qorkfiend: I'm pretty sure that's why they used Reid - a high-profile Democrat with no direct connection to the campaign, recently re-elected, who also happens to be a Mormon like Romney - instead of someone else.

I only recently found out that Reid is also Mormon. I've been waiting for the derp brigade to say Reid's attack is based on religious bigotry just to be able to point that out since it's not something that widely known.

/I'm petty like that.

Nabb1: I suppose if you want to frame it in such a way to polish a turd, sure.

What evidence can you provide to back up your assertion that the economy has not gotten better over Obama's first term in office?

MFL: After the momentum of 2008 and the GOP left for dead....Pelosi and Reid??? Really???You guys seriously wanted those two imbeciles as the face of your party? Why congressional democrats insist on putting their biggest idiots in positions of power is beyond me.

I guess the great thing about this country is that whenever the GOP gets off track and the progressives actually do get into power (once in a generation or so)....they fark shiat up so quickly that it doesn't take much effort for the party to rise like the Dark Night and kick some OWS ass.

I never imagined 4 years ago that the GOP being as well off and organized as it is today. Even if Obama squeaks by this year (which I am growing more confident he won't by the day), the strides they have made on the state and local level will be felt for years to come.

This whole progressive experiment we've seen over the last few years is going to go down in history as nothing more than a nasty fart in a short elevator ride.

Progressive experiment? Did you even follow policy for the Obama years?

That aside. I can't see Romney beating Obama. He's unrelatable, changes positions daily, and has seemed to be a diplomatic liability on his recent trip. Not to mention his economic policies are basically a Bush 2.0.

qorkfiend: Middle America doesn't think Mormons are Christians, so they don't care whether or not he's a good Mormon.

Mormons dont think Mormons are Christians. In Mormon Doctrine Jesus was simply god of this world. There are gods of many other worlds etc etc. Completely out of step with Christian teachings. Mormons kind of see themselves as completed Christans. Christians that have taken the next step of truth. That is the best 25 word or less synopsis of why Mormonism and Christianity are not the same thing.

Jackson Herring: Les Comdien Masque: Take heart! Though it did only earn three Pinocchios instead of four.

I'm sure Politifact will give it a "mostly true"

Surprise!

USA Prime Credit Peggy: Headso: Nabb1: You know they'd much rather this election be a referendum on Mitt Romney as a person as opposed to a referendum on Obama's job performance.

hasn't the economy consistently gotten better over his term?

NOT FAST ENOUGH! WHAARRRRGRRRBLLL

And Obama's skin isn't getting any less negro, so the whargarble will continue.

Nabb1: Headso: hasn't the economy consistently gotten better over his term?

I suppose if you want to frame it in such a way to polish a turd, sure.

Do you think that parroting the republican talking-point that Obama can't run on his record is a strategy by republicans to get out in front of his campaign so that it poisons the well for any ads touting his successes on foreign policy and the economy? When Obama did that same thing with Bain it seemed accepted, among many of the politics tab people anyway, that it is part of an election strategy. But you seem to be really buying into that narrative, you really believe that, huh?

Felgraf: America is crumbling, and Obama's just sitting there, living high on the hog. Father in heaven, help us through these difficult times, and guide us through this horrible presidence, this winter. Smith for us a new world, a new order, that will save us from these stupid libs, unless they can see the light. Fantasticly, it looks like Romney's going to win, and save us from our long, grim night. Watch as he saves us from those stupid foreigners, and all their small gods. He, at least, understands the sacrifice made by our men at arms, and how to thud our opponents into the dirt. What does Obama have? Just some stupid Jingoism, worshiping his damn pyramids and pyramid gods. He can't save us from the muslims going postal, he's got feet of clay, not the warrior's spirit we need! Obama just sits in his oval office, listening to soul music while the REAL americans are out there, making money! He's such a pratt. Chet, we haven't a hope in the world if he stays in office...

/can you see what I did thar?

That's...that's beautiful

Tickle Mittens: One of the lines in the article from their own expert is something to the effect of "it's possible he paid 2%, that's close enough to zero for me" then immediately after that it's 'still, we choose to eschew the commentary of the expert we hand picked in the article we wrote, and give him 4 jimminy christmasses because while Harry Reid's comments were close we heard he pals around with a black guy.'

That's some fine reporting there.... it does nothing to disabuse me of the opinion that the only journalism practiced in the United States is practiced by sports journalists.

