You don't have to be a professional psychiatrist to recognize that Mitt Romney's refusal to fully disclose his finances and remove his money from offshore tax havens represent a classic case of self-sabotage. It's obvious to me that, deep down, the man does not want to be President.
Look at the evidence: As opposed to events out of a single politician's control, like the European debt crisis and the unemployment rate, Mitt's problems are problems of his own making! Mitt could resolve the doubts about his patriotism and finances with the snap of his finger. With one telephone call to his accountants, he could repatriate all of his money to a U.S. bank, disclose his tax returns for the last few years, and answer any lingering questions about his money. Yet he refuses to. It took goading by Newt Gingrich to even get Mitt to give us his 2010 return and a draft of 2011, documents which raise more questions than they answer.
If I were Mitt's shrink, here's how I imagine the conversation would go:
"So, I understand you want to be President."
"Yes, I do."
"For how long have you wanted this?"
"At least a dozen years, maybe longer".
"It sounds like you really want to win, like you've been working on this goal for a long time."
"I really, really, really want to win."
"You know that the campaign is going to demand to know everything about you, including where you got all your money from, how you spent it, and who you pay taxes to".
"Hmmm."
"I sense some hesitation here Mitt".
"Hmmm." Squirm.
"Mitt, are you prepared to let the public know everything about you? Even about all your money?"
"I don't see why they have to."
"Mitt, I'm not arguing the why, I'm telling you what will happen." (in the shrink world, we call this a Reality Check)
"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it."
"Mitt, what's your problem? It looks like you have something to hide. It looks bad."
"I just don't think it's anybody's business. Besides, if I lose, I'll have to put all that money offshore again after the election. It's not worth all that aggravation."
"Mitt, you realize that you are creating an issue that might make you lose, and you said you really, really, really wanted to win. Maybe you don't want it as much as you say you do."
"Hmmm. I'll think about it. Let me ask Ann."
This issue of offshore accounts is not a made-up issue created merely to attack Mitt Romney. On the contrary, the way I see it, there are only four reasons to move your money offshore. None of them befit a person who seeks to be President of the United States:
1. You are a criminal and you need to get the money out of the country.
2. You seek to avoid paying should a judgment be found against you. You are betting the long arm of the law won't reach to the Grand Caymans.
3. You want to pay less taxes than you would have to pay if the money stayed here.
4. You fundamentally distrust the strength of the American economy. In case of economic Armageddon, you want to make sure your money is in a different currency and in a different country.
No one accuses Mitt Romney of using offshore tax havens to avoid criminal conduct, but avoiding the possibility of having to pay out legal judgments is the cautious man's approach to life. A veteran of big business understands just how damaging one lawsuit can be. It may be perfectly legal to plan to avoid judgments against you, but it's not moral. It does not befit a President.
Without doubt, Mitt Romney placed money overseas to avoid paying taxes. Notice that the money was not placed in Germany or France, but rather in three notable tax havens, sophisticated pockets of secret wealth, hidden behind trusts and a spider web of interlocking corporate interests. Just google them yourself and discover the advantages they offer, including drastically lower corporate and transactional tax rates. If you want to be President, you should not be avoiding US taxes, corporate or otherwise. You should pay the same rates as everybody else.
People also place their money offshore to hedge against catastrophe, to insure themselves against a failing U.S. dollar and economy. This is perhaps the most unpatriotic reason of all to have your money offshore. How can you expect to lead this great nation unless you believe in it, with every fiber of your being and bank account?
In the case of Mitt Romney, we are not talking about a person who has one small account overseas. We are talking about a financial tycoon who made a business decision to put millions of dollars to work to benefit countries other than ours. In Mitt's 2010 tax return, the only complete tax return he has submitted, 55 pages of the return were devoted to offshore assets. Millions are held in Switzerland, the Grand Cayman Islands and Bermuda. A three million dollar foreign account appears in one year and disappears the next, in the 2011 "draft" return. We honestly do not know exactly how much money is held offshore. It could be 20 million. It could be 100 million. The intentional opacity of Mitt Romney's finances makes it impossible to know for certain.
