"I pay all the taxes that are legally required......."
“I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more,” Romney said in a debate in January, according to the New York Times.
This quote has bothered me since I first heard it months ago. If strictly following the rules is all that keeps you from cheating, what does that say about your moral reasoning? I was once involved with someone who would brag in much the same way when it came to being law-abiding, but I can tell you first hand, that didn’t say much for his character. As it turned out he was one of most cruel, manipulative bullies I’ve ever met. He didn’t much care what he had to do or who he hurt along the way to get what he wanted.
Much the same type of behavior is revealed in Romney’s past in his bullying a kid at school, impersonating a cop at college for fun, and putting his dog on the roof of the car. All of these show a pattern of human indifference and inability for empathy. These are certainly NOT the traits I want “The Man with The Button” or NDAA to have. More than any other presidential candidate in my lifetime, Romney scares the hell out of me.
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In fact, I know him from an atheist meetup. So discussions about morality and ethics are very tricky. In fact, the only immorality he recognizes in something that prevents the ruling class from compiling money. That's how he interprets the Constitution.
He is also a champion equivocator. Everything becomes a word game. Examples: "Trickle down is a political, not economic term. "Trapping heat" is not an allowable term when referring to greenhouse gasses. And everything that exists is "natural," because it exists. Roads and buildings are therefore natural features.
It is a game. But he is one of those people who are hard wired to be conservative. We have been carrying on mostly by email for three years now, and about the only progress I've made is that he no longer insists that global warming is a socialist conspiracy, pushed by scientists who want to cash in on government grants. But I think he still rationalizes that way. 
--imm