I think The New Yorker is still putting out some excellent investigative journalism.

Muk_Man: That aside. I can't see Romney beating Obama. He's unrelatable, changes positions daily, and has seemed to be a diplomatic liability on his recent trip. Not to mention his economic policies are basically a Bush 2.0.

It is sad that the Republicans cannot come up with a better candidate than this. My 3 year old could be campaign manager for Obama and he will still win by 6 points in November. They literally have to do nothing whatsover about facing the issues. Im not even sure Romney will debate. Obama could stand in front of the White House and sacrifice children and the front page would read. "President bravely tackles population problem, where are Romey's tax returns?"

I'm sure RoMONEY paid his taxes.........to China.

walkingtall: Muk_Man: That aside. I can't see Romney beating Obama. He's unrelatable, changes positions daily, and has seemed to be a diplomatic liability on his recent trip. Not to mention his economic policies are basically a Bush 2.0.

It is sad that the Republicans cannot come up with a better candidate than this. My 3 year old could be campaign manager for Obama and he will still win by 6 points in November. They literally have to do nothing whatsover about facing the issues. Im not even sure Romney will debate. Obama could stand in front of the White House and sacrifice children and the front page would read. "President bravely tackles population problem, where are Romey's tax returns?"

Good god they let you breed?

PreMortem: Who said he was disaffected with the GOP? Could be lots of reasons why he would out Mitt.

Such as? In spite of their personal relationship they're still members of the same political party. If John McCain embraced Bush after what Bush and Rove did to him in the South Carolina primary, there's no absolutely no reason to out Mitt Romney to Harry Reid. John McCain would have to be very upset with the GOP establishment to torpedo his party's nominee like this. I'm not saying it's impossible, it's just very unlikely.

PreMortem: 1. Who the hell calls the Senate Majority Leaders office (directly)
2. Who the hell gets to talk with said Majority Leader
3. Who the hell calls him by his first name Harry?

John the hell McCain does, that's who.

There are plenty of other people who have the same access. John McCain is not the only person who can call the Senate Majority Leader's office, speak to him, and is on a first name basis.

walkingtall: White House and sacrifice children and the front page would read. "President bravely tackles population problem, where are Romey's tax returns?"

because of the lamestream liberal driveby media conspiracy, amirite?

Ctrl-Alt-Del: I swear to god this is the stupidest thing I have ever seen you write. And I've seen you write some seriously stupid things. It's like what Terry Schiavo would have said if she had been able to speak, only dumber.

I may in fact have written stupid things before, this is not one of them. You can get mad and stomp your feet all you want but the truth is progressive ideology, which have little to do with true liberalism by the way, has been dangerous and will continue to be dangerous. It is not dangerous necessarily on the surface. Eugene Debs had some great ideas to be sure. The problem comes in how to implement them. That is where the true insidiousness of progressive theology comes to the forefront. In every instance where circumstances were just right and progressives were given the power to implement whole cloth it gets ugly fast. Progressives deserve to have a voice. There have been many great progressives who fought the good fight. They simply cannot ever be given the keys to the car. Advisory only. Never real power.

Seriously, Washington Post? You expect an educated reader to swallow that article and not laugh in your face?

keylock71: This is called "Taking one for the team"...

Does Reid have any evidence? Probably not. Maybe they're saving it for the Fall... Who knows?

But, what he did do was keep the "Romney won't release his tax returns because he's hiding something" story going in the media for another week or two.

It also further cements the narrative that Romney is an out of touch plutocrat who wants the middle classes and poor to pay for tax cuts for people like him.

It's usually the GOP who are quite good with these types of tactics, so it's surprising to see them falling for this hook, line and sinker...

The Romney Campaign has been completely flat-footed in handling this, too. That's not surprising, as they've proven to be quite inept over the last few months.

It's only working so well as a line of attack because it's soooo close to the truth. Painting Romney as an out of touch plutocrat is as easy as the Dems going "Just look at the guy!" The fact that his campaign is run by idiots is just icing on the cake really.

It's also why the tax attacks work. Until he releases them(yeah right) it's all too simple for Dems to say things like "No taxes in 10 years!!!" and make it an effective attack.

TheSopwithTurtle: Felgraf: America is crumbling, and Obama's just sitting there, living high on the hog. Father... soul music while the REAL americans are out there, making money! He's such a
pratt. Chet, we haven't a hope in the world if he stays in office...

/can you see what I did thar?