Who benefits from the capital and fees that flow to these nations? Not us. Not our cities, our schools, our roads or our citizens. Not our tellers, accountants, financial wizards or lawyers. Those millions are working night and day to make other countries richer, while we are suffering through the greatest recession most of us have ever lived through.
Does this behavior sound patriotic to you? Does this represent a portrait of a person you would have lead you into battle, with heart and soul? Not to me, it doesn't. The offshore accounts tell me that Mitt Romney is a cautious and selfish man, one who put his own small economic interests ahead of the larger economic interests of this country. His reluctance to disclose, and the knowledge that he himself could have avoided this issue YEARS ago by putting his money back into the U.S. economy, tells me, in poker parlance, that Mitt is not "All In" to this race to the White House. Despite his public pleas for money and votes, Mitt is sabotaging his own chance to win, having created and perpetuated a good reason not to vote for him.
Every president comes to the office with human flaws. But to lead this greatest nation in the world, you need to be All In, in every possible way, with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, and even ALL your money, contributing whatever you can to make this nation great. Mitt Romney, a/ka/, the "Self Saboteur", is clearly not All In. And until he is, he doesn't deserve my vote.
Follow Lisa Wexler on Twitter: www.twitter.com/lisawexler
This is the first President who mandated another tax for the American people with health care....a mandate is an order. Doctors are already closing up shop....they are not taking Medicare or medicaid patients. Obama bypassed Congress and implemented the Dream Act through executive order. Well that opened the gates for people of all countries to come in from Mexico.
Today, we hear that people are coming from South America.... And all that Democrats can talk about is Bain Capital and Offshore Accounts. Our country is sinking, our economy is seriously in trouble, unemployment, and uncertainty about health care. Democrats just keep closing your eyes while Obama cons every group....he tells African Americans what they want to hear. He tells latinos what they want to hear. Those who have come in the right way and have obtained citizenship in this country are no problem whatsoever, but a crime is committed as I repeat once again if you are illegal...be it Muslim, Arabs, Latinos, South Americans...
Strong moral family
Made his own fortune.
Paid more taxes in one year than 40% of the rest of the country combined.
Pays tithes and tries to live his religion--
Yea this guy does not sound like an American !!!!!!
Also- don't believe all this Sci-Fy sounding anti-Mormon crap that is twisted beyond belief. Mormons beliefs (what we truly consider gospel) are similar to most other churches in that we through the grace of Christ can live with God after we die. We do believe that marriage can continue beyond the grave, if we choose and that God will give us something to do besides play harps and sing in choirs.
Think of how long the Repub candidates last before they are thoroughly vetted by the press and the people. Between the Convention and the Election they just might be able to keep a candidate's dirty secretes secret.
Either Repubs don;t believe they can lose or they have some kind of a Rove plan in place.
Avoiding the LDS, not the IRS, but you cannot come out and say that.
So you think saying nothing will do for a while.
Then, when you lose in November, you can just go home and relax.
NOTHING can EVER do that.
His ONLY experience governing is from a state which no longer wants to select Mitt.
The only people he has ever represented have no interest in him.
Not a rousing endorsement.
Obama 2012!!
The moral issue here is not if he broke any laws, but why he dishonors the people he is seeking votes from by not keeping his money where it can help Americans the most. If it were here it would be taxed and help pay for our infrastructure, schools, etc. If it were invested here instead of overseas it would be invested in American companies, or in american banks which would make it available to loans for small businesses etc. By keeping his money elsewhere he keeps more for himself at the expense of his community, the very community he is trying to convince to elect him leader.
It seems fishy he is seeking leadership while keeping his "options" open elsewhere.
There is no way in my humbled opinion that he is not hiding something as I have to wonder why not just show your stuff and be done with it! If and when it does come out, the republicans will be shooting themselves in the foot