Romney Sets A Bad Example For Other Republicans With Shady Financial Dealings Who Want To Run For Office

You may have seen Ayn Romney on TV the other day whining about the plebeians wanting to see her husband's tax returns. She came across as a very, very dislikable character, a real Marie Antoinette type, someone you;d expect to have a dancing horse and charge the public for its upkeep. She insists they're not releasing any more taxes, have done nothing illegal and have nothing to hide... and that people just have to trust her husband because... well, because he's so trustworthy. “Have you seen how we've been attacked... We have been very transparent to what’s legally required of us. But the more we release, the more we get attacked,” she said.

The Romneys are coming off as even more disgusting than anyone might have thought. They're like the new avatars of greed, selfishness, self-righteousness and repulsive entitlement. Last week Robert Reich said that even if you can believe Romney's unsupported claims about having paid 13% annually, his returns "violate the principle of equal sacrifice that lies at the core of our notion of tax fairness."

Equal sacrifice means that in paying taxes people ought to feel about the same degree of pain regardless of whether they’re wealthy or poor. Logically, this means someone earning $20 million a year should pay a much larger proportion of his income in taxes than someone earning $200,000, who in turn should pay a larger proportion than someone earning $50,000.

But Romney’s alleged 13 percent tax rate is lower than that of most middle class Americans who earn a tiny fraction of what he earns.

At a time when poverty is increasing, when public parks and public libraries are being closed and when public schools are shrinking their offerings and their hours, when the nation’s debt is immense, and when the 400 richest Americans have more wealth than the bottom 150 million of us put together-- Romney’s 13 percent is shameful.

If you didn't already watch the video up top, now would be the perfect time to take a look at another self-entitled conservative slug, Beltway lobbyist Tommy Thompson, just saying NO to releasing any tax returns. If Romney can get away with it, so can he. Thompson has gotten very rich as a DC influence peddler but he doesn't want Wisconsin voters looking too closely at his shady business dealings. He specialized in giving cover to corporations that shipped U.S. manufacturing jobs overseas and worked hard to get tax breaks for special interests that showered him in personal wealth.

"Corporate special interests made Tommy Thompson a millionaire and now he wants to go to the Senate to continue to deliver for them. As Wisconsin voters learn more about Tommy Thompson's intimate ties to the special interests that made him rich, they'll see that Thompson is not on their side anymore," said Matt Canter, spokesman for the DSCC. "In the Senate, Tommy Thompson would benefit himself and the same corporate special interests that made him rich. Thompson would cut taxes for the rich and pay for it by hiking taxes on the middle-class, ending Medicare, and privatizing Social Security. The consequences of those policies would be devastating for Wisconsin families." Mike Tate, chairman of the Wisconsin Democratic Party couldn't agree more:

"When he was governor, Tommy Thompson used to release his tax returns, now that he has been a D.C. lobbyist he flies off the handle when asked to do the same-- what has changed about his finances that he now wants to keep them hidden? At a time when Thompson is advocating a plan that would raise taxes on the middle class in order to cut them on millionaires such as himself, the people of Wisconsin have a right to know just how much he would benefit from his millionaire tax cut plan."

PolitiFact actually confirms the charges against him. "It's clear that Thompson has sold his influence and connections to firms to whom it would benefit on Capitol Hill, but did so in a way-- as a consultant-- to avoid having to register... Thompson's tax plan would cut taxes by $87,000 for the top 1 percent." Even worse, Thompson's plan would raise taxes on the average middle-class family by $2,000 each year and force deep cuts into Medicare and Social Security in order to fund its millionaire tax breaks. After spending years in D.C. as a lobbyist and influence peddler, Tommy Thompson is now running for Senate on a platform of creating new tax loopholes for himself and people like him while balancing the budget on the backs of middle-class families and Wisconsin seniors.

Ironically, if Thompson has become something of a poster boy for the destruction of the American middle-class-- shipping their jobs overseas while rejiggering the tax code to benefit the very wealthy and put an unbearable burden on struggling workers-- he's now running against a woman who's entire public career has been dedicated to working for the interests of ordinary working families, Tammy Baldwin. When Blue America looked around for candidates to support for the U.S. Senate this cycle, only one incumbent, Bernie Sanders, and two challengers, Elizabeth Warren and Tammy Baldwin, met our high standards. Last week we helped Tammy raise money with her CheddarBomb. Thompson's corporate allies are pouring millions of dollars into his campaign. If you can help Tammy, please consider a contribution here.