That's...that's beautiful

Shoot, I missed that and I've read every single one of them....

You went to all that trouble....just for me?

Best to worst case scenarios for the GOP:

1) Romney releases, there's nothing of substance in the tax returns => may prompt some questions why he didn't release earlier, but Reid and other Democrats will get hammered. Probabilty of this outcome: Low

2) Romney releases, finds damning info in there => The Democratic Party goes to town, Romney takes lumps serious enough that will effectively end his campaign before it starts. Probability: Medium to elevated.

3) Romney doesn't release. => Democrats never let him or the public forget about it. Probability: High.

Headso: because of the lamestream liberal driveby media conspiracy, amirite?

I know 95% of fark disagrees with me but regardless for whatever reason Obama has been given and continues to be given a free pass by the media. Oh there might be a criticism or two but it is in the nature of two friends who get together and one tells the other "You know Fred. love you and all but maybe you could just slightly improve in this area". I watch the Daily Show and if you werent so blinded by ideology to see the difference in tone and respect that Jon Stewart takes on Obama vs what he did to George Bush you might be surprised. Of course fark things Bush deserved it etc etc etc. It is startling to see if you can see it in the light of true neutrality.

Could get even better.

"The touting of Tim Pawlenty as potential running-mate for Mitt Romney has reignited questions over his refusal as governor of Minnesota to release tax returns during a scandal over payments from a company owned by a close political ally."

mainstreet62: Best to worst case scenarios for the GOP:

1) Romney releases, there's nothing of substance in the tax returns => may prompt some questions why he didn't release earlier, but Reid and other Democrats will get hammered. Probabilty of this outcome: Low


Unless he's paying far more then the average middle class American there is NO way this will happen. Even then it puts him in horrible position on his tax plan, just reinforcing the talking point of "Romney's plan wants to give cuts to people like him."

Oh, and since the only time he's likely to release is in October when he files this years taxes it doesn't exactly stop the dialog any time soon.

Basically I'm saying is that there is no upside for Romney on his tax returns any more. If there was a window to release for benefit he missed it by a mile.

walkingtall: I watch the Daily Show and if you werent so blinded by ideology to see the difference in tone and respect that Jon Stewart takes on Obama vs what he did to George Bush you might be surprised. Of course fark things Bush deserved it etc etc etc. It is startling to see if you can see it in the light of true neutrality.

I actually don't watch the daily show so I can't comment, not a fan of punditry that I can't respond to even if it is funny. Not really sure that the daily show = all of the media either. I've had to suffer through Bill O'reilly plugging his Abe Lincoln book on NPR if even they have to capitulate to the shrieks of "liberal media conspiracy" and give that human trashbag air time maybe there ain't one.

MyRandomName:

The only people up in arms are the retarded left. They think the tactic is working.because.of their own raging hard ons. Polls show it isn't working.

Link?

No?

Fark you, you shiatbag.

MyRandomName: Every day liberals sound more and more like the birthers they once derided.

Here, let me explain the difference to you in small words that you can understand.

I doubt there's anyone who thinks Mitt paid zero income taxes. But he pays a lot of people a lots of money to make sure he pays as little tax as possible. It's all perfectly legal. But it looks bad: he's gaming the system in ways that regular people cannot do, and paying a very low effective rate. No doubt there are certain deductions on his Schedule A that will only reinforce his image as a Monty Python-esque Upper-Class Twit, like expensing the costs of his dressage horse.

We're not saying he's done anything that invalidates his capacity to hold the office, we're saying that he's holding his returns close to the vest because revealing them will destroy the carefully crafted image he's been trying to promote.

Not only are the rich screwing everyone not of their class, but the guy asking for your vote is one of the guys busy screwing you!

That would be something even the "base" (and I mean that in every sense of the word) wouldn't be able to stomach:

If only there were some governmental agency whose job it was to periodically audit an individual's tax returns...

Seriously, if there were any substance to Reid's accusations at all, Romney would be under investigation by the IRSright this very minute. In fact, I should think that Reid's accusation would fall under the heading of "slander" as it's obviously a federal crime that he's accusing Romney of.

Meanwhile, certain records pertaining to Obama's past, which may or may not point to fraud on his part, or indicate that the "Birthers" have actually been right all this time, have been mysteriously sealed without explanation.

MyRandomName: Every day liberals sound more and more like the birthers they once derided.

So only now you believe the birthers are idiots?

walkingtall: qorkfiend: Middle America doesn't think Mormons are Christians, so they don't care whether or not he's a good Mormon.

