What's He Hiding? The Extended Edition.
July 19, 2012 9:34 am ET
Mitt Romney is doubling down on his tax returns -- raising questions about what's so politically damaging about them that he'd rather take the heat for his secretiveness, and reminding us of everything else he's hiding. Here are key messages to drive and questions to raise, in plain language.
KEY MESSAGES
What's he hiding?
You don't hide if you have nothing to hide.
Romney needs to come clean.
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KEY QUESTIONS
- WHY NO MORE TAX RETURNS? Despite the discrepancies about his time in the corporate sector, Romney won't release more than just two years of tax returns -- or even the full records for those years. What's in the thousands of pages he's withholding from the public?
- SWISS BANK ACCOUNT? Romney stashed money in a Swiss bank account that was closed in 2010. Did he report it on earlier tax returns? Why did he get a Swiss bank account in the first place only to close it later?
- "GET OUT OF JAIL" PASS FOR TAX CHEATS? Did Romney take the 2009 amnesty deal for wealthy tax cheats who were hiding their money in secret Swiss bank accounts and other offshore tax shelters?
- ZERO TAXES PAID IN 2009? Or is Romney refusing to come clean because he exploited so many special tax loopholes that he paid zero income taxes? Can he prove he didn't?
- MORE OFFSHORE ACCOUNTS? Despite his denials, Romney is the sole owner of a shell corporation in Bermuda, a notorious tax haven. What's he doing with it and why? Why not in America?
- $100 MILLION RETIREMENT ACCOUNT? Romney has an IRA worth up to $100 million. However, by law he wouldn't have been able to contribute more than $30,000 each year. How did this grow to $100 million, when that's worth 3,333 years of contributions?
- DESTROYING OFFICIAL RECORDS AS GOVERNOR? On his way out of office as Massachusetts Governor, Romney's administration destroyed official digital records. Romney admits it was done for political reasons. What was in those documents?
- SECRET DONORS? Romney refuses to come clean about his "bundlers," the people raising hundreds of millions of dollars for his campaign. Who are they and what promises has he made to them?
The more people learn about Mitt Romney, the more questions they have about what he's hiding.
We develop messaging by aggregating, analyzing and distilling polling, tested messaging, and expert recommendations, and monitoring the media to identify what is and isn't working. See here for some of the experts and organizations we draw on.
Posted in - Taxes - Economy - 2012 Elections
