The 2012 Three Ring Circus AKA The US Presidential Election

[The Emerald Dawn]

I can't get over Ann Romney saying, "Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring," I just imagine this spoiled rich brat stomping her feet and shrieking.

[Farnhamia]

Ryan was boo'd by Seniors at an AARP campaign stop.

...In LA, so it isn't terribly shocking, that's a very split state. But I have to admit, he handled it well.

Ha ha!

I'm pretty down, no "Romney making an ass out of himself" news yet today.

I don't know, he released his 2011 tax returns, which show him paying about 14.1%.

And "In an amended return, Paul Ryan, the vice presidential candidate, told the I.R.S. he and his wife had 'inadvertently' failed to report $61,122 in income from 2011." How the fuck to you forget about 61 grand?

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012 ... eturns/?hp

Now, to compare that 14.1% to others ...

Romney’s Taxes Compared With Everyone Else’s
By ANNIE LOWREY
The Romney campaign revealed Friday afternoon that Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, paid a 14.1 percent effective federal tax rate in 2011, paying $1.9 million in taxes on $13.7 million in income, much of it from investments. (That $13.7 million in income most likely puts him in the top 0.01 percent of earners, by the way.)

Where does that effective tax rate put him in the universe of taxpayers? The Romneys paid a higher effective tax rate than the average middle-income American, though a significantly lower rate than the average rich, or very rich, American.

According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, the middle quintile of taxpayers – earning between $33,542 and $59,486 a year – had an effective direct federal tax rate of about 12 percent in 2011. The top 1 percent of earners, making more than $532,613 a year, paid a direct federal tax rate of about 22.7 percent. And the top 0.1 percent of earners, making more than $2,178,886 a year, paid a direct federal tax rate of about 21.4 percent.

(We’re just using income, employee-side payroll and estate taxes in this comparison. A fuller picture would include state and local, employer-side payroll and corporate taxes.)

Still, the Romneys revealed that they paid more taxes than they really owed, pushing their effective federal rate higher. The couple made more than $4 million in charitable donations in 2011, but claimed a deduction for only $2.25 million of those donations “to conform to the governor’s statement” that he “paid at least 13 percent in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.”

In light of that, expect Mr. Romney to take some heat for this statement, which he made to ABC News in July: “ I don’t pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don’t think I’d be qualified to become president. I’d think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires.”

[Gauthier]

I can't get over Ann Romney saying, "Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring," I just imagine this spoiled rich brat stomping her feet and shrieking.

Romney's campaign is falling apart like the Mir Space Station, and by now it's starting that atmospheric re-entry.

[Farnhamia]

I can't get over Ann Romney saying, "Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring," I just imagine this spoiled rich brat stomping her feet and shrieking.

Romney's campaign is falling apart like the Mir Space Station, and by now it's starting that atmospheric re-entry.

Let's not get complacent. The debates are yet to come. A bit of slick showmanship and Mitt could recover some momentum.

[Gauthier]

Romney's campaign is falling apart like the Mir Space Station, and by now it's starting that atmospheric re-entry.

Let's not get complacent. The debates are yet to come. A bit of slick showmanship and Mitt could recover some momentum.

Like during the Republican primaries?

"I'll wager ten thousand dollars!"

[The Emerald Dawn]

Romney's campaign is falling apart like the Mir Space Station, and by now it's starting that atmospheric re-entry.

Let's not get complacent. The debates are yet to come. A bit of slick showmanship and Mitt could recover some momentum.

He's lulling us into a false sense of security. See, in the debates he's going to unveil the Real Mitt, and go by the name Willard Romney for the rest of the campaign to disassociate himself from his earlier gaffes.

[Sdaeriji]

I cannot wrap my head around why Romney would take all that heat for all those months about such a remarkably unremarkable tax return.

[Of the Free Socialist Territories]

I can't get over Ann Romney saying, "Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring," I just imagine this spoiled rich brat stomping her feet and shrieking.

Romney's campaign is falling apart like the Mir Space Station, and by now it's starting that atmospheric re-entry.

Except Mir's re-entry was intentional, was it not? This is more like Fuckupshima.

[Gauthier]

Let's not get complacent. The debates are yet to come. A bit of slick showmanship and Mitt could recover some momentum.

He's lulling us into a false sense of security. See, in the debates he's going to unveil the Real Mitt, and go by the name Willard Romney for the rest of the campaign to disassociate himself from his earlier gaffes.

Romney's had more transformations than a Michael Bay film.

[The Emerald Dawn]

He's lulling us into a false sense of security. See, in the debates he's going to unveil the Real Mitt, and go by the name Willard Romney for the rest of the campaign to disassociate himself from his earlier gaffes.

Romney's had more transformations than a Michael Bay film.

More explosions too.

[Of the Free Socialist Territories]

Romney's had more transformations than a Michael Bay film.

More explosions too.

And less intelligent dialogue.

[The Emerald Dawn]

More explosions too.

And less intelligent dialogue.

Worse actors.

[Of the Free Socialist Territories]

And less intelligent dialogue.

Worse actors.

And a bigger budget.

[Farnhamia]

I cannot wrap my head around why Romney would take all that heat for all those months about such a remarkably unremarkable tax return.

He'd promised to release this one, so he did. It's the earlier ones that people wonder about. I suspect they show that when he said he had severed his relationship with Bain he was still listing himself as working there and that he was receiving compensation.

14% of $13.7 million is about 7% less than the average for his income bracket, the top 0.1%. And apparently the Romneys didn't report $2 million in charitable donations so they would pay more than they owed. Sounds like, "Well, Governor, you're running for President, you probably won't be able to avoid releasing this return, so let's not report these deductions here. That brings your effective rate up to about 14%, that should be good."

