Former Mitt strategist on Romneyland tax dump: 'Is this an April Fool's joke?' (updated)

[ProSense]

Former Mitt strategist on Romneyland tax dump: 'Is this an April Fool's joke?'

by Jed Lewison

Alex Castellanos, who worked for Mitt Romney in 2008 and continues to be a Republican political consultant, tells Politico's Maggie Haberman that he is not impressed with the optics of Romney's tax dump move:

"At first I thought this was an April Fool's Joke," said Castellanos, who tweeted something to that effect at me earlier. "But it isn't April. I can't imagine that David Axelrod will now say, I'm glad Mitt put this issue behind him. This will drag Mitt's taxes back into the debate. And there's not many days left. I just can't imagine why they would do this. There are 40 days left and you have now made more of them about Mitt's taxes....you don't serve a life sentence and then confess afterward. They've taken their beating on this (already) ... I just don't understand how a (being) 'little pregnant' strategy (works)."

According to Haberman, Castellanos isn't alone. She says other Republican operatives are telling her this partial dump of Romney's past tax returns will only encourage more questions about his past returns.

One good question, raised by Greg Sargent, is this: what was Mitt Romney's actual effective tax rate during the past 20 years? As he points out, Romney merely released the average tax rate during that time. That means years in which he had lower income count the same as years in which he had a higher income, and given that his tax rate seems to go down as his income goes up, the 20 percent figure he's releasing is probably a bit misleading.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/09/21/1134952/-Former-Mitt-strategist-on-Romneyland-tax-dump-Is-this-an-April-Fool-s-joke

Updated to add this from the comments at the link:

The 2011 return is stamped 'In Process Return' and states in parts that

All information on this return is estimated and may change significantly

http://www.scribd.com/doc/106589436/Mitt-Ann-Romney-Tax-Return-2011-as-released-by-campaign

It's not even the final. Just how desperate for a diversion was he to do something like this. You can't even hold him to the numbers because they're not final. I don't get it. It seems to me this just makes him look like he's totally floundering.

http://www.dailykos.com/comments/1134952/47630087#c5

...and also this reminder about Mitt's 2010 tax return:

Zach Carter
Ryan Grim

Mitt Romney Taxes For 2010 Not Fully Disclosed

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney has not released his full tax records from 2010, including key documentation connected to his Swiss bank account.

Although President Barack Obama and an increasing number of Republican politicians have called on Romney to release tax returns from years prior to 2010, the public criticism has so far failed to note that Romney has not disclosed all of his tax documents for 2010 itself -- the only year for which the GOP presidential nominee has presented any final tax forms.

Romney released his 2010 tax return in January of this year, a document that first informed voters about the existence of his Swiss bank account and financial activities in Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. But people who own foreign bank accounts are required to file a separate document with the IRS that provides additional details on such overseas bank holdings, and Romney has not released that form to the public.

The Romney campaign did not respond to HuffPost's request to view the document.

Tax experts say it is almost certain that Romney did file the form, known as a Report on Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or "FBAR" in accountant slang. The penalty for not filing an FBAR can be severe, and the IRS would have expected to receive the form since Romney listed the Swiss bank account on his tax return. Listing the account on his tax return and then failing to file the subsequent FBAR would have been asking for a hefty fine, and would probably have heightened IRS scrutiny of prior tax filings.

- more -

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/18/mitt-romney-taxes-2010_n_1683084.html

You know Romney's having a bad day when ...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021391143

Mitt is desperately trying to change the subject, but he's making it worse
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021391265

[democrat_patriot]

1. I agree - nobody was talking about it. Guess what???

[louis-t]

2. Maybe he shoulda accepted Reid's offer.

Too late, sucka.

[Recursion]

3. I don't get the timing or the optics either

But so much of what this campaign has done is simply puzzling.

[ProSense]

5. It's bizarre. n/t

[lpbk2713]

4. Mittens is all out of toes.

[hifiguy]

6. On both feet.

[truebluegreen]

7. This is how desperate he is!

that he would rather talk about taxes than Anything Else that has happened this week.

[madmax]

8. ?? Does this guy WANT to lose? n/t

[Spitfire of ATJ]

15. "Does this guy WANT to lose?"

I'm firmly convinced he was not supposed to win. The Republican Party HATES him. The first tier candidates ALL said they weren't going to run this time. This left the dregs. It was part of why Ron Paul supporters were so enthusiastic, they looked at the field and realized he actually had a shot. However it was necessary for Mitt to be the one because the GOP wanted to get RID of him and the BEST way of doing that was to run him in a losing election so they could call him a "loser" and be rid of him forever.

[DemsUnited]

9. Not even final??!! ProSense, maybe post that seperately

because it's kinda buried in your most excellent post and I think many DU'ers and Bloggers and MSM alike have not yet picked up on that important detail.

if it's still in progress and can change significantly then it is just a piece of fiction and worth squat.

On edit: I went to scribd and couldn't find the stamp the dkos diarist was referring too ...

[ibegurpard]

10. maybe I'm missing something here but

so what if he released last year's returns?
wasn't the point that everyone else had gone back ten years and there were issues about whether he was or was not at Bain? what does this prove?

[tomm2thumbs]

11. they should have dumped it with the other return - instead 'Mr Strategy' drops the ball

they just are making themselves look so inept, even from the plain level of 'thinking on their feet' that I can't imagine more people are saying 'geesh, these guys really have their act together -- I think they'd make great leaders of the free world'

Not at all. If you can't do the little things right, how are you ever expected to do the big ones right?

[porphyrian]

12. . n/t

[GEOpix]

13. To paraphrase Disraeli...

There are lies, damned lies, and then there are Romney' tax returns :&gt

[byeya]

14. Yes, but for a day, he was oranger than Rep Boner

That counts for something doesn't it? Couldn't have been easy.