Obama: Welcome to the 'Burgh, Mitt. What you hiding?
When Republican Mitt Romney arrives in Pittsburgh Tuesday, he’ll be greeted by a 30-second television attack ad from President Obama’s re-election campaign that rips him for refusing to release more than two years of his tax returns.
Obama: Welcome to the 'Burgh, Mitt. What you hiding?
Thomas Fitzgerald, Inquirer Politics Writer
When Republican Mitt Romney arrives in Pittsburgh Tuesday, he’ll be greeted by a 30-second television attack ad from President Obama’s re-election campaign that rips him for refusing to release more than two years of his tax returns.
“Makes You Wonder” asks what Romney is hiding. Obama, and many leading Republicans, including the governor of Alabama, have been urging Romney to release more tax information. Based on what is known, the former private-equity tycoon has used tax havens and other offshore bank accounts, and pays a far lower effective tax rate than millions of the middle class.
No law requires presidential candidates to release tax returns, which are private, but disclosure has been an element of national politics since at least 1952, when GOP vice presidential nominee Richard M. Nixon challenged his opponent to do so. Nixon was under fire for taking gifts from supporters; he made the famous “Checkers” speech about his finances but, despite the gambit, did not release his returns then. In 1968, Nixon did release the returns. (h/t Wall Street Journal).
Comments (53)
Obama loved GE, even made the former CEO his Jobs Council head. GE shipped 133,000 jobs overseas. Obama is on video bragging about GE. Obama hasn't met w/Jobs council in six months but he HAS had 110 campaign fundraisers, hit the 100 mark in golf rounds. Obama is a puppet to the marxists/socialists he had put into powerful positions. Obama doesn't have to work. He eats cake along w/the Queen and then they come to Philly to tell us what to feed our kids. Did Queen Michele mention the youth black crime and the black on black murders in Philly? Nope, not once. She is sooo caring about our bodies but not the mind. Obama is going down in Nov. He is Toast! No jobs = bad economy and no hope, just spreading the misery a bit more each day!— coniljw- Obama said today he is a "pretty good pool player" and a good "doodler". Sometimes when he is at "high cabinet meetings and I look like I am taking notes; I'm probably doodling". Obama had 110 campaign fundraisers in six months, hit his 100 round of golf and has NOT MET W/his Jobs Council in SIX months.
So, you tell me what the blank is so important w/Romney's taxes ???? When are we going to ask the PRESIDENT of the FREE WORLD why is not meeting with Job's Councils? Useless Idiots vote for this Prez.— coniljw - The Obama lovers are crazy and loyal. That's fine you heart Obama but no matter how hard you go after Romney, nothing you can dream up will match Obama's numerous failures as president. Not releasing enough tax returns isn't worse than having 8% unemployment for 4 years. But keep pounding away at it and maybe you'll get a few people to drink the koolaid. The only people agreeing with you now are people like yourself who are just as misguided.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- It doesn't seem logical that the greatest president of all time should need negative advertising to try to secure a second term, does it? What's he afraid of? Maybe the counter ad by Romney should ask "Why is Barry afraid to focus the campaign on his record?"
Shouldn't he just continue telling us that we are moving in the right direction and the private sector is doing just fine? Barry has never been shy in telling anyone how great he has done, why stop now?— Wiseman6 - @seed- There are reasons other than tax avoidance for having offshore accounts such as for legal purposes. As long as the US financial reporting requirements are followed, this should be a non-issue. If not, he's on his own.
— Wiseman6 - @commonsense- You may not have any interest, but Barry's surrogates in the msm will stoop to the lowest possible level to avoid him running on his dismal economic record.
What do Romney's tax returns have to do with how poorly Barry has managed this economy? Why isn't there this level of investigation into Barry and his shady dealings with Reszko? How did Barry afford that house anyway?— Wiseman6 - Common Sense; He released them to someone and he's released enough. If liberals want to go fishing, there's plenty of ocean out there. Maybe while they are out there, they'll find Fast & Furious documents, evidence the private sector is doing fine, proof that business owners didn't really work that hard to create their businesses, reasons why we're still at 8% unemployment 2 years after the recession ended and maybe even some common sense.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- He released them to "someone"? And who might that "someone" be? It's NOT the liberals that are fishing, it's EVERYBODY, including other Conservatives that are fishing. A 1 year only tax return IS NOT enough! What's your boy hiding? And given the depth of the recession that you Conservatives created, and Republicans in Congress deliberately trying to extend it to make this President fail, and the economic situation in Europe are your reasons why unemployment is at 8%. — CommonSense in Philly
- You mean fishing in Cayman Islands and Bermuda; just wait for the rotten fish from Romney's account.
