Mitt's Tax Returns, Open Thread

This is an open thread. I have turned comment moderation OFF. I won't even be notified if readers choose to comment. I'll look in occasionally to see what people have said. Let's see how that goes for a few weeks.

Although no further evidence was required which demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that we live on Planet Stupid, or even wanted for that matter, the 2012 presidential election campaign is now focused almost exclusively on Mitt Romney's unwillingness to disclose his tax returns.

Try this Google search. National Propaganda Radio literally can't stop talking about it. They have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). That's only one of their many pyschological disorders.

I seriously doubt that Mitt, who has wanted to be president since he was three years old, would file tax returns which violate federal law. But that is the whole point—his returns would reveal the squalor which exists inside the U.S. federal tax code. And the reason for this is simple: Mitt is a rich man. The tax laws have been modified again and again to benefit the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class.

This is news? I think not. Do you think I'm just kidding when I speak over and over again about the utter corruption of our federal government? Washington D.C. makes Sodom & Gomorrah look good!

As president, the Mittster would represent and serve the interests of other rich men. Check this out, from USA Today's Romney declines Obama deal on tax return releases—

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, amped up the issue by claiming that a "source" told him that Romney has paid no taxes at all in some years.

Romney said, "Harry Reid's charge is totally false," and he doubts anyone told Reid that.

In divulging the 13% figure, the Republican candidate also told reporters that the tax issue is being used to distract people.

"I have to say, given the challenges America faces — 23 million people out of work, Iran about to become nuclear, one out of six Americans in poverty — the fascination with taxes I paid I find to be very small minded compared to the broad issues that we face," Romney said.

This is a good example of what I "love" about our species Homo sapiens: Mitt can tell a small truth—the tax issue is being used to distract the people—to cover up a big lie—Mitt wants to focus on the "challenges" America faces.

It's so complicated. The humans are so clever! There isn't time enough to sort all this bullshit out!

You might be tempted to ask: can they sink any lower? The answer is always Yes; there is no bottom.

Of course the entire election is a distraction designed to prevent a serious discussion of the "challenges" America faces. That's why the damn thing lasts 22 months, because there's a lot of distracting to do, and one could never do that much distracting in a few weeks.

This behavior never ends, so there is no use in complaining about it. And it will never end until Mother Nature puts a stop to it, which necessarily includes our own self-destructive Human Nature.

And now, the floor is yours.

Comments

[T E CHo]

There's going to be a lot of nausea in the voting booths this fall, shortly after choosing. Machines will be uncontrollably befouled... unprecedently slowing the process. I'll sure be nauseous.

[John D]

Don't worry about the tax returns. The pundits were all on TV this morning changing the subject by making fun of Romney using a whiteboard to explain something. Tomorrow it will be something else of pressing importance to the fate of the nation.

[Bill_M]

Here in Iowa -- it NEVER stops -- 48 months of madness. Folks are already coming into the state for the 2016 circus -- nothing but a WWF-style show.

[T E CHo]

... and the floors will be slippery in the booths, resulting from the vomiting, causing a lot of slip and fall injuries and broken bones, ambulences removing the injured, etc. ...

[Bill Hicks]

"Of course the entire election is a distraction designed to prevent a serious discussion of the "challenges" America faces."

Another great example is the Ryan selection, which has despite its utter meaninglessness managed to get BOTH parties' bases fired up and thereby more likely to go to the polls in November. It was a "Mission Accomplished" from a standpoint of preventing voter turnout from dropping too low as thus having the system lose legitimacy.

[jb]

Big money has captured the government, the election process, and, by extension, the enforcement division of the government (the army & the police). Any credible, significant challenge to this arrangement will be designated as crime, sedition, or treason and will be extinguished. Ineffective challenges will be harrassed and ridiculed but tolerated. De Tocqueville pretty much had this miserable progression pegged 200 years ago. Getting rid of our collective delusions would be a good start.

[Hope & Despair]

They should just let people vote via iPads, txt messages, etc., for the entire week prior to "election day".

I bet voter participation would rise to near 70-80% of eligible voters, not that anything would really change.

[John D]

To add to my previous comment, I can only surmise that as we speak, a crack investigative journalist is working round the clock to break the story as to whether Romney or Obama use Hair Color for Men to touch up some gray spots. Boy, that could really change the course of this election!

[NoHype]

"This is news? I think not."

Unfortunately, I believe the sheer depth of the favoritism in our current tax code is news to the vast majority of voters. I suspect this is why the Romney team feels the need to try to deflect the story, rather than just negate it by releasing the information.

