Freethinker, your theory does seem very plausible. If Romney had taken a position against the housing market, his profitable and prescient bet would undoubtedly be framed as "betting against America" and would damage his campaign more than non disclosure. But calling it betting against America is political spin. It's really just investment that turned out to be shrewd and well timed. Also, he has to worth more than 250 million if his passive investments are paying dividends on the order of 20-25 million a year