5 ms·

In what way is ransoming private sensitive financial information on the Internet "bad ass"? Would it be bad ass if it were a candidate that you liked? You? You

In what way is ransoming private sensitive financial information on the Internet "bad ass"? Would it be bad ass if it were a candidate that you liked? You? Your family? I'm no Romney supporter, but this is the ugliest kind of politics.

drivebyacct2 14y ago
I actually am more upset about it being ransomed rather than simply released.
- MartinCron 14y ago
  Releasing someone's private financial documents against their will is pretty ugly as well, but I agree that the ransom/blackmail/extortion angle makes this particularly ugly.
- rhizome 14y ago
  "it" is BS.
jack-r-abbit 14y ago
Wait... I thought as a Presidential candidate he would be handing that over anyway. Is that optional? I'm confused.
- MartinCron 14y ago
  There's no legal requirement for any candidate of office to disclose any tax returns. It has become a standard thing to do, and Romney has released at least one (2010) and has pledged to release another (2011), but it is totally optional. Obama, on the other hand, has released tax returns going back to 2000.
  - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
    Got it. I guess since they've all done it I assumed that was just what they did. I personally don't really give a crap about their tax returns. I fail to see what it matters how much money they made last year or 10yrs ago. Is that some sort of measure of how good of a President they will be?
    - MartinCron 14y ago
      People make the argument that it's a measure of character, but I don't buy it. I kind of like that it has provided a concrete example of how different people pay vastly different effective tax rates, but that could have been done in a bunch of different ways.
      - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
        A measure of character? Jeez... I hope we don't have too many people measuring a person's character based on the thickness of their wallet.
        Karunamon 14y ago
        Well, when a guy is running on a platform of being as American as mom and apple pie, it wouldn't look good for him to be using all kinds of offshore tax havens and loopholes.
        MartinCron 14y ago
        I think it is more about the aggressiveness if their loophole exploitation than mere thickness.
        jack-r-abbit 14y ago
        Just like I encourage my tax man to find every possible way for me to reduce my tax burden, I would expect everyone to do that. A loophole is a legal way to do that. If a person has the know-how to aggressively find and use the resources available to them... that shows a great deal of character to me. Don't hate the player... hate the game. You have a problem with a loophole, lobby to get it closed. Or use it also. But I imagine this view is not shared by everyone.
  - goggles99 14y ago
    >Obama, on the other hand, has released tax returns going back to 2000. Pelosi won't release her tax returns because she was only the 3rd most powerful person in the US government... She jokes that she will release them when she runs for president. I think that all these crooks in government be required to release all of their financial information. They need to be held accountable to us the us public. After all - they work for us. We need transparency, we need to see when they are taking kickbacks or making side deals, bribes ETC. What is your take on this?
    - MartinCron 14y ago
      My take is that this little token of transparency doesn't really matter all that much. It's not like there's a line item on the 1040 for "bribe income". Fixing the transparency and disclosure requirements for super-pacs would probably be even more valuable than opening up everyone's taxes, which does have personal privacy implications. Nancy Pelosi, like Romney, is making a strategic decision not to disclose because she sees the drawbacks as greater than the benefits of doing so. And just like with Romney's taxes, or the Obama's "short form" birth certificate, I'm not going to jump to the conclusion that anyone has something to hide
      - jcheng 14y ago
        > It's not like there's a line item on the 1040 for "bribe income" Amusingly: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch12.html#d0e33264 http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch12.html#d0e33264 http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch12.html#d0e34287 http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch12.html#d0e34287
      - rprasad 14y ago
        There is a line for bribe income. You include it as "other income" and must provide an attached statement describing each of the income items that are included in "other income".
      - taligent 14y ago
        Obama released his long form birth certificate and the Hawaii Department of Health certified it. What more could he possibly do ?
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]

drivebyacct2 14y ago

I actually am more upset about it being ransomed rather than simply released.

MartinCron 14y ago
Releasing someone's private financial documents against their will is pretty ugly as well, but I agree that the ransom/blackmail/extortion angle makes this particularly ugly.
rhizome 14y ago
"it" is BS.

jack-r-abbit 14y ago

Wait... I thought as a Presidential candidate he would be handing that over anyway. Is that optional? I'm confused.

MartinCron 14y ago
There's no legal requirement for any candidate of office to disclose any tax returns. It has become a standard thing to do, and Romney has released at least one (2010) and has pledged to release another (2011), but it is totally optional. Obama, on the other hand, has released tax returns going back to 2000.
- jack-r-abbit 14y ago
  Got it. I guess since they've all done it I assumed that was just what they did. I personally don't really give a crap about their tax returns. I fail to see what it matters how much money they made last year or 10yrs ago. Is that some sort of measure of how good of a President they will be?
  - MartinCron 14y ago
    People make the argument that it's a measure of character, but I don't buy it. I kind of like that it has provided a concrete example of how different people pay vastly different effective tax rates, but that could have been done in a bunch of different ways.
    - jack-r-abbit 14y ago
      A measure of character? Jeez... I hope we don't have too many people measuring a person's character based on the thickness of their wallet.
      - Karunamon 14y ago
        Well, when a guy is running on a platform of being as American as mom and apple pie, it wouldn't look good for him to be using all kinds of offshore tax havens and loopholes.
      - MartinCron 14y ago
        I think it is more about the aggressiveness if their loophole exploitation than mere thickness.
        jack-r-abbit 14y ago
        Just like I encourage my tax man to find every possible way for me to reduce my tax burden, I would expect everyone to do that. A loophole is a legal way to do that. If a person has the know-how to aggressively find and use the resources available to them... that shows a great deal of character to me. Don't hate the player... hate the game. You have a problem with a loophole, lobby to get it closed. Or use it also. But I imagine this view is not shared by everyone.
- goggles99 14y ago
  >Obama, on the other hand, has released tax returns going back to 2000. Pelosi won't release her tax returns because she was only the 3rd most powerful person in the US government... She jokes that she will release them when she runs for president. I think that all these crooks in government be required to release all of their financial information. They need to be held accountable to us the us public. After all - they work for us. We need transparency, we need to see when they are taking kickbacks or making side deals, bribes ETC. What is your take on this?
  - MartinCron 14y ago
    My take is that this little token of transparency doesn't really matter all that much. It's not like there's a line item on the 1040 for "bribe income". Fixing the transparency and disclosure requirements for super-pacs would probably be even more valuable than opening up everyone's taxes, which does have personal privacy implications. Nancy Pelosi, like Romney, is making a strategic decision not to disclose because she sees the drawbacks as greater than the benefits of doing so. And just like with Romney's taxes, or the Obama's "short form" birth certificate, I'm not going to jump to the conclusion that anyone has something to hide
    - jcheng 14y ago
      > It's not like there's a line item on the 1040 for "bribe income" Amusingly: http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch12.html#d0e33264 http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch12.html#d0e33264 http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch12.html#d0e34287 http://www.irs.gov/publications/p17/ch12.html#d0e34287
    - rprasad 14y ago
      There is a line for bribe income. You include it as "other income" and must provide an attached statement describing each of the income items that are included in "other income".
    - taligent 14y ago
      Obama released his long form birth certificate and the Hawaii Department of Health certified it. What more could he possibly do ?
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]