Nutter says Romney should release more tax information
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Nutter says Romney should release more tax information
Catherine Lucey
Mayor Nutter is joining the chorus of Democrats demanding that presumptive GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romeny release more tax returns.
Nutter and a long list of mayors -- many of whom are in Philly for a leadership meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors -- sent a strongly worded letter to Romney today. The full text is below:
Dear Governor Romney,
Transparency leads to trust. And public release of your tax returns is the only way the American people can know if they can trust your judgment, perspective and motivations.
But the American people have waited long enough and heard enough excuses about why you refuse to disclose your tax returns. It’s time to come clean Governor Romney.
Your own father set a precedent for presidential candidates, of both parties, when he said public release of several years of tax returns was necessary, explaining that “one year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show.” President Obama has released 12 years of tax returns, John Kerry released 20 years’ worth and Bob Dole released nearly 30 years. Without releasing additional tax returns, you would go down as one of the most secretive presidential nominees in modern history. Even Richard Nixon released more years of tax returns than you.
Remember when you auditioned to be John McCain’s vice presidential pick? You gladly handed over twenty-three years of tax returns. Now, as you audition for the American people, you think only one full year is good enough. It isn’t.
We know you have a bank account in Switzerland. We know you have continued holdings in offshore tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. And we know you’ve already paid a significantly lower tax rate than most middle class families. The question is why? What else are you trying to hide? Were you trying to avoid paying your fair share? Is there shifty accounting in the rest of your tax returns that would shock Americans? You are running for the highest office in the greatest country on Earth. Don’t you think the American people deserve to know the truth?
We do. Transparency is the only way the American people can trust that their President is on their side. It’s time to release your tax returns, Governor.
Respectfully,
Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadelphia, PA
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles, CA
Mayor Tom Barrett, Milwaukee, WI
Mayor Julian Castro, San Antonio, TX
Mayor Anthony Foxx, Charlotte, NC
Mayor Bill Bell, Durham, NC
Mayor RT Rybak, Minneapolis, MN
Mayor Michael Coleman, Columbus, OH
Mayor Dave Bing, Detroit, MI
Mayor Mark Mallory, Cincinnati, OH
Mayor Greg Stanton, Phoenix, AZ
Mayor Pedro Segarra, Hartford, CT
Mayor Pete Lagiovane, Chambersburg, PA
Mayor Richard Gray, Lancaster, PA
Mayor Helen Thomas, Darby Borough, PA
Mayor Ed Pawlowski, Allentown, PA
Mayor William Euille, Alexandria, VA
Mayor John Callahan, Bethlehem, PA
Mayor Cindy Lerner, Pinecrest, FL
Mayor Kenneth Wright, Portsmouth, VA
Mayor Brian Moore, Petersburg, VA
Mayor Rick Vilello, Lockhaven, PA
"Transparency leads to trust." --- Philly city government could never be called transparent and Obama and his administration is even worse. How hypocritical. Typical.— psyrus- And Romney is even more worse. — CommonSense in Philly
- Romney should not release any more tax document....
He could end up being kicked in the gutt by GOP if they find out detail of his Swiss Bank tax shelter.— Seed - And Romney is even more worse. — CommonSense in Philly
- Romney has never been mayor of Philly nor has he been the POTUS. I can't compare apples to oranges to say whether he is worse or not. I am willing to give him a shot at the POTUS job. Obama is a known quantity of backroom deals, closed government, fraud and failure. — psyrus
- Who's comparing apples to oranges? Now stay with me on this Psyrus... Willard Romney was Governor of Massachusetts in the last decade. So if you're going to compare a mayor to a President, then it's logical you can also put a Governor in the mix as well, and it's still an apples to apples comparison. — CommonSense in Philly
Comment removed.- When have the Republicans EVER fixed anything when in the White House? We had higher taxes and a recession with Reagan, Bush I got kicked out because he was so bad, Bush II gave us record deficits and runaway spending, Ford I can't remember, but since he wasn't re-elected, I'm sure he was awful. You must be smoking those funny cigarettes again CleanupPhilly. Lay off the pipe! — CommonSense in Philly
- @CommonSense in Philly: inflation in jimmy carter's last year: 12.5%. in reagan's last year 4.4%
unemployment decreased under reagan from 7.5% to 5.4% in 1989
16 million jobs created under ronald reagan
average annual GDP growth of 3.85%
any sane and sentient american would take reagan's record over obama's, comrade - Eh, von tirpitz. You forgot to mention Reagan raised taxes in 7 of his eight years in office, and you completely ignored all the other republican presidents in recent times. There's no question unemployment would drop under Obama too if the republicans in Congress would pass his jobs bills. Clearly, Republicans haven't a clue on how to fix an economy. In fact, they know more how to ruin it. — CommonSense in Philly
- @CommonSense in Philly, I didn't see where I was comparing the job of mayor and the POTUS. Its obvious to most that I was calling out the lack of transparency and the hypocrisy. Obama and his administration affects the whole country. Nutter and his administration affect the whole city. I live in the city, I live in the US. Romney was governor of Mass. I never lived there. Romney has never done anything that directly affects me as a governor of that state. Therefore comparing an unknown quantity (at least to me since I a basing my opinions on myself and things that I have experienced) to two KNOWN quantities is an apples to oranges comparison. Did ya follow me on that? — psyrus
- I, expanded on your statement about Nutter and Obama to include Romney because according to what I've read, he was not transparent either when Governor of MA. In fact his record is not a good one. I was initially trying to enlighten you with my "Romney is even more worse" statement. But if you're willing to support a candidate whom you have little experience with and bring along with him his condescending wife, so be it, and so sad. I subscribe to the adage "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know". It's the same logic you Republicans used when George Bush II was re-elected. — CommonSense in Philly
- "I was initially trying to enlighten you..." --- That is funny. Thanks for the laugh. The fact is you have no idea what Romney would do as president. You base nothing on your own experience and instead are just using leftwing talking points as your personal "enlightenment". I assume you voted for Obama the last time. Did you have any personal experience with him as a senator? And yet you still voted for him. So sad... — psyrus
- Comment removed.
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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