Mitt Romney has had a tough couple of weeks on the campaign trail — and it shows in the latest Fox News poll. After a barrage of campaign ads, negative news coverage of his overseas trip and ongoing talk about his tax returns, Romney’s favorable rating and standing in the trial ballot have declined. As a result, President Obama has opened his biggest lead since Romney became the presumptive Republican nominee. The president would take 49 percent of the vote compared to Romney’s 40 percent in a head-to-head matchup if the election were held today, the poll found. – Fox News poll: Obama’s lead grows as Romney’s support slips
MITT ROMNEY’S strategy of tax opacity is locked and the whole tax narrative is not helping his poll numbers, which are heading south, with the new CNN poll confirming the Ipsos numbers from Wednesday, as well as a Fox News poll showing Romney’s support has slipped.
Romney doubled down on his refusal to be more transparent in an interview with Businessweek, so it will take voters and a lot of pressure to get him to change. Perhaps his new numbers will do it.
Meanwhile, Team Obama levies a new tax attack, hitting Romney’s weakest spot. So, what exactly is the practice of “Son of Boss” tax schemes?
This website uses the infamous son of Boss tax shelter as a tool to explain how our tax code has been manipulated by some of the sharpest and most devious minds in the country. At its core, the son of Boss tax shelter involves the same concept employed by other tax shelters to reduce or eliminate capital gains: the creation of an artificial tax loss to offset a taxable gain. What sets the son of Boss tax shelter apart is the magnitude of tax dollars lost to the U.S. Treasury, as well as the tortured logic of its creators. Understanding how the son of Boss transaction distorts economic reality offers an insight into how all tax shelters work, as well as how the dysfunctional nature of our current tax code provides the opportunity to attain such illogical results. [Son of Boss]
The new ad shown above from Team Obama raises a question that deserves to perk interest from the press.
From the CNN op-ed that first raised the issue, written by Peter C. Canellos and Edward D. Kleinbard:
Romney has had a close, long-standing, personal and business connection with Marriott International and its founders. He served as a member of the Marriott board of directors for many years. From 1993 to 1998, Romney was the head of the audit committee of the Marriott board.
During that period, Marriott engaged in a series of complex and high-profile maneuvers, including “Son of Boss,” a notoriously abusive prepackaged tax shelter that investment banks and accounting firms marketed to corporations such as Marriott. In this respect, Marriott was in the vanguard of a then-emerging corporate tax shelter bubble that substantially undermined the entire corporate tax system.
Son of Boss and its related shelters represented perhaps the largest tax avoidance scheme in history, costing the U.S. many billions in lost corporate tax revenues. In response, the government initiated legal challenges that resulted in complete disallowance of the losses claimed by Marriott and other corporations.
In addition, the Son of Boss transaction was listed by the Internal Revenue Service as an abusive transaction, requiring specific disclosure and subject to heavy penalties.
Sigh…trust the Obama WH and campaign to know how to fight and draw blood when it comes to (re)electing Obama. If only they could have the same skills when it comes to governing… But really really glad they are not letting go of the issue. Selfish tax avoiding billionaires and millionaires make me sick.
However Romney is going to be able to raise even more billions because his tax avoiding millionaires and billionaires pals are absolutely freaked out by ads like this. They are jetting themselves all over the world to make sure his overflowing campaign war chest continues to overflow.
I read in the British press that while he was in London, Bob Diamond, the disgraced CEO of Barclays who was forced to resign in June following the rate manipulation scandal (he is a Republican) organized a fund raising for Mitt in which the top executives of Barclays bank were invited. British MPs were concerned enough to send a letter to Barclays asking the bank to stop working to bolster Romney’s election campaign war chest and concentrate on repairing confidence and trust in the banking system instead.
I am really hoping that all their money goes down the drain and that Mitt loses this fall.
Isis, you can tell that President Obama loves to campaign. He’s in his element and Team Romney is getting broadsided constantly and accurately. And yet, I feel exactly as you do:
Team Romney is just aimless right now on the campaign trail. I thought these were smart folks. I’m a regular dude (with a tad of smarts) and I can think of a whole barrel of ways to make Romney’s wealth and CEO days more of a positive. Even if his tax records showed he did the “rich folks’ thing”, I can still think of ways to make him come out alright. But I really think Team Romney feels they can just keep going the way they are going and the economy will win them the election. Would I be surprised if polls say a clear victory by Obama but Romney wins? Nope.
