Poor old Mitt is catching Hell in the media for his hesitation in releasing his tax returns….I understand that if there is something in there that can be used against , his wife mentioned that in an interview, then you might want to hold off on the release. But I also understand that the American people have the right to know about your tax situation, especially if you have a position that has benefited from current tax policies. He is running for president then the voter has a right to know as much about the person as they can handle…….
With all that said maybe a little advice for future candidates would help them in their pursuit for which ever office they feel they must acquire…….National Journal, not a bastion of liberalism, has a few ways to make yourself appealing………
1. Get rich the old-fashioned way. Create a product or service or business. Write a best-seller, like President Obama did. Run a successful company, like Herman Cain did. Jump on a trend early, like Virginia Sen. Mark Warner, who saw the potential of cell phones.
2. When you file your tax returns, imagine they will be on the homepages of every website in the world. Be prepared to defend your low tax rate and explain how you’ve used your untaxed money to create jobs. Alternatively, say you’d like to change the tax code so people like you pay more.
3. Related: Keep your money in the United States. Do not shelter income in Switzerland, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands or anywhere else. Repeat: keep the money at home.
4. If you have a lot of money, give away a lot of money.Think Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. If you have enough excess cash, you might be able to help eradicate AIDS or revolutionize inner city education. Tithing to your church and creating trusts for your kids don’t count.
5. When you leave a position, leave the position. Make a clean break. If you don’t, you will have a hard time arguing you are not responsible for what happened after you kinda-sorta departed, but were still CEO and sole owner. Sure, you may not be able to claim credit for good things that happen after you’re gone. But you won’t be on the hook for developments that are politically unpalatable, and possibly a serious threat to your presidential hopes.
Maybe if these things are observed then we would have a better idea of the person we may vote for in the future…..or not.
Quite frankly, I couldn’t care less how much money Romney has, or how much he pays in taxes. I don’t care because the most important issue to me is the economy, which Obama has failed to improve.
Obama has failed to improve? The financial fiasco that resulted in the credit crisis in 2008 was in the making for 30 plus years Terrance and you think one man is going to come along and reset the clock in less than four years?
If he were dictator of the world maybe but he’s one third of democratic republic and when at least a third of that is constantly opposing anything and everything the President does to give themselves an edge to regain power, it will take longer than four years. It will also take more than the man in the White House. Businesses have shown record profits since 2009 but have shown very little interest in creating jobs. There is also the factor of global economics where the European economy is in something of a scramble right now and this has been impacting Wall Street’s decision to act decisively.
Perhaps Obama could have done more but then unless the capital wealth around the world is willing to make some sacrifices too and spend some of those massive profits to jump start the economy, no one man is going to be able to change something so complex that even most free marketers are uncertain about it. If you think Romney, who will reinstitute the Bush policies of trickle down economics in spades, is going to pull the middle class back out of the unemployment lines in less than four years all by his lonesome, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.
Larry,
I certainly believe so – by Obama’s own standard.
“I will be held accountable,” Obama said. “I’ve got four years – and a year form now, I think people are going to see that we’re starting to make some progress, but there’s still going to be some pain out there. If I don’t have this done in three years, then there’s going to be a one-term proposition.
I know it’s convient for Obama supporters to blame big business, but the reality is that businesses are creating jobs where its good and friendly – and that isn’t in liberal-laden America. I don’t mean that as an insult, but seriously – look at how much money liberal policies cost businesses. I’m talking about silly environmental regulations, labor unions, and the like. But let’s forget about that, because it mainly involves big business. I want to concentrate on small business.
Small businesses are operating as thinly as possible because they don’t have the same credit with financial institutions they once enjoyed. The debt-to-equity ratio is over 100%, for crying out loud. Banks aren’t going to lend in that kind of an environment because banks stay afloat by limiting their financial risk at all costs. Perhaps things would be different had Obama’s huge stimulus gone to small businesses rather than union thugs and huge corporations that shipped jobs overseas.
I too do not care where Mitt gets his cash from….the only thing that is relevant is whether his policies will help everyone or that he was not gaming the system…..and so far Mitt has only told me the Obama sucks…and that is not how he will fix the economy.
I intended for the post to advise rich guys how to keep from making their money the crux of the election and that way the focus can be on problems not the crap……the economy is the big issue…then why is it not in Congress and why are the only answers we have is Obama sucks….both those will do nothing……