(Updates with comments from Perry, Romney campaign starting in fifth paragraph. For more campaign news, see ELECT.)
July 17 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s campaign escalated its attacks on Mitt Romney, using a new ad to question whether the Republican challenger is hiding something about his finances by refusing to disclose more than two years of tax returns.
“Tax havens, offshore accounts, carried interest,” the narrator of the ad says. “Mitt Romney has used every trick in the book.” The commercial ends with “Makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all. We don’t know, because Romney has released just one full year of his tax returns and won’t release anything before 2010.”
Romney has released his 2010 tax return and promised to make his 2011 documents public when they are ready. He sought to deflect the ad today by accusing Obama of implementing “liberal policies” that hurt the economy and handing out federal money based on campaign donations.
The sparring, while Romney stumped in the swing state of Pennsylvania and Obama raised money in Texas, played out as the presumed Republican presidential nominee faced mounting calls from Democrats and some leaders in his own party to release more of his tax returns.
Texas Governor Rick Perry today joined other Republicans in making that suggestion to Romney. Perry, one of Romney’s rivals in the party’s primary race, said those running for office should make public as much personal information as possible, according to the Associated Press. Perry has released returns dating back to 1992, the AP said.
Candidates Inconsistent
Candidates have been inconsistent in the past about releasing returns. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have released 12 years of returns. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, disclosed only two. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton each released eight, while Ronald Reagan made seven years’ worth public and George H.W. Bush disclosed three years. Romney’s father, George, released 12 years of returns while running for president in 1968.
Romney’s 2010 return showed $21.66 million in income from capital gains, ordinary dividends, taxable interest and other business-related income. He paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent, primarily because of preferential treatment of capital gains and dividends.
Romney’s campaign today declined to answer questions about tax information it is seeking from potential running mates. Spokeswoman Andrea Saul cited the campaign’s policy of not discussing the search process.
Bain Issue
Obama and his allies say Romney should make more of his tax documents available to shed more light on his years as the co- founder of Boston-based firm Bain Capital LLC, a company Democrats say made business deals that closed plants in the U.S. and shipped jobs overseas.
The president argued today that Romney’s business experience is a fair topic for discussion in a race in which Romney has held it out as his prime qualification for the White House.
“We ask voters to examine that experience,” Obama told 1,200 supporters at a fundraiser in San Antonio, Texas, without naming Romney.
Outsourcing ’Pioneers’
Obama, who was raising about $4 million at four separate events in the Republican-leaning state, said some have called companies in which Bain invested “pioneers of outsourcing,” referring to a Washington Post story that has been used in television ads targeting Romney.
“I want somebody who believes in in-sourcing,” he said.
Helping the Democrats’ line of attack on Romney’s taxes are the prominent Republicans who joined Democrats in urging him to reveal more of his records.
Aside from Perry, U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas, another of Romney’s rivals in the Republican presidential race, told Politico today that his former opponent should divulge more. Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a former Republican Party chief, made the same point yesterday in an interview with ABC News.
“The advice I would give Romney is, ’Who cares about your tax returns?’ Release them,” Barbour said. “We need for this campaign to be about Obama’s record.”
Bipartisan Calls
The Obama campaign touted the Republicans urging Romney to release more tax returns in pressing its case.
“This is a call that’s not just being made by us; it’s being made by many people, including people from Mitt Romney’s own party,” Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Air Force One as the president traveled to Texas for the fundraisers.
Other Republicans came to Romney’s defense. Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, a Romney surrogate, told reporters in a conference call today that given the volume and complexity of the candidate’s filings, providing the 12 years of tax returns Democrats say they want would only offer ammunition for more attacks.
“There will be about six feet of returns in which they can find whatever nit they want to use as a distraction,” Sununu said. “There was a movie called ‘The Neverending Story,’ and I think that issue falls into that category.”
McCain, whose campaign received more than two years of Romney’s tax returns while vetting him as a potential running mate in 2008, said he could “personally vouch” that “there was nothing in his tax return that would in any way be disqualifying for him to be a candidate.”
’Sleeze Campaign’
“To somehow intimate that, without any basis in fact, is the sleaze campaign that this Obama campaign is running, and it is disgraceful,” McCain told reporters on Capitol Hill.
The returns the McCain camp reviewed in 2008 would have pre-dated the financial collapse beginning that year that caused major losses for many wealthy investors, which may have affected their tax rates for several years.