I wonder if there is talk in Team Romney to try to go the “Obama not quite American and other character stuff” angle. I’m sure it is. Or is he seriously going to bring ol’ Paul “Bunyan” Ryan as his VP and morph into Paul’s Big Brother. I’ll tell ya what, looking at Ryan and Paul side-by-side makes me think of the movie Trading Places and the Duke & Duke. I just can’t help it.
OOPS! I meant “…looking at Romney and Paul side-by-side”.
Son of Boss. That an intriguing name. A little ominous. But I like the name of the one used by Apple: Double Irish With A Dutch Sandwich.
Has anyone noticed that since Steve Job died, Apple is just a corporation. Says something about the power of a cult of personality.
Well anyway, I guess one good thing about Romney running for president is that all these tax schemes get a little coverage. But then again once the election is over; no matter who wins, these schemes will still be used and available to all irregardless of political leanings.
I am actually starting to believe that the reason Romney is being so stubborn concerning his tax information is because he thinks releasing it before the convention could actually cost him the NOMINATION. He knows it’s devastating, and any pain he suffers from the polls for refusing to disclose is nothing compared to the tsunami he will be hit with if we could actually see what he’s hiding.
So Romney will risk the death by a thousand paper cuts route rather than the certain death by disclosure, knowing that an army of supplicants over at Fox and on Right Wing Radio will defend his attitude to the end. Better to lose by six points this way than twelve after the country realizes he’s a tax cheat – or to disqualify himself for the nomination altogether.
Oh and BTW, can we add “Double Down” to “Throw under the Bus” and “Kumbaya” and “Speak truth to power” on the ash heap of stupid, overused phrases that have been played to death? Especially since it’s currently being used whenever someone in politics, rather than retracts a statement, repeats it.
By this time, hasn’t Romney “Tripled Down” on his refusal? Or “Quadrupled Down?” If he releases his taxes now, won’t he be “throwing his accountant under the bus?” Or would he be just “Speaking truth to power?” Will it be a “Kumbaya” moment?
Can we come up with some new cutesy phrases? I mean, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.TM
Ronert Wood Johnsom IV otherwise known as Woody Johnson is the owner of the New York Jets NFL football team and a billionaire who inherited his fortune from the Johnson & Johnson Company in New Bruswick founded by his grat great grandfather. When Romney said ‘I have friends who own NFL teams’ he was referring to Woody Johnson. Johnson is one of the largest bundlers for campaign donations for Republican Presidential candidates. Woody Johnson personally underwrote the deficits incurred by the 2008 Republican National Convention in 2008. He is one of Romney’s top bundlers hosting numerous events raising campaign contributions throughout the Northeast including multiple events last month in the Hamptons, Connecticut and New Jersey.
In 2006 Woody Johnson came under investigation by a Senate investigation committee which investigated another off shoretax avoidance scheme similar to the ‘Son of Boss; scheme.
http://www.carllevin.com/news/2006/08/01/tax-cheats-called-out-of-control/
Woody Johson got off by agreeing to pay all back taxes plus penalties to avoid a criminal indictment. He blamed his tax advisors. Had he been criminally indicted, under NFL by bylaws, he would have been forced to sell the Jets. The committe also subpoened emails from his tax advisors including this gem extracte from the Senate report:
“Ain’t capitalism great!” Mr. Wilk wrote to Mr. Scheinfeld in an e-mail message extolling the tax benefits of the Johnson deal. Three weeks later, when the deal was set, Mr. Scheinfeld wrote back: “I just hope Woody doesn’t get cold feet or have the I.R.S. select his return for an audit!”
This is why Romney will never release multiple years of tax returns and why his tax returns will be hung around his neck until election day.
Taxes are a civil, not criminal matter.
Tell that to Wesly Snipes serving a three year sentence in a federal penitentiary for tax evasion”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/11/19/us-snipes-idUSTRE6AI42J20101119
You’re wrong. If you have failed to file your tax returns, under-reported your income, or knowingly claimed excess deductions, in other words if you and/or with an assist from your accountant knowingly committed tax fraud and/or tax evasion you may be subjected to an IRS criminal tax investigation which could then result in a criminal indictment and incarceration for you and/or your accountant in federal prison.
The IRS actually has a department called the Criminal Investigation Division who handle these cases. Investigators who work for CID are federal agents trained in law enforcement techniques, etc.
(Btw, I’m not talking about unintentional mistakes made by you and/or your accounant which will only be subject to paying those taxes in addition to interest and penalties.)
So, the next time you and/or your accountant intentionally defraud the IRS, beware of the CID! And, I suggest you get yourself a criminal attorney specializing in taxes because it won’t be a civil matter It’s a criminal offense. Good luck with that.
My comment was to PWT.
