Comments about ‘Robert Bennett: Qualities needed to sway 8 percent’

I am surprised that Mr. Bennett did not mention the call for Romney to release tax information. Candididates running for the highest office must assume that declaring tax and earnings information is a legitimate expectation of the voters, especially those who have not made up their minds.

It will be interesting when the debates occur. The harping of the Democrats on Private business activities, which used private funds, and then doing similar things with our tax dollars.

Louis: The only thing about Tax information is to allow people (Democrats) to point and say He has a lot more money that I do. Unless Mr. Romney did not follow the law there is no reason that the Americqn Public needs to see his Tax returns. Louis Why don't you show us yours first and then we can maybe side with you.

Vaughn J: There is no reason for any candidate (not just Romney) to release their tax returns. However, it has now become a tradition. One candidate releases their tax returns, then goads the opponent into showing theirs. If they balk, it appears the opponent has something to hide.

So you are absolutely correct, Vaughn J. The only reason for Romney to release his tax returns is to show he has nothing to hide. But it is too late. He hesitated, so Romney now appears to be hiding something. Even if he releases his tax returns, it will appear that he took time to clean up his returns and is still hiding something.

First impressions matter.

Wow. Well written, objective article by Senator Bennett. He was spot on, to what will help determine the election but the one thing he did not mention is the electoral college. As we saw in 2000, more Americans prefered Gore to Bush but the latter won the electoral vote. Looking at this year's race it appears it will be decided in 6 to 8 states and geographic issues or condition may be more relevant. Romney is an extremely weak, national candidate and he'll have to overcome a lot more handicaps than Obama. But then, Obama is the sitting president during extremely weak econcomic conditions.

"Voters aren’t policy wonks who pore over Tax Policy Center analyses. And when a politician cites actual numbers in a speech, well, there’s always a politician on the other side to contradict him. How are voters supposed to know who’s telling the truth? In fact, earlier this year focus groups given an accurate description of Romney’s policy proposals refused to believe that any politician would take such a position.

Perhaps in a better world we could count on the news media to sort through the conflicting claims. In this world, however, most voters get their news from short snippets on TV, which almost never contain substantive policy analysis. The print media do offer analysis pieces, but these pieces, out of a desire to seem “balanced,” all too often simply repeat the he-said-she-said of political speeches. Trust me: you will see very few news analyses saying that Mr. Romney proposes huge tax cuts for the rich, with no plausible offset other than big benefit cuts for everyone else, even though this is the simple truth."
(Krugman, Policy and the Personal)

If Mr. Bennett is correct then none of the 8 percent will vote for Mr. Obama as he has shown himself to be the most partisan, divisive President of the post world war II era. And combines this with an amazingly dysfunctional and corrupt administration. However, Mr. Bennett is not correct, because the winner will be determined by how honest the vote tally is and given the expertise of the Chicago Democratic influence in Mr. Obama's campaign, he will win.

re:Hellooo

Vote rigging?

In fact, Stephen Spoonamore, (self-described life-long Republican), cybersecurity expert testified in an affadavit alledging possible election fraud in Ohio, 2004 general election.

On Election Night in 2004, the Ohio Secretary of State's website posting the official Ohio election results was hosted on Republican-controlled servers in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which also were home to many other Republican websites. According to Spoonamore this set-up "modified" more typical electronic vote counting networks, where local precincts would record individual votes and then send them to county tabulators, which in turn would send the countywide counts to a statewide tabulator.

"The vote tabulation and reporting system, as modified at the direction of Mr. (Kenneth J.) Blackwell (Ohio's former Secretary of State, a Republican and co-chair of the president's re-election campaign in Ohio in 2004), allowed the introduction of a single computer in the middle of the pathway," he said. "This computer located at a company principally managing IT Systems for GOP campaign and political operations (Computer C) received all information from each county computer (Computer A) BEFORE it was sent onward to Computer B (Ohio's statewide vote count tabulator)."

Those in the remaining 8% category (undecided voters) could care less about Mitt's tax returns. Only those in the 92% group are pontificating about tax returns and they have already made up their mind.

What will likely sway the undecided voters one way or another is how they feel about this economy and whether they believe it is headed in the right direction when they step into that voting booth.

Right now, a large majority of voters do NOT believe the economy is headed in the right direction.

Ref Vaughn J The only reason of releasing taxes...is to show he has more money than we have. Give me a break, that is already a no brainer. I think the majority would see a value of disclosing all information. He can clear the air sooner than later, if needs be, and people would applaud him for that.

Votin' Obama. I guess I'm not among those yet to be swayed.

@Vaughn J
"Unless Mr. Romney did not follow the law there is no reason that the Americqn Public needs to see his Tax returns."

But how can we know that unless we see them? He has given like 1.25 years of tax returns (.5 for this year which isn't complete yet, and .75 since he didn't release everything from 2010 like the critical information about his Swiss bank account). Besides, even if he followed the law, there's still things that would be of interest. Like if he paid

Does anyone think Mr. Obama can help the economy. If you do raise your hand. Can Romney help the economy? I just raised my hand.

Here are some facts to ponder regarding Mr. Romney's refusal to release his tax returns:
1. We know Mr. Romney has had money in Swiss bank accounts
2. Prior to 2009 Swiss bank accounts were held in strictest secrecy, allowing many to avoid paying taxes on the income they generate.
3. As a result of scandals, in 2009 this changed and Swiss bank account information was made more accessible.
4. Also, in 2009 the U.S. Government offered an amnesty to people who had illegally hidden money in Swiss bank accounts, and had not reported the income on their taxes. The amnesty agreement permitted these individuals to pay their back taxes, with their fines, but they would not be criminally prosecuted.
5. Mr. Romney has steadfastly refused to release tax returns prior to 2010.

My question: Did Mr. Romney engage in criminal activity by not reporting taxable income generated from Swiss bank accounts prior to 2009, and did he take advantage of the amnesty to clean this up? The question is certainly relevant and bears on his personal honesty. I would like to see it answered.

Mr. Romney files his taxes with the IRS just like the rest of us. If there was anything amiss, he would be audited. ESPECIALLY because of all the attention his income and taxes have received since 2008.

The IRS has no problem auditing rich guys that Obama doesnt like... (see Frank L. Vandersloot, president of Melaleuca)