose to.
We have the means to research candidates now, this time. any more deaths that happens will be the peoples fault that voted for that presidents, not the presidents fault.
Some of Paul’s policies I don’t like but I can live with them, they will not kill any one, but I can’t live with knowing I could be the one that is the cause of the troops dieing because I wanted to pick the Winner.
In 2008 Obama and Paul was the only ones that wanted to end the wars, when Paul dropped out in 2008 Obama was the only one left and he won, and he lied.
Now 2012 there is only Ron Paul and maybe Gary Johnson that wants the wars to end, the same thing that got Obama elected in 2008, and no one wants it now.
What is wrong with people? voting for the winner, voting for money, the job, race, some is voting because of their portfolio or voting for their religion, what God would what any one to choose these things over a living breathing life?
1,953 members of the U.S. military had died just in Afghanistan
17,095 U.S. service members have been wounded
Afghanistan, Iraq (civilian) death toll over 100,000. who are we protecting? its definitely not the civilians..its not the US, so who????
Its up to the people on how many more.
ROMNEY’S LACK OF DISCLOSURE IS FRADULENT & DECEPTIVE
Mitt Romney’s ambivalence towards providing the American public with a reasonable level of disclosure, that is traditionally provided by all serious candidates for the Presidency, illustrates not only an elitist sense of entitlement, but reflects a level of deception that is patently fraudulent. In so far that Mitt Romney seeks to attain the office of the Presidency in that vein, he thereby undermines the legitimate interests and the role of citizens to verify the veracity and integrity of their leaders in a constitutional republic.If Romney’s integrity cannot withstand this level of inquiry into his tax filings, then he is simply not qualified to lead this country and he should recuse himself from consideration for the Presidency or his party should disqualify him. It is really that simple. Furthermore, if “Tricky Mitt” defrauded the Italian government and engaged in activity he opens himself up not just prosecution for TAX Fraud in the United States but also under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ( FCPA).
DOUBLE STANDARDS: The American Worker vs. the Mormon Madoff GOP Presidential Candidate
Romney’s posture illustrates a dangerous double standard. The average American worker has to go through a full background check, including criminal investigation, credit bureau report, scrutiny of their personal integrity, offer assorted personal references, perhaps even undergo a drug test — all for a temporary job with no benefits. In a post 9/11 world, that the average person who applies for a Barista position at Starbucks or who goes to work in an office building in Lower Manhattan has to disclose more personal information than a candidate for the highest office in the land, the Presidency of the United States, is shameful, despicable and arrogant. Romney knows better but he cannot bring himself to open himself up to liability for Tax Fraud, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or the revelation that he is hiding more than a billion dollars outside the United States. Given that a great degree of Romney’s wealth was obtained via Bain Games that gutted America’s Industrial heartland, collapsing communities while seizing the pension assets of blue collar workers, Americans have the right to know a hell of a lot more about Mitt Romney’s hidden holdings around the world and how they were amassed.
Beautifully written Christopher…..Eloquent, succinct, effective and right on target…..Excellent !!!
Please consider sending this to the Credentials Committee of the GOP.
(P.S……I am saving your name in case I ever have need of an accomplished attorney.)
You refer to “tricky Mitt,” but I prefer what the British called him after his offensive “charm offensive” during the Summer Olympics — “Mitt the Twit.”
He insulted our English allies regarding their readiness for the Olympics (they proved they were ready, and everything went splendidly despite Mitt’s complaints), couldn’t remember the name of the opposition leader (Ed Miliband), and broke decorum by blurting out that he had just met with the head of the highly secretive MI5 (the British equivalent of our CIA). Mitt the Twit couldn’t pull off the easiest of foreign trips, but he wants to be in charge of all U.S. foreign policy.
You do realize that if Obama had to do the same, “go through a full background check, including criminal investigation,
credit bureau report, scrutiny of their personal integrity, offer
assorted personal references, perhaps even undergo a drug test” he would fail.
Just things admitted to in his “autobiography” would prevent him from obtaining most security clearances for the US government or even becoming a law enforcement officer.
You are a right wing ideologue and as such you are spouting debunked right wing talking points.
Which makes him more like us instead of someone who thinks he’s better than us. I have never understood why some police departments want recruits that are “perfect,” so unlike many of the people they police.
Ryan- Mitt would make an excellent choice for getting our jobs back from China. He knows where they all are. He sent them there. I, for one, do not need to see his tax returns to know where he stands on Americans having jobs.
LOL, but would he? What incentive?
Too easy, when the congress was (when) under democratic control they spend like drunken sailors.
And when Congress is under Republican control, they spend and borrow like drunken sailors. Spend and tax is actually a bit better than spend and borrow.