Yes, I know that you can go to jail for fraud. Neither the article cited by RAJensen, nor the claim that Mr. Romney did not pay taxes for ten years; claim that the actions were fraudulent. Neither would be a criminal case.
Hey RAJensen, how come you never mention Haim Saban when you cite that article, is it because he’s a big contributor to the Democrats or because you love the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers? Or is it because Mr. Saban is such a stand up guy?
In 1998, The Hollywood Reporter reported that he did not actually compose all the music (totalling 3,700 works in 2008) he is credited for; ten composers threatened to sue and Saban settled out of court.[13]
And this has to do with dodging taxes exactly how………..crickets…..crickets…..crickets.
Dodging taxes is as American as apple pie. I’m sure that if you were in the 1% instead of the 43%, you’d try to lessen your tax burden as well.
Ahhhhh, how sweet….PWT fesses up that he and his cohorts are tax dodgers….how very patriotic, how very…..repugnantklan/teabagger.
But dear lil PWT there is a difference between DODGING taxes and AVOIDING them. Mitt da Twit is going to keep getting hammered and hammered on this till he comes clean….and I kinda think he won’t release them because he’s not.
I guess that article linked by RAJensen was not the same article we both read because we came away with a different view of it.
Ths is your comment, PWT:
Neither the article cited by RAJensen, nor the claim that Mr. Romney did not pay taxes for ten years; claim that the actions were fraudulent. Neither would be a criminal case.
Let’s take the article first. Here are a couple of key comments from that article:
Mr. Johnson and Mr. Saban, who are portrayed as
victims in the report, are scheduled to testify today before the Senate Permanent Investigations subcommittee. They are expected to say that professional advisers assured them their deals to avoid taxes were more likely lawful than not. The Wyly brothers told the committee that they would invoke their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and thus were not called to testify. The report characterizes them as active participants in tax schemes.
Johnson and Saban used the excuse that they were advised by professionals (read attorney’s and accountants) that these deals to avoid taxes were more legal than not. It’s the defendants who are claiming this not an independent party and certainly not the Levin Committee.
Also, if someone gives their client the advise that a transaction is “more legal than not”, I suggest you run as far away from that advisor as your legs can carry you. A transaction is either totally legal or not. Can’t be partially pregnant.
And, then one of the defendants intending to invoke their 5th Amendment rights is not a ringing endorsement of their not being criminally liable.
Also, the real money quote:
The report details how the Quellos Group, a tax shelter boutique based in Seattle, “concocted a tax shelter” using $9.6 billion “worth of fake securities transactions that were used to generate billions of dollars of fake capital losses.”
This is an example of a “Son of Boss” tax evasion scandal which was deemed illegal in the Marriott case
You cannot create a purported tax loss where there was no corresponding economic loss and that is what this type of illegal tax shelter is all about.
I can provide an example how the shelter is done if someone wants to understand how this is done otherwise I will let that above comment stand.
As far as Romney and his tax issues are concerned, no one can make a comment either way about whether or not he commited fraud or not or tax evasion or not because of Romney who refuses to release his tax returns from 2009 and prior.
So, you cannot make a definitive statement that tax fraud or evasion was not committed by Romney just as I cannot make a definitive statement that it is. It’s all up to Romney at this point to release his tax returns, then and only then can anyone make a conclusion either way.
As far as rooting for an NFL team is concerned, boy, am I conflicted. I’ve been a Jet fan since the 1960′s and I still root for the players despite their scumbag of an owner.For anyone without a rooting interest for any NFL team, there are two families who own NFL teams who are major supporters of Democratic Party values and Democratic candidates, Robert Kraft who owns the New England Patriots and the Rooney family who own the Pittsburgh Steelers. Art Rooney Jr. was a major supportor of Barack Obama in 2008 and after the election President Obama appointed Art Rooney jr as Ambassador to Ireland.
The rest of the NFL owners are all billionaire Republicans with a sense of entitlement eccept for one other team. Progressives who don’t root for any NFL might want to consider rooting for the Green Bay Packers. The original founder of the Green Bay Packers in the early 1920′s had no heirs. He willed every citizen of Green Bay one share of the Packers. The citizens of Green Bay elect a committee who decides the direction of the Packers. When a general manager leaves or os fired the committee conducts an executive search hire the new General Manager who is given total control of the Packers without any interefernce by the citizens of Green Bay.
The Green Bay Packers are in facr a ‘socialist’ team owned by the citizens and fans and expaloind why the Packers who operate in a timy mkarket will never leave ZGreenBay for a more lucrative market. O’ll net Bernie Sanders is a Packer fan.
