August 15, 2012 Editorial

Angry Ann Romney Announces "They Shouldn’t Be Questioned About Finances" while a paranoid Romney "Accuses Obama of Making Voters Jealous of Him". How entertaining.

Looks like they can't take the heat.

Ann Romney couldn’t keep the contempt off of her face in an exclusive interview with Natalie Morales. Her lip curled in contempt as Morales asked, “Are you angry that it’s been in the press? I mean, should you not be questioned about your finances?” Mrs. Romney’s response was that since their finances are “attacked” (implying some sort of unfair questioning), they won’t be releasing them. This is like saying, hey, if you’re going to arrest me for stealing, I’m not going to show you what I stole. I mean, their finances raise questions because of choices they made, not choices the American people made, so it hardly seems fair to punish the people for asking questions.

Face it, the anger is here to stay. According to Ann, “We have been very transparent to what’s legally required of us. But, (talking down to Morales as if she’s a child), the more we release, the more we get attacked. The more we get questioned. (Yes, because your one year of tax returns were still unclear and raised a lot of questions.) The more we get pushed. And so we’ve done what’s legally required. And there’s going to be no more tax releases given. There’s a reason for that. And that’s because how, what happens when we release anything.”

Apparently, in Mrs. Romney’s worldview, if America doesn’t respond to the limited information she wants to share, they will be punished by not getting anymore. This is Romney “transparency”.

Mrs. Romney: “We don’t disclose anymore because we just become a bigger target.”

Mrs. Romney then tried to take refuge in the blind trust that they have, “We don’t even know what’s in there.” She probably shouldn’t have gone there, with their personal lawyer managing that blind trust and having invested in their son’s business – oh, coincidence! – but, the good news for Ann Romney is that among all of the other specious ducks and dodges, this one will probably pass by unnoticed. She ended it with an attempt at folksy, “I”ll be curious to see what’s in there, too.” Yes, indeed, surprise! It’s a huge investment in your son’s business! Of all the things…

Mrs. Romney is correct, the Romneys’ finances have raised a lot of questions, not only because they refuse to be transparent, but also because there are disclosures missing and funds that appear on one disclosure and not on another — funds of millions of dollars, not a few cents. We have only been given one year to date, and that year was amended and was not complete. And then there are the international financial dealings, like the funding for Bain with El Salvador death squad money.

If that isn’t worthy of a few questions for someone running for leader of the free world, I’m not sure what the they would qualify as a question that they find appropriate. It’s also of interest that they stash their money in tax free havens around the world and Mr. Romney is running for President. Some of these investments bet against the US dollar, so yes, we’d like to know where he stands on a few issues based on the little we have seen of his returns and disclosures.

We’d like to know not because we are “jealous” that he has managed to successfully exploit a tax code that benefits the 2% (who is engaging in a class war here?), but because the policies he would champion as President impact the rest of us. Are we to have no say in those policies? Are we not entitled to know about them, when they will impact each and every one of us? We already know that Romney supports raising taxes on the middle class to pay for tax cuts to the wealthy, so yes, we have something at stake in this “business venture” of hiring a President, and just like Mr. Romney would do if he were buying a business, we insist on seeing the financials.

Mr. Romney, as a business man, knows that Bain would never buy a business without seeing its financials. But Mr. Romney and Mrs. Romney want America to buy them without seeing their financials, and they feel entitled to this exception. They don’t want to play by the rules of the market, they want the market adjusted for them. They can’t hack the questions and the attacks, so they demand an exception to the rule that every other presidential nominee has played by since Romney’s own father ran for President.

Mrs. Romney clearly thinks that their finances are none of your business, and that the thing y’all did wrong was “attack” and “ask questions” after they released a few tidbits. It is the fault of the American people that we are not getting more info from the Romneys. This is your punishment for not responding appropriately (as they wanted) to Mrs. Romney’s finances. This is called freedom.

I hope you all have learned your lesson. This isn’t America “as you know it”. This is Romney Republican America, where asking questions gets you cut off, and another angry Red Queen will tell you what you are entitled to ask and what you are not entitled to ask. Until then, shhhhhh! They get mad when poked.


NEXT: Mitt Romney has a new boss.