Senator Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, called the tax-return issue “just a distraction, like Bain Capital.”
“If Romney does three years or five, they are going to want five more years,” he said in an interview.
Romney tried to change the subject, telling voters packed into a warehouse at Horizontal Wireline Services, an oil and gas services company in Irwin, Pennsylvania, that Obama “has to recognize his policies have failed to get America working again.”
He also accused the president of steering taxpayer money to companies financed or run by his campaign backers, a charge he has pressed in recent days.
Campaign Donors
“I’m ashamed to say that we’re seeing our president handing out money to the businesses of campaign contributors,” Romney said.
Romney’s campaign has also used speculation about his vice presidential running mate to help blunt Obama’s attacks. His campaign today named two experienced operatives to manage the vice presidential rollout, which top aide Eric Fehrnstrom said yesterday could come as soon as this week.
Fehrnstrom later added that the announcement could occur anytime between now and the Aug. 27 start of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.
While the prospect of an announcement before week’s end remains unlikely, speculation about Romney’s timeline for making his choice and who he it will be has overshadowed some of criticism of his wealth and business dealings.
Building Businesses
In his bid to refocus the campaign on Obama’s record, Romney today accused him of failing to understand and appreciate how capitalism works. He seized on a remark Obama made to voters July 13 while campaigning in Roanoke, Virginia, when the president said: “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Romney said the comment was “not just foolishness, it’s insulting to every entrepreneur and every innovator in America.”
Sununu said Obama’s remark showed he doesn’t understand the American way. “The men and women all over America who have worked hard to build these businesses -- their businesses --from the ground up is how our economy became the envy of the world,” Sununu said. “It is the American way, and I wish this president would learn how to be an American.”
Asked to clarify his statement, he later said he meant Obama should “learn the American formula for creating business.”
--With assistance from Roger Runningen, Lisa Lerer, Chris Strohm and Richard Rubin in Washington. Editors: Robin Meszoly, Don Frederick
To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Irwin, Pennsylvania, at [email protected] Julie Bykowicz in San Antonio at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [email protected]
July 17 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama’s campaign escalated its attacks on Mitt Romney, using a new ad to question whether the Republican challenger is hiding something about his finances by refusing to disclose more than two years of tax returns.
“Tax havens, offshore accounts, carried interest,” the narrator of the ad says. “Mitt Romney has used every trick in the book.” The commercial ends with “Makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all. We don’t know, because Romney has released just one full year of his tax returns and won’t release anything before 2010.”
Romney has released his 2010 tax return and promised to make his 2011 documents public when they are ready. He sought to deflect the ad today by accusing Obama of implementing “liberal policies” that hurt the economy and handing out federal money based on campaign donations.
The sparring, while Romney stumped in the swing state of Pennsylvania and Obama raised money in Texas, played out as the presumed Republican presidential nominee faced mounting calls from Democrats and some leaders in his own party to release more of his tax returns.
Texas Governor Rick Perry today joined other Republicans in making that suggestion to Romney. Perry, one of Romney’s rivals in the party’s primary race, said those running for office should make public as much personal information as possible, according to the Associated Press. Perry has released returns dating back to 1992, the AP said.
Candidates Inconsistent
Candidates have been inconsistent in the past about releasing returns. Obama and Vice President Joe Biden have released 12 years of returns. Senator John McCain of Arizona, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, disclosed only two. Former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton each released eight, while Ronald Reagan made seven years’ worth public and George H.W. Bush disclosed three years. Romney’s father, George, released 12 years of returns while running for president in 1968.
Romney’s 2010 return showed $21.66 million in income from capital gains, ordinary dividends, taxable interest and other business-related income. He paid an effective tax rate of 13.9 percent, primarily because of preferential treatment of capital gains and dividends.
Romney’s campaign today declined to answer questions about tax information it is seeking from potential running mates. Spokeswoman Andrea Saul cited the campaign’s policy of not discussing the search process.
Bain Issue
Obama and his allies say Romney should make more of his tax documents available to shed more light on his years as the co- founder of Boston-based firm Bain Capital LLC, a company Democrats say made business deals that closed plants in the U.S. and shipped jobs overseas.
The president argued today that Romney’s business experience is a fair topic for discussion in a race in which Romney has held it out as his prime qualification for the White House.