I also believe that the veneer of legitimacy (however thin it may be) provided by the national election "process" is still intact and must be maintained at all costs. Both sides know this, and as such are hamstrung by the very smoke generator that keeps their particular gravy trains flowing.

Smoke may not be "real" but it does provide effective cover under which political operatives do what they always do, which is cling to whatever power they think they possess, while grasping for more.

[Gretchen]

For the first time in my 40 years long voting life, I could give a shit. I barely pay attention anymore. I have way too much to do and not enough time to do it all to bother participating in that charade anymore. Human leaders are just a bunch of high school hoorahs, meaningless. No matter who gets in, the shortsighted pathetic maniacs will continue to wreck the world.

[Ben]

senior year, high school, bought into hope and change. ended up campaigning for and voting for obama. 3 1/2 years later, college, a personal journal, some pretty powerful events hurt my close friend, obama's ineffectiveness or incompetence, then came to realize there is something fundamentally wrong with the "game" - that it can not be fixed, so now idgaf about politics. im a misanthrope in the sense socrates presented as the result of thwarted expectations or even excessively naive optimism

[Ben]

for a good laugh listen to ryan's interview with hume, its hilarious how uninformed ryan is - pure comedy

[NoHype]

The comments from Gretchen and Ben help illuminate the predicament in which we find ourselves. Those who are able and willing to see reality are opting out. Who can blame them? What are the other options available to them? There are none.

So, the only people left voting are the belligerently ignorant and other diehard believers in an obviously broken system. Politicians know who their target audiences are, so messages must be crafted that appeal solely to belligerent, craven or just-plain-slow people.

Is it any wonder that the rest of us must learn to live in a belligerent, craven and insane state?

[greenfire]

I think what's most fascinating is speculating on what happens when government, the finance & insurance sectors lose ALL credibility? It seems the vast majority of folks just keep ploding along in their daily routines paying their bills & taxes. There's no volume on the stock market and a growing recognition of no difference between the parties, but the Feds ability to kick the can down the road seems pretty limitless. How long has Japan bounced along, even with a big ol' nuclear black swan? My loss is the pride I used to feel in being a Fed firefighter. I've literally saved lives before, but now I'm told my pension, should it actually occur, and I are the problem. Ah well, that biatch Ayn Rand (and Paul Ryan, I suppose) would just say my desire to exhibit compassion and alturism is simply me trying to get laid. Being a nice guy in a world run by sociopaths really sucks!

[NoHype]

Anyone else notice how close Paul Ryan's name is to being an anagram for Ayn Rand?

[james]

Best summary I've seen, regarding what passes for democracy in the US. It's similar to the rest of the Western world, except that at least in Europe our (explicit) campaigning season is limited in time (usually 3 weeks to 2 months). Your blog is the best there is. Thanks.

[adam]

Mitt's returns aren't important in and of themselves, but they do serve as a reminder of just how corrupt and slanted the system in the US is. I have said before that if OWS did anything, it was make Mitt unelectable. I have no doubt that, if elected, Mitt and Paul Ryan would work to make inequality worse. So I can't say it's not a "substantial issue" - it is relevant, for better or worse. Not 24/7, only thing that matters relevant, but still relevant.

Not that Obama is working to make it better, but at least he may prevent it from getting worse as quickly.

Looking at the "challenges" Mitt brings up, one is also a distraction, the nuclear Iran issue, and two are things he either can't or won't do anything to improve. The Iran thing is transparently a non-issue - Pakistan is nuclear, so what? Iran is not even close to as messed up as Pakistan, so why would anyone believe this is a substantial issue? As for the unemployed and those in poverty, does anyone believe for even a second that Mitt cares about them, or that the policies that he and his VP pick have been pushing would improve their lot? Really?

That said, the real substantial issues are mostly far too scary for any politician to touch, from either side. They will do as little as possible as long as it maintains the status quo for just a bit longer... Because doing what is required to alter the larger course would be against their interests, or they can't do it. The environmental and economic issues of today are either out of their control or would require a massive rethink of policy that would surely destroy the career of any politician that took them up.

To be honest, I feel that most people are willing accomplices in the charade. They don't want to face the issues either.

[NoHype]

"To be honest, I feel that most people are willing accomplices in the charade. They don't want to face the issues either."

You can't say that to their faces though. Well, OK you can but it's a waste of a perfectly good diaphragm contraction. It's like telling a gambler that the house always wins and is profiting off his greed. He doesn't care. He just wants the house to screw everyone else hard enough so he can get his "share" of the take. Because he's smarter than the rest of the muppets, you know.