I’m not a football fan but I found your historical perspective very interesting and informative especailly about the Packers. Thanks for that, RAJensen.
I’m pretty sure Sanders is a New England Patriots fan, like all good Vermonters.
BTW, Sanders is NOT a Socialist- he caucuses with the Democrats, he is a die-hard supporter of President Obama, and he gives lip service at best to progressive causes. If he were a Socialist, he’d be pounding away at the President for his bailout on Health Care and Prescription Drug Costs and pushing for a third party alternative. He’s a Democrat in everything but Name.
Bernie Sanders actually calls himself a socialist who was elected as he himself says as an independant socialist Democrat. He is the only Senator ever elected to the Senate as a socialist. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, grew up in the same neighberhood and went to the same public schools that I did until he went to college in Illinois. If you listen to his speeches he still has, as I do, a heavy Brooklyn accent.
I don’t know if Sanders has any interest in sports but if he does he would have been a Brooklyn Dodger fan and most likely a New York Giant fan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Sanders
the over sampling continues…
obama is a dead fish wrapped in newspapers…
About That Latest Fox News Poll…
by Ulsterman on August 10, 2012 with 3 Comments in News
More than a few readers of the UlstermanReport.com were voicing concerns over the latest Fox News poll that indicated a 49/40 majority favoring BARACK OBAMA over Mitt Romney in the upcoming election. Let me break that down real quick for you…
FIRST – the poll oversampled Democrats by +9. That obviously gives Barack Obama a strong statistical advantage right off.
SECOND – The Obama campaign and the DNC have been spending far more than they have taken in during the last few months in the hopes of defining Mitt Rommey to the American people because, as we already know, Barack Obama has almost NOTHING to run on pertaining to his own failed administration.
THIRD – The Romney campaign and the RNC and the conservative Super PACs limited their own anti-Obama spending during the month of July. They have amassed substantial sums of money, and are now poised to unleash a tsunami of counter attacks against Barack Obama, as well as further define the positives inherent in Mitt Romney.
Read more in News
« “Contraception Solves Hunger” LOL
FOURTH – The truth about how the Obama campaign outright lied about knowledge of a false and highly negative ad that places blame on a woman’s death from cancer on Mitt Romney is just now beginning to be more widely known by the American public – the Obama backlash on that sickening display of in the dirt politics will not play out for a few more days yet.
________________
And in related news – was given a little heads up regarding a possible cross country tour of Mitt Romney and his new Veep choice this weekend. Let’s see if that bit of information proves true…
“FOURTH – The truth about how the Obama campaign outright lied about knowledge of a false and highly negative ad that places blame on a woman’s death from cancer on Mitt Romney is just now beginning to be more widely known by the American public – the Obama backlash on that sickening display of in the dirt politics will not play out for a few more days yet.”
Dream on dittohead. There was NOTHING unfactual in the add. That Mitt da Twit and his repugnantklan/teabagger cohorts are squealing like the stuck pigs they are is no surprise…but the add is honest and is a kick right in Mittens political jewels.
KEEP RUNNING IT along with the Bain capital adds and harry Reid’s queries about Mitt da Twits hiding his tax returns.
All the polls over sample Democrats, is that it? Well. everyone but Rasmussen that is. Ramussen used to be considered an excellent pollster, until he started working as Fox News in house pollster. Nate Silver listed Rasmussen as having the worst record of any pollster in the 2010 elections.
Here’s the current polls which sampled the Obama vs Romney matchup
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/us/general_election_romney_vs_obama-1171.html
Rasmussen stands alone because he is right and every other pollster is a member of the lamestream media working to re-elect the President, including Fox News own polls.
Irrespective of where you stand in the leftisphere on Obama this is SOOOOOO freakin FUN to watch…..gotta pop more popcorn!!!!!
gotta pop more popcorn!!!!!
I’m doubling up on my little corn kernals.
I really can’t trust any of the polls at this point because; a. the media wants a horse race; the closer the race the more ad buys for their businesses. b. Romney wants to appear to be losing to raise money and to fire up his base. c. Obama wants to appear to be losing to raise money and to fire up his base. d. I take with a grain of salt how voters answer polling questions in August for a November election. if you are not an ideologue, Americans have the attention span of fruit flies. e. Pollsters have their own agenda (read – they are hired guns). f. this election isn’t about issues, it’s about down-in-the gutter, good old fashion, slash and burn, mudslinging.
To quote blues giant John Lee Hooker regarding the 2012 presidential campaign “it will be lower than a snake’s belly in a wagon wheel trail”. That’s low.
