The feud between Mitt Romney and Harry Reid continues to escalate. What began as a provocation by Reid is developing into a major skirmish, mainly because a thin-skinned Romney was dumb enough to take the bait.
So Reid announces that he has a source who asserts that Romney didn’t pay taxes for ten years. Reid carefully noted that it was not his speculation, but the testimony of a Bain Capital investor who had cause to know what he was talking about.
OK. So Romney is understandably perturbed. But rather than release his taxes and making a fool of Reid, Romney gets huffy and says…
“It’s time for Harry to put up or shut up. Harry is going to have to describe who it is he spoke with because that’s totally and completely wrong. It’s untrue, dishonest, and inaccurate. It’s wrong. So I’m — I’m looking forward to have Harry reveal his sources and we will probably find out it’s the White House.”
For Romney to demand that “Harry” (an intentionally disrespectful way of referencing the Senate Majority Leader) “put up or shut up” is laughable considering the whole controversy exists because Romney refuses to “put up” his tax returns as almost every presidential candidate has done for the last 40 years. What Romney is asking is for Reid to prove that Romney has paid taxes for the last ten years. Reid cannot prove that. Only Romney can. What’s more, Romney inserts an unsupported accusation that Reid’s source is the White House. If Romney has any evidence of that he should put up or shut up.
Yesterday Reid got some support from CNN’s Dana Bash who reported that she has a source who corroborates Reid’s source. So this is getting stickier by the hour for Romney. The bottom line for this affair was best articulated by conservative George Will, who is one of many Republicans calling on Romney to come clean. Will said…
“The cost of not releasing the returns are clear. Therefore, he must have calculated that there are higher costs in releasing them.”
That about sums it up. Romney clearly knows that there is something in his returns that would be more damaging to his campaign than the beating he is taking from both Democrats and Republicans for being obstinate. So, What’s he hiding?
Romney is someone who would do anything to become POTUS, we all know that. For him not to show his tax returns makes him look bad and my guess is showing them would make him look worse, it’s pretty obvious. Now he is trying to put he onus on Reid, that is laughable. The right-wing talk machine is in full attack mode though and they are circling the wagons now, saying he must stand his ground and somehow they are going to try to make him look like the principaled one, that is going to be a hard sell to most Americans.
Harry Reid does not strike me as the kind of politician to shoot his mouth off without there being some truth to what he said.