Mitt Turns Down Reasonable Obama Offer

What do you think would have happened if you had refused to allow a prospective employer to do a background check on regarding what you had stated on your application and resume? You know what would have happened -- your paperwork would have been tossed in the trash and someone else would have been hired for that job. If an employer is going to hire you and trust you with his/her business, then they have the right to check and make sure you have told them the truth.

Why then does Willard Mitt Romney (aka Wall Street Willie) think the American people don't have the right to know what he has done in the past? He is applying for the most powerful position in the free world, president of the United States -- a position that requires, even demands, the trust of the employers (the citizens of the United States). And yet, Willard doesn't think those employers should have the right to check his background.

In fact, Willard has gone to great lengths to hide his background. He had records destroyed (shredded and deleted) from two of his jobs -- governor of Massachusetts and head of the Olympic Organizing Committee for the Winter Games in Utah. And he thinks it's unfair to investigate his actions as a vulture capitalist at Bain Capital. He has lied about his time there, and even asked President Obama to not talk about it (although he is eager to lie about President Obama's background).

But perhaps the most egregious attempt to hide wrongdoing (or at least embarrassing facts) is his absolute refusal to release more than one partial tax return (the 2010 return he's released is missing the page regarding foreign investments). He's doing this in spite of the fact that his primary opponents released their returns, President Obama has released 12 years worth of returns, and Willard's own father (George Romney) released 12 years worth of tax returns when he ran for president.

But Willard thinks he is special. He shouldn't have to do what other candidates have done (including his own father). He thinks the American people (his prospective employers) should just take him at his word, and believe him when he says he has nothing to hide (and has paid taxes in all of the years he is hiding his returns for). There are two problems with that. He could easily prove he has nothing to hide by just releasing more of his returns.

And he has lied so many times in the past that only a die-hard Willard supporter could even consider believing him. If you doubt that, just check on the huge list of lies Willard has told being kept by Steve Benen (who counts over 30 lies by the Republican candidate just in this last week, and hundreds since his campaign has started).

The Obama campaign has offered Willard a deal -- a way out of this embarrassing mess if he truly has nothing to hide. They have proposed, in writing (so they can be held to their promise), that if Willard will just release 5 years of his tax returns (less than half of what his father and the president released), the Obama campaign will not ask for any more returns. Here is what they offered:

I am writing to ask again that the Governor release multiple years of tax returns, but also to make an offer that should address his concerns about the additional disclosures. Governor Romney apparently fears that the more he offers, the more our campaign will demand that he provide. So I am prepared to provide assurances on just that point: if the Governor will release five years of returns, I commit in turn that we will not criticize him for not releasing more--neither in ads nor in other public communications or commentary for the rest of the campaign.

This request for the release of five years, covering the complete returns for 2007-2012, is surely not unreasonable. Other Presidential candidates have released more, including the Governor's father who provided 12 years of returns.  In the Governor's case, a five year release would appropriately span all the years that he has been a candidate for President.  It would also help answer outstanding questions raised by the one return he has released to date, such as the range in the effective rates paid, the foreign accounts maintained, the foreign investments made, and the types of tax shelters used.

To provide these five years, the Governor would have to release only three more sets of returns in addition to the 2010 return he has released and the 2011 return he has pledged to provide.  And, I repeat, the Governor and his campaign can expect in return that we will refrain from questioning whether he has released enough or pressing for more.

Of course, Willard flatly turned down the reasonable offer. That's because it has become obvious to anyone with half a brain that Willard is hiding something -- something that is so embarrassing (or illegal) that he believes it will cost him the election if made public. The only real question is what is he hiding.

You are Willard's prospective employer -- and he is refusing to allow you to do a background check. A reasonable person would toss his application in the trash and hire someone else.