This is just July, more surprises are on the way about Mitten— Seed - @beegal99- Ever hear of affirmative action? The most qualified doesn't always get the job. Think about that on your next visit to the doctors...— Wiseman6
- Where do the 1% hide their money? You know the likes of Soros, Kerry, Pelosi, and all the tax evaders of the Obama administration. It's not "do as I do, it's the do as I say." That works for them.
Dare Inky to list all the 1% just in this area that have their funds in overseas accounts. Fact is they ALL do it, libs, dems, repubs, & conservatives. It's called a tax shelter, and it's legal, go ask any accountant.— FocusTruthFully - @commonsense- So it is our business what Romney did in high school almost 50 years ago? So it was none of our concern about Bush's college transcripts when he released them to show himself a 'C' student? So its none of our business that Romney's GREAT-GREAT grandfather was a polygamist? It's funny how these things are front and center of the MSM when it suits the Dems.
Barry has led the least transparent administration in history, yet his supporters seem be interested in what Romney had for breakfast... Typical hypocracy from the left.— Wiseman6 - I have no interest in what Willard did in high school 50 years ago. Nobody has any interest in Willard's ancestors either. Heck, all Mormons were polygamists a hundred years ago, so THAT didn't come from Romney. Very few presidential candidates release SS numbers, college records and all the other nonsense conservatives are asking for. Has Romney released ANYTHING other than 1 tax return? You hypocrites demanded Obama's birth certificate (and that still isn't good enough). So don't preach to me about what the Dems are doing, when the Republicans aren't even doing that! — CommonSense in Philly
- Have we ever gotten an answer on:
GITMO
RENDITION
BUSH'S FAILED POLICIES BEING CONTINUED
WARS
WIRETAPPING
DRONES
FAILED GREEN POLICIES
HIDDEN INFO ON "FAST AND FURIOUS"
OBAMA SENDING JOBS TO CHINA
CUTTING MILITARY SPENDING IN AMOUNTS LIKE CARTER
These are current issues and promises that were made and are the obvious record of someone who is only capabile of attacking others. Barry...if you want answers, answer these questions because they are much more important than Kerry's two year tax returns!!! LOL!! He's got as much as Mitt and no one ever questioned him...SURPRISE, SURPRISE!!! Libs are real haters..Don't Vote for Barry, it's obvious he and his minions care nothing about what's good for the country and they are taking us all to very bad places, places that this country has never, ever seen.— sarah89 - The Romney camp’s idea of a rebuttal to the devastating Obama attacks is by refusing to release more tax returns and having John Sununu accuse the president of needing to learn "how to be an American" and of "smoking stuff" when he was younger. Astounding! Romney's got nothing. He's had his whole Presidential aspirant-career to prep for this and he's got nothing. Nothing. Simpleton sarah89 asks why Obama hasn’t addressed a laundry list of (often addressed) issues. Poor sarah, needs to get her head out of her [right wing talk radio]. Too dumb to think for herself, she relies on the dupes of the right to further bolster her status as this site’s dependable laughing stock. sarah, sweetie, go do some checking before you post such stupidity, but doubt that will ever happen. You’ve proven yourself to be dependably dumb as long as you've posted on this site.
— ChrisElliottWasRight - Obama had hoped to launch this attack in August, but another disastrous economic report is coming out at the end of the week, and Obama knows his presidency is teetering on the edge of destruction.
Forced to play the tax card to save his Presidency for another couple weeks.
In the end, it's inevitable. Obama will be judged on three metrics: job growth, GDP growth, and debt growth, and he has proven himself incapable of leading the country to improvement.
Romney should release a couple more years of taxes, and Obama should release his college admissions records.— Mr. Smith - beegal99: You weaken your argument against Romney by admitting that Romney did release his tax returns to McCain. That shows he has nothing to hide. It also proves Romney's story that he feels like Obama only wants to see multiple years of tax returns so Obama can pick them apart. Remember, Romney is releasing them to the American people, not Obama. Reasonable people know Romney's clean. I don't blame Romney for not wanting a undesirables like the Obama campaign snooping into his finances.— AvoidSundanceVacations
- Geez...did you Conservatives eat your brains for breakfast?? Romney releasing his tax records to McCain STRENGTHENS Beegal99 argument, and it shows that Romney has EVERYTHING to hide: Romney gave his tax returns to McCain because he knew they were for private viewing only and would not be released to the public. It has been common practice for presidential candidates to always release multiple years of their tax returns. Then, along comes Romney who thinks 1 year is sufficient. But you are right. We Americans and the press, will see how Romney has been sending his money to foreign countries for shady tax evasion schemes. It might be legal, but it's shady. And that's what Romney is scared of. — CommonSense in Philly
- What is Mitt Romney Hiding?— mecp22
- The Obamas got $150,000.00 from a convicted felon toward the purchase of their Chicago home. Tony Rezko paid way too much for the adjoining lot, part of the Obama home parcel, in order to give the One a back-door kickback. If you think the "right wing" cooked up the story, think again. The bank appraiser on the sale lost his job because he wouldn't go along with the scheme. That's just for openers.— celtic
- The question is valid: Romney released 23 years worth of tax records to the John McCain campaign as part of the vetting process to be his VP. He wasn't chosen. Now he's running for President, what's changed?— beegal99
- And for the genius questioning Obama's schooling: not everyone earns a scholarship to Harvard. And certainly, not every student graduates at the very top of his class at HARVARD LAW SCHOOL. The only mystery is how Longdrycreek can function with half a working brain.— beegal99
- Those tax records Willard is revising and shredding as we speak will show any number of things that he would prefer to keep from the public.
