Skip to footer

Is Mitt Romney 'hiding something' as Reid claims?

Presidential candidate Mitt Romney denied unsubstantiated claims made by Nevada Senator Harry Reid that Romney is 'hiding something' by refusing to release more of his tax returns. Returns that Romney has made public show that he paid a lower tax rate than most Americans in 2010. 

|
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaigns at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Golden, Colo. On Thursday, Romney denied claims made by Nevada Senator Harry Reid that Romney didn't pay taxes for ten years.

| WASHINGTON

Put up or shut up, says Mitt Romney. Just sayin', retorts Harry Reid. For both men, it's a taxing situation.

Romney demanded Thursday that the Democratic Senate leader back up the story he's been passing around this week that an investor with Romney's old firm, Bain Capital, has told him that Romney didn't pay any taxes for 10 years.

Reid offers no evidence to substantiate the claim — he even says he's not sure it's true — and won't reveal who made it. For the Nevada Democrat, the claim explains why Romney is adamant about not releasing more than a year or two of his tax returns.

Romney went on conservative radio host Sean Hannity's show Thursday morning to brand the claim untrue.

"Well, it's time for Harry to put up or shut up," Romney said. "Harry's going to have to describe who it is he spoke with because of course, that's totally and completely wrong."

Romney added: "It's untrue, dishonest, and inaccurate. It's wrong. So I'm looking forward to have Harry reveal his sources and we'll probably find out it's the White House. Look, the Obama campaign is going to do everything in its power to try and talk about anything besides the president's record."

Reid repeated the claim on the Senate floor. Following Romney's response, he released a statement saying that "it's clear Romney is hiding something."

"When it comes to answering the legitimate questions the American people have about whether he avoided paying his fair share in taxes or why he opened a Swiss bank account, Romney has shut up," Reid said. "But as a presidential candidate, it's his obligation to put up, and release several years' worth of tax returns just like nominees of both parties have done for decades."

Romney has released his 2010 federal tax return and a summary of his 2011 return. In 2010, he paid 13.9 percent tax on income of $21.6 million. That's a much lower rate than what most Americans pay on far less income. Most of Romney's income came from investment gains, which are taxed at a lower rate than earned income.

His wealth estimated at $250 million, Romney has said that his critics will distort and use against him any additional tax information he releases.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.
Real news can be honest, hopeful, credible, constructive.
What is the Monitor difference? Tackling the tough headlines – with humanity. Listening to sources – with respect. Seeing the story that others are missing by reporting what so often gets overlooked: the values that connect us. That’s Monitor reporting – news that changes how you see the world.
editor@csmonitor.com
Subscribe
Mark Sappenfield
Editor

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

Subscribe to insightful journalism

QR Code to Is Mitt Romney 'hiding something' as Reid claims?
Read this article in
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Latest-News-Wires/2012/0802/Is-Mitt-Romney-hiding-something-as-Reid-claims
QR Code to Subscription page
Start your subscription today
https://www.csmonitor.com/subscribe