Mormons dont think Mormons are Christians. In Mormon Doctrine Jesus was simply god of this world. There are gods of many other worlds etc etc. Completely out of step with Christian teachings. Mormons kind of see themselves as completed Christans. Christians that have taken the next step of truth. That is the best 25 word or less synopsis of why Mormonism and Christianity are not the same thing.

So Mormons are like Muslims? That ought to help the derp brigade solidify their support for Romney.

HAMMERTOE: If only there were some governmental agency whose job it was to periodically audit an individual's tax returns...

Seriously, if there were any substance to Reid's accusations at all, Romney would be under investigation by the IRSright this very minute. In fact, I should think that Reid's accusation would fall under the heading of "slander" as it's obviously a federal crime that he's accusing Romney of.

Meanwhile, certain records pertaining to Obama's past, which may or may not point to fraud on his part, or indicate that the "Birthers" have actually been right all this time, have been mysteriously sealed without explanation.

If only our tax code wasn't completely and utterly loaded with loopholes that someone of his wealth could abuse.

Reid is exactly what is wrong with the senate.

He plays a big part in our Gov't process, his decisions affect everyone. But Nevadans do the voting.

No wonder a generation is disinfrachised with voting.

I truly think he is dirty Harry. You don't get much lower.

As for any accusations of "tax avoidance schemes", all Romney has to do is point out the great number of White House aides that owe a huge amount in back taxes, while his are paid up to date. Also, he can point to the Royalty and Tax Avoidance shell-game that goes on in Hollywood every day, setting up shell companies so that major films can be shown to "lose money".

Retro42: If only our tax code wasn't completely and utterly loaded with loopholes that someone of his wealth could abuse.

Like I just said, Hollywood makes expert use of these same schemes as well, and I'm willing to bet they don't want all that much attention given to it.

harry reid should have ronmey arrested. maybe nancy pelosi will let him use her jail.

impaler: MFL: After the momentum of 2008 and the GOP left for dead....Pelosi and Reid??? Really???You guys seriously wanted those two imbeciles as the face of your party? Why congressional democrats insist on putting their biggest idiots in positions of power is beyond me.

Name, with specific examples, what makes them idiots.

He'll just shiat in the thread then run, dude. Like an ill-tempered chihuahua with a case of the flux.

HAMMERTOE: As for any accusations of "tax avoidance schemes", all Romney has to do is point out the great number of White House aides that owe a huge amount in back taxes, while his are paid up to date. Also, he can point to the Royalty and Tax Avoidance shell-game that goes on in Hollywood every day, setting up shell companies so that major films can be shown to "lose money".

Are any of these Hollywood big shots running for office on the platform that they are taxed too much?

HAMMERTOE: Retro42: If only our tax code wasn't completely and utterly loaded with loopholes that someone of his wealth could abuse.

Like I just said, Hollywood makes expert use of these same schemes as well, and I'm willing to bet they don't want all that much attention given to it.

You missed the point though. Whether or not Romney actually paid income tax isn't an indicator of legality. Under our tax law he and many others like him could easily not pay anything at all. So no, Reid isn't accusing Romney of commiting a crime at all.

He's just saying Romney abused the system in a legal way to do exactly the thing your average taxpayer can't do.

HAMMERTOE: If only there were some governmental agency whose job it was to periodically audit an individual's tax returns...

Seriously, if there were any substance to Reid's accusations at all, Romney would be under investigation by the IRSright this very minute. In fact, I should think that Reid's accusation would fall under the heading of "slander" as it's obviously a federal crime that he's accusing Romney of.

Meanwhile, certain records pertaining to Obama's past, which may or may not point to fraud on his part, or indicate that the "Birthers" have actually been right all this time, have been mysteriously sealed without explanation.

Who is accusing Romney of a federal crime? Harry Reid is not. Gaming the system to avoid paying taxes and then whining about how people like you pay too much in taxes all while refusing to show proof of your "over-taxedness" is not illegal, it's only hypocritical and extremely immoral.

PreMortem: Of these plenty of people (which I doubt, that's what staffers are for), who would have the authority and the ability to know about Romney's tax returns?

People from inside the Obama campaign. Higher-ups in the LDS. Political operatives from Nevada from both parties. A boyhood friend of Reid's who happens to work for the IRS (admittedly unlikely).

To think that John McCain was the only person in his campaign to see the returns is absurd.