I’m not getting how some people like Wesley Snipes are going to jail and a friend of mine who could not back up her deductions with receipts just had to pay the money back plus penalties.
What type of deductions are you talking about? Are you talking about Schedule A deductions like property taxes, medical expenses, charity deductions, mortgage interest, etc.
Even if she misplaced all of them (highly unlikely), she could have obtained copies of these “receipts” from her doctors for med expenses, her local town hall for property taxes, her bank for another copy of her mortgage interest; with charity deductions, you don’t need any receipts for donations up to and including $250, etc.
If you are talking about business expenses, not all business expenses require receipts. For every tax rule, there is an exception (that’s the beauty or as some would have it, the ugliness of the tax code) and there are several exceptions regarding business expense receipts.
Whatever your friend couldn’t back up, I cannot imagine she couldn’t back up all of what she was declaring. Also, the government uses discretion when there is a potential tax issue found when they review statements in terms of whether they will dissalow a deduction and/or require payment of interest and penalties.
Most people in these situations will only be required to pay the penalties or they will disallow the deduction. Most people in your friends situation and like your friend will probably never face criminal fraud penalties simply because they were found not to have committed fraud. Also, when they do charge someone with fraud, at least 98% of the time, the IRS punishes fraud with civil penalties: fines of 75% added to the tax due.
Finally, Wesley Snipes case. I cannot answer that one because I’m not an attorney and the why of that case is more for an attorney to answer.
What happened was she was paying insurance premiums but the company was contributing nothing towards the insurance i.e. she was paying the entire health insurance premium but the company was deducting from her husband’s paycheck as a convenience. So the IRS came at her and she had none of the pay stubs to back up the insurance deduction. Another thing she told me is that turbo tax always says that she’s a red flag for an audit but for what reason i’m not sure.
Thanks for responding Newdealdem1.
Given how completely illogical her explanation sounds, she is lucky she had only the IRS after her. The men in the white coats should have gotten to her first.
Of course, speaking of illogical, the entire conversation springing from the notion of Romney being able to pay no taxes for ten years beats your friend hands down. Think about this….if the IRS computer program spotted your friend’s measly over deduction on a what, 75k gross income return, don’t you think the IRS would have spotted a 25M return the very first year it was filed?
The only way to pay no taxes in even one year is to generate an NOL. So, Romney had to have run a business on the side generating losses in excess of his 25M less possibly 50% charitable contribution maximum for ten years straight. That means he lost a minimum of 120,000,000 without ever thinking about folding up that business.
If that unconscionably remote possibility happened, I will not only vote for Obama, but I will shine his shoes each day for the 4 years of his term.
Ok, anti-Casual forces, here’s your chance.
No one is saying that Romney did anything illegal and for all we know the IRS might have audited him because he’s not telling. I think the reason Romney won’t release his taxes is because it will PROVE what everybody has been saying about what Bush did to the tax law in this country. We already know that he pays a much lower percentage than the rest of the country.
Just one thought about Snipes. He’s a big fish with lots of money owed to the IRS and people like Snipes are used as examples to others in his situation in the Hollywood community where there are tons of deep pockets.
Same with those in the business world who are charged with fraud because of tax evasion or freud or willfully not filing a fax return for years: they are big fish with deep pockets who can be made into an example to others in his/her income group to not do what he/she did because look what will happen to so and so.
Most white collar people who live on the financial edge by transacting dodgy and illegal business practices or don’t pay their taxes for years, live in fear of going to prison. Just the knowledge that people like them who committed similar illegal acts were put in prison is a huge deterance to stop that behavior.
http://tinyurl.com/d8wcm7b Here is a video that Taylor posted today in a separate post.
Anderson is quoting Taibbi in an article he wrote about Goldman Sacs et al. Starts at 1:40
if one of these guys was sent to prison, that would stop these shenanigans from happening again. That that is all it would take. If someone was held accountable, it would have a cooling effect.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/what-romneys-run-with-the-big-dig-tells-us-about-how-hed-manage-america/2012/08/10/f78ee398-ba2d-11e1-abd4-aecc81b4466d_story.html?hpid=z2
Governor Ed Randell was on MSNBC and said to Democrats no to get too excited about these polls because its going to be close. Look at the candidate that the Republicans have, Romney is one of the most boring, out of touch people I have seen in awhile. And Obama during the four years has been spineless not standing up for Democratic principles. Both parties are disasters !!! I am not going to get excited for either of these candidates.
I’m with you fmi, every time I try to get excited about this election I find myself yawning the biggest yawn of my life and praying it will be over without me having to pay too much attention.