No taxes paid in some years - he probably got refunds.
Insurance fraud as he manipulated trashed companies and stole their pensions.
Full participation in the various scams dreamed up by the crooks on Wall Street and the bankster elite.
Even more of his money secreted overseas.
Insider trading in violation of federal law.
The possibilities and probabilities are endless.— JeffJenk - The hilarity behind these comments is priceless. Teatards with the "lamestream media" and "liberal media" comments...are allowing you to make comments on their liberal website. It's such a treat so see so many stupid people contradict themselves. Brilliant.— beegal99
- Love the Teatard based comments on this board. I guess Obama was a very poor student. Most poor students can indeed become professors and the head of the Harvard Law Review. Teatards hate eggheads, because eggheads have what they don't: intelligence and the ability for rational thought. Teatards become frustrated when someone starts "talking all intelligent and stuff".— beegal99
- The only people that care about these distractions are Obama fans who will make everything sound criminal. It's like tabloid journalism. Meanwhile Obama has not explained who leaked the Iran cyberwar story, what happened with Fast & Furious, why the economy still sucks 2 years after the recession ended, how the private sector is doing fine, his comments about business owners not really working hard, why didn't he release his birth certificate in 2008, where are his college transcripts and why he's been such an awful president. Why don't you work on that Tom?— AvoidSundanceVacations
- There is no bigger evidence that Barack Obama is a "historic" caliber failure and totally lacks any positive accomplishments to run on, then the fact that he needs to have an endless stream of negative ads against Romney, despite controlling 10 of the 12 voting arms (4 WH, 4 senate, 2 House) during his administration, deficit spending at levels never seen before in the history of mankind and operating radically outside of the law.
Despite all of that, he needs to resort to....negative ads??? No further evidence is needed that he truly has earned his current legacy as The Failure in Chief. Failure on steroids. Disaster. Jimmy Carter points & laughs out loud at Barack Obama.— kelprod2 - Obama is hiding plenty but you won't hear anything about it from the mainstream media.— The_Unknown-Poster
- jeez. I didn't know the birthers were still a thing. I thought that died off by now. hahahaha. what a bunch of tools.— Ryan
- Thank God, King obama has released all of his school transcripts and the Birth certificate that was requestes 4 years ago. The fact that nobody remembers him at columbia or Harvard is unimportant. You and I have the same problems when somebody asks for these documents??? Thank God for Transparency at the WH. Never has a president been so Clear. He hates this country and its style of Government.— rduexpress
- Has Romney been told what he thinks about the Ledbetter Equal Pay Act yet?....Just wondering. That mannequin doesn't have a self-firing brain cell in that plasticine skull of his.— CiceroSpuriousDeodatus
- Of course not. Willard knows he can't say what he really thinks of the Act, and the conservative Fuhrer who tells Romney what his positions are on everything, hasn't spoken to him yet. — CommonSense in Philly
- If Obama is so demanding of transparency, why has he asserted a bogus claim of executive privilege and refused to release records related to the Fast and Furious scandal?— jfar86
- Romney will continue to kill American Jobs! Vote Obama!— jerzeedivr
- What a joke. Right wingers can't seem to defend mitt's inexcusable hiding of his tax returns, yet attack obama for college records. A joke. Has mitt released "SS number, Selective Service records, college and university and law school records"? What about his birth certificate? daddy was born in Mexico, where was Mitt born?
The tax return issue is relevant. McCain saw 23 years of tax returns and then picked Sarah Palin as a running mate when Mitt might have helped him win the election. I mean, he picked Sarah Palin over Mitt Romney. What does that tell you?
— Owatagoofiam - Tax records don't mean a thing in the Presidents failure to even meet w/his jobs council in over SIX months. But Obama has had 110 campaign fundraisers, and met his 100th round of golf. Today the Prez. bragged he's a "pretty good pool player" and an "excellent doodler" and "sometimes when I am in a high cabinet meeting, I look like I am taking notes but I am really just doodling the people at the meeting". Now that is a prez who is taking our economy, jobs, healthcare, security and everything else pretty serious. Obama also attends lots of basketball games and walks around w/a beer in his hand. This POTUS is disgusting and disrespectful of the Office of the Presidency. He must go in Nov. — coniljw
- The only thing that producing his tax records will do is provide more information for Obama to distort to fuel his campaign based on class warfare.
