Lindsey Graham is trying to sell the idea that the Caribbean and Swiss bank accounts Romney set up to avoid paying U.S. taxes is all part of the American way so everyone needs to just shut up.
As long as it was legal, I’m OK with it,” Graham said. “I don’t blame anybody for using the tax code to their advantage. I blame us for having it so complicated and confused. Pick a rate and make people pay it.”
In the meantime, anything within the rules goes, he argued.
“It’s a game we play,” Graham said. “Every American tries to find the way to get the most deductions they can. I see nothing wrong with playing the game because we set it up to be a game.
Talk about a losing argument. Legal or not (Romney hasn’t released any tax returns prior to 2010, so who knows what he’s been up to), Graham is not talking about some guy looking to become mayor of Palookaville, USA. He’s speaking of the man working to become President of the United States. Should the bar not be set slightly higher for a presidential candidate than for some Joe looking to save a few dollars on his taxes?
Here’s the sniff test for anything Republicans say these days in defense of their actions. Simply imagine their reaction should the roles be reversed. What would they have said in 2008 if it was discovered that Barack Obama had bank accounts in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda as well as money hiding in a Swiss account? It would be front page stuff on every wingnut website and talk show for months. You wouldn’t be able to switch on the television without RNC sponsored ads blasting away every few minutes portraying angry Americans screaming about the unpatriotic ways of Barack Hussein Obama. Teabaggers’ heads would be exploding by the minute and Fox News would be overjoyed that for once they could attack Obama without having to make any shit up. Sean Hannity would orgasm on air while the headline OBAMA THE UN-AMERICAN TAX CHEAT pulsated wildly onscreen.
It would be a circus unlike anything seen before.
Democrats should be thanking Lindsey Graham for his pathetic attempt at defending Romney and his offshore tax havens. It makes Mitt look even more like the self-serving, slimy weasel he’s shown himself to be.
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Hey idiot Republicans. It’s not so much that Mitt may have done something “illegal”. It’s that he may have done something “sleazy”, and then asks people to elect him to be the President. Got it? The voters have a right to know, OK? It was OK to make a big deal about the church Candidate Obama attended. Remember? It’s called “transperency”. Screw Lindsay Graham and the Dressage Horse he rode in on.
People’s desire to keep their wealth, is equal to their desire to earn wealth. It would be news, only if he didn’t try to protect his assets.
Having said that, I think it was a politically stupid thing to do.