[The Emerald Dawn]

I cannot wrap my head around why Romney would take all that heat for all those months about such a remarkably unremarkable tax return.

He'd promised to release this one, so he did. It's the earlier ones that people wonder about. I suspect they show that when he said he had severed his relationship with Bain he was still listing himself as working there and that he was receiving compensation.

14% of $13.7 million is about 7% less than the average for his income bracket, the top 0.1%. And apparently the Romneys didn't report $2 million in charitable donations so they would pay more than they owed. Sounds like, "Well, Governor, you're running for President, you probably won't be able to avoid releasing this return, so let's not report these deductions here. That brings your effective rate up to about 14%, that should be good."

And heaven forefend if he had to admit that he was a....moocher.

[Farnhamia]

He'd promised to release this one, so he did. It's the earlier ones that people wonder about. I suspect they show that when he said he had severed his relationship with Bain he was still listing himself as working there and that he was receiving compensation.

14% of $13.7 million is about 7% less than the average for his income bracket, the top 0.1%. And apparently the Romneys didn't report $2 million in charitable donations so they would pay more than they owed. Sounds like, "Well, Governor, you're running for President, you probably won't be able to avoid releasing this return, so let's not report these deductions here. That brings your effective rate up to about 14%, that should be good."

And heaven forefend if he had to admit that he was a....moocher.

Indeed. I don't think he's in any danger of paying no income tax, though. I'm always of two minds about income taxes in campaigns. The whole idea is to pay as little as you legitimately can. It's the annual game we play. Rich people can hire very good tax accountants, I have no problem with that. It's the not reporting some deductions in order to pay more that I find annoying, because it goes against the game and it looks contrived. And I can't help wondering what there is in the returns he won't show us.

[Ashmoria]

OHHHHHH i see...

romney didnt take all his charitible deductions because that is the only way he kept his taxes HIGH. if he had taken his deduction for his tithing to the church he would be a liar who said he never paid less than 13%

[Farnhamia]

OHHHHHH i see...

romney didnt take all his charitible deductions because that is the only way he kept his taxes HIGH. if he had taken his deduction for his tithing to the church he would be a liar who said he never paid less than 13%

Yeah ... heh ... And there's this at the end of the article I quoted:

In light of that, expect Mr. Romney to take some heat for this statement, which he made to ABC News in July: “I don’t pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don’t think I’d be qualified to become president. I’d think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires.”

[Dude Ranch]

I am not of voting age yet, being 16 years old, but I would vote for Obama.

I would not vote for Romney. That said, the reason is based on his characteristics. He seems untrustworthy, fraudulent, and overall repulsive as the man trying to run this country.

Also, the infighting between these two different parties is really getting old. To the teenage brain, it just tells me that the politicians you older people vote for just can't get anything done. It is rather hopeless to watch for a guy like me, still trying to grab a handle of what politics really is. America just seems like a very divided country, and that isn't good for the next generation. I don't want to clean up after your people's messes, get something done and don't only think about yourselves. Think of the ones that come after you as well.

The problem is that the parties have fundamentally different viewpoints on what government should do. One wants the government to help everyone and the other only believes that government should be used to give advantages to rich people and fetuses.

It's not as simple as "just get along."

But isn't the key to politics compromise? By saying "just get along", I don't mean they have to be happy and chummy with each other; I just expect them to be able to compromise. It seems as if compromise hasn't been a mindset on Capitol Hill in a long time, though..

[Ashmoria]

ohmygod look at the photo of romney in this news article

the caption says the photo was taken today

MITT ISNT TAN LIKE HE WAS YESTERDAY IN FLORIDA

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la ... 2610.story

[Divair]

ohmygod look at the photo of romney in this news article

the caption says the photo was taken today

MITT ISNT TAN LIKE HE WAS YESTERDAY IN FLORIDA

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la ... 2610.story

He shed his skin. And his political views.

[Wamitoria]

But isn't the key to politics compromise?

Yes. But you can't compromise with extremists. They take, and take, and take, and take, and will try to back out of anything that they were supposed to give.

And compromise was standard procedure prior to 2008.

[Farnhamia]

The problem is that the parties have fundamentally different viewpoints on what government should do. One wants the government to help everyone and the other only believes that government should be used to give advantages to rich people and fetuses.

It's not as simple as "just get along."

But isn't the key to politics compromise? By saying "just get along", I don't mean they have to be happy and chummy with each other; I just expect them to be able to compromise. It seems as if compromise hasn't been a mindset on Capitol Hill in a long time, though..

Compromise is so 20th century. The 21st century political paradigm is "permanent majority" (a tip o' the hat to Tom "The Hammer" DeLay).

Sarcasm aside, I agree with you, it should be. Perhaps after the death of the Republican Party we can get back to that.

[Telesha]

I can't get over Ann Romney saying, "Stop it. This is hard. You want to try it? Get in the ring," I just imagine this spoiled rich brat stomping her feet and shrieking.

My wife and I were actually talking (read: arguing) about this yesterday. She was sure that Ann was just waiting for a chance to get into this kerfuffle, and would today. I didn't think so because I honestly didn't believe the Romney campaign would be so stupid as to have her in to whine for Romney by proxy.

Shows what I know...

I just want to know this: what possible good would Ann's statements do? At best she sounds like a mother scolding children, at worst she just sounds like she's whining for Mitt.

[The Doofishatropolis of Doofishistan]

short and sweet:

they both suck, mitt sucks more.

i'm canadian.