It's not the same thing at all. Being foreign born would mean Obama does not meet the Constitutional requirement to be president. Of course, since when do modern democrats let something like the Constitution stand in their way?
My guess is when market took a dump in 2009 Romney had a huge loss which offsets his earnings and he end up paying very minimal if not zero tax which is absolutely legal. It still could be 13% on let's say 100K = 13K and all of a sudden it will be twisted into something like multimilliner paid only 13K when compared to someone who was paid 100K salary end up paying 25K.
There's the pre-release statement. I would guess that they will probably see how the first debate goes. If it is obvious from that debate that the tax thing will remain a liability, then they will release them. This statement serves the purpose of turning the effective rate into old news. OTOH, if he does well in the debate there is a chance that he won't release them ever. IMO, he only releases them if it is obvious that it would make a difference. If he were smart, he would make a few more public disclosures and explanations regarding what's in the returns. Re-state the lowest effective rate of 13%. Acknowledge that a good portion is in a qualified plan, and explain how he will be required to pay tax on that money starting 5 years from now. Then encourage everyone to take advantage of qualified retirement plans. During the next month, these disclosures will make headlines and disappear. Then I would tell him to do exactly what Newt did during the primaries. Release the returns late afternoon the day of the first debate.
"Romney reviews taxes. Never paid less than 13% over the last 10 years. Calls Reid out. Basicly says Reid is a liar. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/romne...-173623625.html " funny how when obama said he reviewed his birth cert and declared yes he was born in the us. it wasnt good enough for the republicans.
Don't you guys understand? Romney's using this thing to have an excuse, whenever he wants, to tell voters that Obama needs to talk about everything else BUT the economy... And the dems are playing directly into Romney's hand. What's the downside? That voters might think that Romney has a secret or two? Wow! They already know that he's a WallStreeter gazillionnaire... what's the surprise there? That's why they want him, actually need him, to replace this disaster of a former professor/civil servant... Let them sweat it out, Romney says. And, don't you ever forget, you poor, unemployed voters, that the liberal media's AA choice, Obama, the Amateur, screwed up with the economy very big and cost you a lot, you hear?
Or for that matter, even release them the moment the first debate starts. During the debate prep, Obama will have been instructed on how to address this tax issue. The proper response from Romney will be, "Actually, my team has just released 5 additional years worth of returns. People are going to see how complex and convoluted our current tax code can get for someone who has founded and presided over a very large and successful business in America. They are going to see that I've paid many millions of dollars in tax and contributed even more than that to charity. I don't say this to be braggadocios, but rather to emphasize how out of touch and desperate Mr. Obama is in trying to divert attention away from the sad state of the American economy. He suggests that when I started my successful business that I didn't build the infrastructure that allows it to be possible. Mr. President, I've personally funded many millions of dollars worth of the infrastructure that I use, just like every other very successful American entrepreneur. Yes we did build it, and we continue to."
I considered this awhile ago, and then dismissed it, but after the headline today about the Dems offering Romney a deal, "release 5 years and we'll drop the issue", and him declining. Now I'm starting to think that you might have a point.