“We ask voters to examine that experience,” Obama told 1,200 supporters at a fundraiser in San Antonio, Texas, without naming Romney.
Outsourcing ’Pioneers’
Obama, who was raising about $4 million at four separate events in the Republican-leaning state, said some have called companies in which Bain invested “pioneers of outsourcing,” referring to a Washington Post story that has been used in television ads targeting Romney.
“I want somebody who believes in in-sourcing,” he said.
Helping the Democrats’ line of attack on Romney’s taxes are the prominent Republicans who joined Democrats in urging him to reveal more of his records.
Aside from Perry, U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas, another of Romney’s rivals in the Republican presidential race, told Politico today that his former opponent should divulge more. Former Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, a former Republican Party chief, made the same point yesterday in an interview with ABC News.
“The advice I would give Romney is, ’Who cares about your tax returns?’ Release them,” Barbour said. “We need for this campaign to be about Obama’s record.”
Bipartisan Calls
The Obama campaign touted the Republicans urging Romney to release more tax returns in pressing its case.
“This is a call that’s not just being made by us; it’s being made by many people, including people from Mitt Romney’s own party,” Obama campaign spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters on Air Force One as the president traveled to Texas for the fundraisers.
Other Republicans came to Romney’s defense. Former New Hampshire Governor John Sununu, a Romney surrogate, told reporters in a conference call today that given the volume and complexity of the candidate’s filings, providing the 12 years of tax returns Democrats say they want would only offer ammunition for more attacks.
“There will be about six feet of returns in which they can find whatever nit they want to use as a distraction,” Sununu said. “There was a movie called ‘The Neverending Story,’ and I think that issue falls into that category.”
McCain, whose campaign received more than two years of Romney’s tax returns while vetting him as a potential running mate in 2008, said he could “personally vouch” that “there was nothing in his tax return that would in any way be disqualifying for him to be a candidate.”
’Sleeze Campaign’
“To somehow intimate that, without any basis in fact, is the sleaze campaign that this Obama campaign is running, and it is disgraceful,” McCain told reporters on Capitol Hill.
The returns the McCain camp reviewed in 2008 would have pre-dated the financial collapse beginning that year that caused major losses for many wealthy investors, which may have affected their tax rates for several years.
Senator Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, called the tax-return issue “just a distraction, like Bain Capital.”
“If Romney does three years or five, they are going to want five more years,” he said in an interview.
Romney tried to change the subject, telling voters packed into a warehouse at Horizontal Wireline Services, an oil and gas services company in Irwin, Pennsylvania, that Obama “has to recognize his policies have failed to get America working again.”
He also accused the president of steering taxpayer money to companies financed or run by his campaign backers, a charge he has pressed in recent days.
Campaign Donors
“I’m ashamed to say that we’re seeing our president handing out money to the businesses of campaign contributors,” Romney said.
Romney’s campaign has also used speculation about his vice presidential running mate to help blunt Obama’s attacks. His campaign today named two experienced operatives to manage the vice presidential rollout, which top aide Eric Fehrnstrom said yesterday could come as soon as this week.
Fehrnstrom later added that the announcement could occur anytime between now and the Aug. 27 start of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Florida.
While the prospect of an announcement before week’s end remains unlikely, speculation about Romney’s timeline for making his choice and who he it will be has overshadowed some of criticism of his wealth and business dealings.
Building Businesses
In his bid to refocus the campaign on Obama’s record, Romney today accused him of failing to understand and appreciate how capitalism works. He seized on a remark Obama made to voters July 13 while campaigning in Roanoke, Virginia, when the president said: “If you’ve got a business, you didn’t build that. Somebody else made that happen.”
Romney said the comment was “not just foolishness, it’s insulting to every entrepreneur and every innovator in America.”
Sununu said Obama’s remark showed he doesn’t understand the American way. “The men and women all over America who have worked hard to build these businesses -- their businesses --from the ground up is how our economy became the envy of the world,” Sununu said. “It is the American way, and I wish this president would learn how to be an American.”
Asked to clarify his statement, he later said he meant Obama should “learn the American formula for creating business.”
--With assistance from Roger Runningen, Lisa Lerer, Chris Strohm and Richard Rubin in Washington. Editors: Robin Meszoly, Don Frederick
To contact the reporter on this story: Julie Hirschfeld Davis in Irwin, Pennsylvania, at [email protected] Julie Bykowicz in San Antonio at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at [email protected]