Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
Bob Lord and I have expressed different views on this subject, but today Willard "Mittens" Romney says his church donations are private:
Mitt Romney explains one reason why he considers his tax returns privileged personal information, via The Salt Lake Tribune:
"Our church doesn’t publish how much people have given," Romney tells Parade magazine in an edition due out Sunday. "This is done entirely privately. One of the downsides of releasing one’s financial information is that this is now all public, but we had never intended our contributions to be known. It’s a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church." …
While it may not be a major reason, Romney says disclosing his charitable donations isn’t something he wants to do.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are encouraged to donate 10 percent of their gross income to the faith, and Romney’s disclosure early this year shows he did just that and also forked over more through his family charity.
Dude, I am sure the Obama campaign and reporters will be happy to allow you to redact your charitable contribution line if this is really your reason (which I seriously doubt that it is). Get out your black magic marker.
Last month Ann Romney "retroactively" rebutted Mitten's claim during an interview with ABC News. Ann Romney retroactively rebuts Mitt's newest excuse for tax return secrecy:
ROBIN ROBERTS: Your husband has been adamant about only the two years that will be released. Why will he not follow the example of others on both sides of the aisle?
ANN ROMNEY: You know, I think there is reason for all of these things. You know, you should really look at where Mitt has led his life and where he's been financially. He's been a very generous person. We give ten percent of our income to our church every year. Do you think that is the kind of person that is trying to hide things?
So if Mitt really wanted to hide his tithing, it would be too late because the cat is already out of the bag. And he knows this because he's retroactively rebutted himself, releasing specific information about 2010 and 2011 and saying last week that his tithing was basically the same as paying taxes.
The only thing we know for sure about Mitt Romney and his taxes is that he's hiding something—and whatever that may be, it's not his tithing.
I still have no idea why "Mittens" thinks charitable contributions are like paying taxes -- charitable contributions are a deduction that reduces your tax amount. Does "Mittens" consider tithing a tax to his church? If so, does he have elaborate tax avoidance schemes to avoid tithing as well?
Recent Comments