Before I get into all the gobbledy-gook of this post, I need to first say that I don’t think Romney (or Obama) should have to release even ONE year of tax returns. It’s not a requirement to hold the nation’s highest elected office and, therefore, shouldn’t even be a debate. With that said…
Libs are finding themselves in a precarious situation – how to attack Romney for being part of “the 1%”d while donating to programs that help “the 99%.”
On Friday, Romney released his taxes from last year just as he had promised. The Obama campaign – and liberals in general – chomped at the bit to dig into it and find some dirt. The dirt they found is that Romney paid MORE taxes than he really had to. In fact, in only claimed about $2.25 million instead of the $4 million he donated. By not claiming all his donations, Romney ended up paying a slightly higher tax rate. For the record, only about 35% of donations to charity are really deductible on taxes.
I think the problem that liberals have with Romney’s taxes is that he gave away good money that could have gone to government! How dare he contribute to charity when the biggest (forced) charity on the planet – the federal government – can’t make ends meet!!
What I found really funny is this story by Ben Adler at The Nation:
So Romney gives $1,000 per year for a cancer center, while his church gets at least 600 times as much and he keeps millions more? He gave virtually nothing to any program that focuses directly on feeding the hungry, housing the homeless or educating the disadvantaged.
Adler is obviously an ignorant moron. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is perhaps one of the largest charitable organizations on the planet. Its many programs contribute directly to the poor and needy. Deseret Industries is similar to the Salvation Army in feeding, clothing, and providing for those in need. The Bishop’s Storehouse provides nutritious food to families that can’t afford to purchase their own groceries.
By contributing so substantially to his church, Mitt Romney IS directly “feeding the hungry, housing the homeless or educating the disadvantaged.” The church was in New Orleans before the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina. The church was Oklahoma and Colorado to help after the wildfires.
All that aside, liberals think that ever dollar an American earns is government’s first and they decide what you can keep after they take what they need. Liberals feel that if you can afford to just give money away, you can afford to pay more in taxes.
At some point in our history, we got away from relying on communities – charities and churches – to provide for the needs of its citizens. Government began taking over more and more of society’s responsibilities around the 1930’s with FDR’s “New Deal.”
The Great Depression had taken root and FDR was staring down the barrel of 30%+ unemployment. When republicans took back the White House in the 50’s, they largely left the New Deal provisions alone. Then, along came Lyndon B. Johnson with his Great Society and Dick Nixon left it alone when he got in office. Because the liberals had successfully created a dependency class, republicans felt neutered to mess with the programs that they knew were unsustainable for fear of losing voters.
Fast forward to today and we have TARP and three QE3 programs geared towards the same ends. The “QE” means quantitative easing and the “3” means it’s the third such effort. If you really want to know what the media isn’t telling you about QE3 – thanks to their focus on the protests in Arab nations – watch this video:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/hf2WAw81OqQ[/youtube]
But, I digress…
The fact is that Mitt’s money is put to more use and more directly affects ALL poor people and those in need than giving it to the government. If liberals had their way and Romney was forced to pay that $4 million in taxes, that would be $4 million that would not get into the hands of charities. Perhaps that is what liberals WANT. After all, if there are organizations out there doing what the government could be doing, there wouldn’t be any need for government and liberals LOVE government.
The Obama campaign wants to make this out to be about Romney not paying is “fair share.” Never mind that the Romney’s paid nearly $2 million for the federal government to squander on their cronies and failed companies. If he can afford to just GIVE AWAY $4 million, he can certainly afford to pay more taxes.
What the media and liberals also won’t tell you is that Romney had to pay millions more in capital gains taxes. The tax rate for those is between 15% and 28%. More than likely, Romney probably paid around 15% on $5.5 million in capital gains reported, which is almost another $1 million in taxes. So, conservatively, Romney really paid about $3 million in taxes last year. But, shhh, don’t talk about that.
In summary: if you’re rich, liberals want all your money. If you’re poor, liberals want you dependent on government. If you’re the government, you can’t have enough. You know the world is coming to an end when liberals are complaining about someone paying TOO MUCH in taxes.