Not a lot to diary here, but it's a good column by Jon Carroll, one of the good guys, and it's getting lots of online readership, #1 or #2 on the Most Read list for SF Gate, the SF Chronicle's web site this morning. Sure it's mostly Californians who're reading it, and a majority of CA voters are already convinced that, no matter our criticisms, we'll vote for Obama, but hey, it's worth a read. Carroll connects some of the dots about why Rmoney, like other members of the 1 percent who have been "pillaging this nation" have "not shown themselves to be patriots." I'll paste in the lead below.
Duncan Black, an economist who blogs under the name Atrios, wrote something provocative the other day:
"As I've said many times, what's fascinating about the what's-in-Romney's-tax-returns story is that the man who has been running for president forever (presumably) could never bring himself to conduct his finances in such a way so as to make it politically possible for him to release the damn things."
It's a real good point. Romney did release one year of tax returns, but that's hardly enough to defuse the issue. I assume that Romney knew that his wealth would be an issue in the campaign, one that he would have to deflect somehow. If he'd released the rest of his returns back in, say, April, that whole kerfuffle would be over and done with right now - unless, of course, something was amiss with the returns.
Carroll doesn't mention the theory that Romney doesn't want to release his taxes because they would show that he hadn't paid the requisite 10 percent of his gross income in tithes to the Mormon Church; one of my favorite answers in the guessing game.