Valid point until you examine the facts and realize that Romney paid 13.9% and the average household with median income pays around 12.5%. The fact is that as stated our tax code is very progressive. Once everyone takes all available deductions, it is almost flat for those with median or higher income. It is almost non-existent for the those of lower income.
You are making an argument against our present tax code. Which is something that I think we can all agree is insane and needs to be vastly improved or abandoned for something better.
The only actual tax return that we've seen thus far is 13.9% and it is well documented that the average effective rate for households $50-70K is around 12.5%. All else is just speculation.
one of the best ways to get it changed would be to examine how the rich devise ways to escape their obligation and either make it the same for everybody else or tighten the rules. i think a presidential candidate who has amassed a fortune while paying almost nothing in taxes might be a good place to start the debate if only we could see how it was done. i wonder what you guys would say if the tables were turned? if obama were some rich guy who refused to release his returns would you righties excuse him. to say no makes you a hypocrite and to day yes makes you a lier. thats the way a thinking person should look at things. what would happen if the shoe were on the other foot. "do unto others"
Two respsonses. One, Obama has an obligation to prove he meets the Constitutional requirement of natural born citizen. Many serious people do not believe he has done so. Romney has no obligation to disclose anything about his taxes beyond what's done. Two, Obama is a congenital liar. He's lied about everything from his background, even his conception after the Selma civil rights march, his achievements, his policies, his opponents policies and the economy. Romney by contrast is an obviously honorable man. Also, do you believe for a second if Romney was lying about his taxes, some obama thug in the IRS wouldn't have leaked it by now?
romney has alredy been caught lying about his taxes: From 2002 New York Times: Until early June, Mr. Romney had said that he had paid his taxes as a Massachusetts resident while in Utah. He later acknowledged that in 1999 and 2000 he paid state taxes as a Utah resident and listed himself as either a part-time resident or a non-resident of Massachusetts. He said that in April, after deciding to run for governor, he had amended his 1999 and 2000 tax returns to say that he was a Massachusetts resident. ~June 19, 2002 GOP Candidate Seeks to Clarify Massachusetts Residency Issue New York Times (page 2) Between March - June 2002 Romney and his campaign said, "trust us" Mitt filed his Returns showing Massachusetts as his primary residence --- but that was proven to be a blatant lie and Romney had to file an Amendment to his Federal Tax Returns retroactively. June 7, 2002, the Boston Globe reported Mitt finally admitted he listed Utah as his primary residence so he Amended his 1999-2002 Federal & State Tax Returns retroactively when he decided to run for Governor of MA. ROMNEY: âI am Amending them because it is the right thing to do. I was not thinking of running for office. I was trying to fill our -- my tax forms as accurately as possible.â ~ Romney quote in Romney says he didnât file as Mass. resident in â99-â00 Boston Globe 6/7/2002 There it is again, I didn't know I would run for office for Pete's sake. On June 18, 2002, Romney, under Oath, told the Massachusetts State Ballot Commission that he signed the IRS Form 1040 but, gee whiz, he had no idea his signature meant he was signing under Penalty of Perjury that he had examined his 1040 and schedules in their entirety. 2002 New York Times reported: Mitt Romney said in a hearing before the Massachusetts Ballot Law Commission. ROMNEY: ''I do not read those [IRS 1040] or review those before I sign them nor the attached Schedules,'' ~June 19, 2002 GOP Candidate Seeks to Clarify Massachusetts Residency Issue New York Times (page 2) Here is the MS Ballot Commission exchange after Romney said he didn't bother to examine his Tax Returns. LAWYER: "...if I were to hand you an affidavit, Mr. Romney, and at the end of it, typed in your signature, and above your signature, I put "signed under the pains and penalties of perjury," and I said, "Mr. Romney, sign this document," you'd read it first; wouldn't you?" ROMNEY: "If you were to put it in front of me, yes." LAWYER: "So, you'd sign documents under the pains and penalties of perjury without necessarily reading them; is that your testimony?" ROMNEY: "I have not read the entire Massachusetts tax form, nor the Federal tax form, nor the Utah tax form, and all of them have me sign under pains and penalty to the best of my knowledge and belief, and I do not read the entire form." [-June 18, 2002 testimony before MA State Ballot Commission]
And who was that said, on the House of Reps floor, that they would have to pass the %%$$## Obamacare law before they could read it?
And he was rewarded for his dishonesty with the top job at the US Treasury. Maybe I should be cheating on my taxes if that's all that happens when caught.