Not defending Bush because he and the R’s ran up the deficit, but you guys do realize Obama is doing the same thing… only worse.
I disagree with your statement.
Baloney….. when the Democrats passed spending bills and programs they paid for them.
They were on the books. When ‘W’ passed tax cuts, drug programs.. and by the way, in the drug bill negotiations on cost between the government and big pharma are prohibited by the law Bush passed.. and 2 wars nothing was paid for. The Republicans do it all off the books. Bush destroyed this country’s economy and Ryan helped him.
The Republicans, like their nominees for President and Vice President are secretive, and dishonest. They are only interested in putting more money in fewer and fewer hands. They are destroying the middle class. If these 2 are elected they will continue the destruction of this country.
But the Heritage Foundation said the Bush tax cuts would pay for themselves in 10 years! Still have a few more months for that to happen, haha.
Just show us the tax returns.
Per Jack Webb/Sgt. Friday, “All we want is the facts, man”.
I am voting for Ron Paul. Obama and Romney both support the Project for the New American Century and the Foreign Policy Initiative, the think-tank which promotes: diplomatic, economic, and military engagement IN THE WORLD! Iraq was ALL lies, and Iran doesn’t even have WMD’s. Israel assassinated all of Iran’s nuclear scientists, and the US infected Iran’s computer systems with the Stuxnet virus which destroyed their equipment. The US created Al Qaeda, and we are funding them as the opposition in Syria. PNAC wants global domination, I just want my freedom back!
Vote for Ron Paul! End the wars!
Ryan Ward: What about Mitt’s questionable past? His association with Bain Capital, his reputation for laying off thousands of workers and shipping their jobs overseas?
All candidates for the presidency have bared their tax returns without qualm. Mitt and Ryan won’t. These two believe in privatizing government along with the secrecy of their tax returns.
Obama was targeted from Day One as the man the republicans wanted out of office. To block, to confuse, and ridicule our government has been their chief endeavor egged on by this tea party strain of weak tea.
Ms. Rogers: I agree with you. Le Page has Page One status for every one of his obnoxious remarks. The opposing viewpoint is usually buried, instead of being in the second paragraph.
Le Page should get a copy of this news item that was buried. He would scoff at it, as he does with anything that’s good about Maine and its people.
Like many people, his ridiculous outbursts run like water off a Duck’s back. His false claims, preposterous assertions, and condemnations, are invariably dropped into the lap of spokesperson – Adrienne Bennett. She has the puzzling job of interpreting what she thought, Le Page meant to say, but tripped over his tongue when he did.
Proof of his lies about Mainers and especially students are being spread daily.
Ryan Ward: Enough of the foolishness about President Obama’s past and enough trying to spray perfume on the stench of MittTwit RobMe refusing to release his tax returns. You are hinting at that utterly ridiculous birther nonsense that would never have become an issue if President Obama was entirely white and not just half white. MittTwit RobMe is hiding his tax returns because he is a greedy selfish corporatist who made millions destroying American jobs and sheltering his money in Swiss Bank accounts, and sheltering it in the Cayman Islands, and in Bermuda, all the while paying half or less of the tax rates as the rest of us. RobMe’s own father set the standard of releasing a good decade’s worth of tax returns, and RobMe won’t because he doesn’t want everyone seeing how he shelters his millions and how little tax he pays. MittTwit RobMe has no clue what it is like to be a hard working middle class American. He is a silverspooned spoiled rotten brat richy rich boy and flipflopper who thinks the rules don’t apply to him and that he is better than everyone else. He’s afraid to release his returns because he is hiding SHAMEFUL financial behavior, and he knows it.
Kathleen, great letter. LeBUFFOON is a disgrace to his office, and the best thing we can do is vote heavily Democratic this fall and put a halt to his radical corporate ALEC/Koch Brothers agenda and make him the lamest of lame ducks.
Kevin, you won’t have to vote for Paul because he won’t be on the ballot. If you did have some interest in Ron Paul, I hope will not support Romney and Republicans who are doing all they can to shut up the Ron Paul supporters and, in fact, keep them out of the convention.
Mr. Ward nailed it. President Obama will not release his college transcripts for a reason. Until he does release them Romney should not release his tax returns. Romney should simply respond “I will release my tax returns when President Obama releases all of his college transcripts”. I suspect that would be the end of Senator Reid’s demands for Romney to release his tax returns; as no liberal wants to take the risk of what Obama’s college transcripts may reveal!
That’s right. Tit for tat. No sense trying to be the better man, although I don’t understand the connection between college transcripts and tax returns. This is a spurious concern used as a way to deflect from the issue at hand.