MSNBC Guest: Mitt Romney Could End Up Withdrawing From GOP Race Before Convention

[Tx4obama]

VIDEO here: http://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbc-guest-mitt-romney-could-end-up-withdrawing-from-gop-race-before-convention/

On his MSNBC show today, Al Sharpton opened by focusing on Mitt Romney‘s tax returns and increasing pressure from Republicans and conservatives for the GOP candidate to release more of them. Guest Catherine Crier said that it is certainly fair to look into that aspect of Romney’s background, and even threw out the notion that Romney might withdraw as the Republican nominee before the convention.

-snip-

Crier pointed out that in 1994, when Romney ran against Ted Kennedy for his Senate seat, Romney did not release his returns, despite the precedent set by his father. She said that it is completely fair to scrutinize Romney’s history of job creation when he puts that forth as one of the reasons people should vote for him. Then, talking about what the implications of releasing or not releasing the returns would be, Crier mentioned she read an article today saying Romney might have to withdraw before the convention.

She didn’t mention which piece it was, but it was likely this post on The Huffington Post by Paul Abrams, who made this argument against Romney if the returns come out and reveal that the candidate took advantage of a 2009 IRS amnesty program.

No one who has received amnesty for a serious crime, such as tax evasion, can be president. One would think that someone for whom the clear implications are that he has received amnesty, but will not release exculpatory documents, also cannot be president.

-snip-

Edited to add the video link

[MichiganVote]

1. And keep the donor money no doubt

[Windy]

2. here comes Jeb. ugh

[BeHereNow]

12. 2016- count on it.

The "Black Man" will go down in our history as the one who
destroyed everything- that is the plan.
Bezelbub "Jeb" will arise as the "fixer" by 2016.
Mark my words, with your book mark option if you doubt them.
BHN

[TlalocW]

3. Romney's not going to drop out

He's fulfilling the Mormon prophecy; he's a rich jerk that doesn't listen to others as they're all peasants, etc.

HOWEVER, the more we talk about the possibility of Romney dropping out, the weaker he looks so I say we go ahead and keep saying things like this.

TlalocW

[Left Coast2020]

4. It was implied in another post in "Greatest Threads"....

.....that finally we have, a campaign with a spine. Yes. Keep hitting him on his evasion of taxes till November. And don't let up till then. rMoney can try to deflect the issue all he wants, but the voting public is apparently paying attention. rMoney has been defined!!!!!!

[bowens43]

5. not going to happen

this is just getting silly.

[HopeHoops]

6. If there's a sleazy pool of toxic waste out there, rMoney swims in it.

[jjewell]

7. Paul Abrams in HuffPost makes a good case...

If this is actually the case (and God, I hope it is), I'm stocking up on popcorn for watching the Republican Convention next month. The progressive pundits should immediately start asking "Did Mitt omit the FBAR from his 2010 tax disclosure, because it shows he took IRS amnesty for years of tax evasion?"

Go ahead GOP. Nominate a tax cheat!!

[Jack Rabbit]

8. Comment

From the Abrams piece:

No one who has received amnesty for a serious crime, such as tax evasion, can be president. One would think that someone for whom the clear implications are that he has received amnesty, but will not release exculpatory documents, also cannot be president.

Republicans might think they can successfully convince voters that tax evasion is not a serious crime, at least for the filthy rich. They seem to be taking the stand that an attack on Romney's secrecy over his taxes is either an attack on his success as a businessman or an attack on capitalism itself. We have heard some Republicans go even further, stating that there's nothing patriotic about paying taxes. Rush Limbaugh, when charging that the new Batman movie is a liberal conspiracy to defame Romney, suggested that all the talk about Bane Capital is a tempest in a teapot.

So, if Abrams is right about Romney receiving amnesty for tax evasion, will the Republicans just try to minimize it. On the one hand, many Republicans might think its the best thing to do, even if they know that Romney will lose in November as a result. The argument here, one might say if one were a Republican operative in a smoke filled room, is that last minute substitutes for a presumptive candidate don't have good track records in elections. It might just be that now, as a result of this controversy, Obama will win in November whether the Republicans dump Romney or not.

[jjewell]

11. Which is why...

until Romney fully releases his last eight years of tax returns, at least, progressives should be hammering this point home. Romney is a suspected tax cheat, and illegal tax evader, who avoided criminal prosecution by taking advantage of the IRS' 2009 Swiss Bank account amnesty program, which forgave years of criminal tax evasion by allowing the "criminal tax evaders" to turn themselves in to the IRS, pay the back taxes, pay a penalty, and avoid criminal prosecution.

It was illegal all along. he knew he was busted. He chose amnesty over prison.

What's Romney's stance on amnesty for "illegals", again??

Progressives should be hammering this point home until Romney releases the back tax returns...
Then they should hammer him on what the returns reveal.

What's the down side?

[Douglas Carpenter]

9. highly, highly unlikely!!! Most probably his tax returns are within the letter of the law and within

the defensible range of tax lawyers. They would just sound real bad to ordinary folks.

[rexcat]

10. No matter what the scenario...

it is a losing proposition for him!