Obama ran on a pledge to be the most open administration in history, yet he refuses to turn over documents related to fast and furious. Pure hypocrisy.— jfar86 - Distort or EXPOSE?? That's what Willard is really afraid of. Americans will see his shady tax evasions and shelters in other countries. But you dimwits will follow the candidate you didn't want 6 months ago. You vote for Romney in November. I'll bet you if he gets elected, he'll have a huge trick for all you conservatives. Remember, he changes his mind every time he shakes his etch-a-sketch board. — CommonSense in Philly
- It's a shame that you can't respond to a post without resorting to childish name calling. I guess that says all we really need to know about the intellectual depth of your argument. I'm a "dimwit" so you must be right.
By the way, noticed you didn't care to comment on Obama's failure to live up to his promise of being the most open administration or his refusal to turn over the Fast and Furious documents based on a claim of privilege that is dubious, at best.— jfar86 - So, "college and university and law school records" are the equivalent of tax and SEC filings? Really? You morons are just suffocating yourselves in sheer Trumpian stupidity (so Trumps has seen Obama's college records?!) LOLOL! Romney's entire campaign has been framed by his claims of superior business experience, but he won't be forthcoming or transparent about any of it. Hopefully Obama will just simply have his college transcripts released and everyone can flail themselves over that C- in ... whatever. But the fact that McCain saw 23 years of Romney's tax records and decided to choose Palin over him - whatever he saw in them, ain't good for Retro-Romney. Someone from McCain's failed campaign is going to leak, if Robo-Romney doesn't release his tax records, off-shore accounts and produce Bain's CEO from 2000-2002 ... the joke of a man is so elitist, he thinks he's above accountability. He's not, and either way, he'll never sit in the Oval Office.— ChrisElliottWasRight
- does anyone who is not already and obama supporter care?— raynesrock
- I am not the biggest fan of either candidate but Mitt Romney is a prime example of why the economy is in the toilet. If you don't think so then you might be clueless. Vote Gary Johnson '12.— KillerPotato
- Your opinion is based on WHAT FACTS?
Runawayslavemovie.com to see the new form of slavery in America.— coniljw - Still waiting on some of Obama's records. Funny how the liberal media is playing this up. Obama is being a blatant hypocrite in this regard and the mainstream media is ignoring that fact.— psyrus
- That's because the President has released 7 years of his tax returns. Any of his other records is none of your business, so stop deflecting and spinning. Even the so called prominent Republicans are asking Willard to release his records and stop hiding. The hypocrite you're supporting (and didn't want 6 months ago)doesn't believe he has to be transparent. Willard thinks he doesn't have to release his Tax Returns because John Kerry's wife didn't release HER tax records when Kerry ran for president. But that's ok with you dimwits. — CommonSense in Philly
- Why would Obama need to pay for advertising when philly.com just publishes his ads for free under the guise of "news"?— jfar86
- I agree Longdrycreek: The media rrepeats constantly about Romney's Tax records, but not a peep about the records Obama has locked up tight. I bet he applied to college as a foreign student!— aswamper
- Obama needs to answer: Where are your records? SS number, Selective Service records, college and university and law school records. Who paid for you education?
His ghost written books are more fiction than fact or reality. Obama is a mystery. Why?— Longdrycreek - McCain looked at Mitt's tax and promptly chose Sarah instead.
That tells you what's in Mitt's tax doc. Something less palatable that Sarah's empty brain.— Seed - Obama has already released his tax records. Everything else you state in your post is none of your GD business! — CommonSense in Philly
- Nope, sorry "commonsense in Philly" (should be No common sense) but our Prez. health records are usually public, as well as their college transcripts. This President you support has not met once in six months w/his jobs council. You are an idiot to vote for this campaigner in chief!
Runawayslavemovie.com to see the new form of slavery in our nation.— coniljw - Romney invested in marijuana cultivation in California and his tax doc will prove that.
Or he may have invested in Hugo Chavez's Venezuela.
Or he may have invested in Saudi Arabia.
In short, Mitt want's to hide something; something damaging to US. Mitt's god is money, he would do anything to worship to that god.— Seed - Let there be light Mitt. Your rather will be proud of you if you do that.
Follow your father's words and action, release your tax documents.— Seed
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Inquirer staff writer Thomas Fitzgerald blogs about national politics.
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Thomas Fitzgerald
Inquirer Politics Writer
You can reach Tom Fitzgerald at 215-854-2718 or tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
Reach Thomas at tfitzgerald@phillynews.com.
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