------> Click.

He should release his tax returns if there's nothing to hide. That's fishy, but if they are legit I guess I can't fault him for taking advantage of the tax laws that are made for the rich.

The point is how disproportionate the laws are.

Which don't appear to be a problem for him.

The fact he's a multi-millionaire paying only 15%, when many hard working Americans are paying more should be an outrage to ALL working people. Talk about Class warfare.

I DO fault him for taking advantage since the laws were written by the rich millionaires in Congress !! It's a SCAM !!

It may be legal but is it moral or ethical? . . just like his Vampire Capitalism !

Now he's supposed to be religious... I do remember this passage from Sunday School that says it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven. Gee Mitt, lose your faith ?

He's just another rich snob... begging for votes.

The eye of the needle was a physical object in Jerusalem. It was a very narrow gate to the city. A fully laden camel could not pass through it.

I agree, that's what I was saying, but you say it so much better.

What he is doing is perfectly legal. It's really not a bad reflection on him - if his taxes are straight he is paying what congress has decided is his "fair share" of taxes to pay on investment income. The fault here is government and its inequity in setting tax rates on corporate profits, earned income and investment income.

I've noticed recently a few of the millionaires for the blue team saying that they don't pay enough taxes, when told they could pay more, they decline - they don't see voluntary tax increases as something they want to participate in. Additionally they seem to be asking the government to raise payroll taxes - sorry not good enough, when you're making 90%+ of your income through investments, an increase in payroll taxes is going to leave these two-faced $*(#$*( at their current 15%-ish tax rate. The only thing that an increase in payroll taxes is going to do is punish those who actually work for a living, while leaving those who sit around the swimming pool, sipping drinks, waiting for their dividend check to come in continue to milk the system to their advantage.

Income disparity is not a partisan thing. Nor is it what Romney has stupidly dubbed "the politics of envy". Nor is it really class warfare (I've always felt that as a metaphor is was off the mark). But it is a very real and shockingly robust trend. The table has tilted — and continues to tilt — way too steeply toward the wealthy, to the point that the few coins the poor and middle class still have are beginning to slide down the table into the laps of the rich.

At some point, that table has to be made level again. Not in the sense that the the receptionist should get the same comp as the CEO, but that they're both taxed at rates proportionate with their income.

The most vexing irony in all of this, though is a partisan issue: Conservatives holler that they will accept no tax increases at all — especially for the hoarders that they call job creators — yet want to block legislation that would prevent tax increases on the poor and middle class.

Romney is inarguably the poster boy for this imbalance — cold, aloof, arrogant, and without a shred of compassion or respect for those in the middle and lower income strata. He doesn't care, and he doesn't care that he doesn't care. He's 180 degrees from what the American people need in a leader right now.

I think what is meant by that is a rich man with no morals. I don't think the Mormon church faults its members for being prosperous. They believe you can be faithful and rich.
Otherwise every rich person isn't going to heaven?

P.S. This means we are all shoe ins.....

I actually think that the home interest rate deduction is a little bit excessive and that we should make at least a portion of housing rent deductible. However, I don't think that it would be productive (or really even possible) for me to voluntarily donate an extra grand or two to the government. Does that make me a hypocrite and unworthy to have any opinion on taxes?

I understand the purpose of the capital gains rate when it comes to retirement accounts and people who make most of their money in wages and salary. If the government is going to encourage anything through the tax code, it should be encouraging saving for retirement and investment.

I just hate the idea though that someone who makes trading their primary source of income is treated preferably by the tax code to someone who works every day.

By the way, people who make their money on dividends and stock sales also not only contribute only 15% in taxes, but also a big, fat 0% to Social Security and Medicare.

...but I'm sorry Mitt... I understand that we're not supposed to talk about these things. I'm just envious of how successful you are.