For the record, I don't put a lot of stock in daily tracking polls, but I'll admit the swing-polling going into Saturday was pretty much perfectly reflected.
EDIT: Oh gods. I just agreed...with Ann Coulter. I think I'm going to be sick. 
Coulter also defended CNN's John King for asking Gingrich about the recent allegations made by his ex-wife. Coulter said, "John King is a completely fair reporter, an honorable reporter...and Newt Gingrich goes back to the well to attacking the media, and I resent that..."
Ann Fucking Coulter criticising Gingrich for "going back to the well" of attacking the Liberal Media, and defending CNN. I have now officially seen everything. This race is truly driving people insane.
I don't think anyone IS damning him for doing a legal tax return. Rather that they are damning the idea that that tax return SHOULD be legal.
Just a minor point. Tax returns are the documents demonstrating what taxes were paid, income levels, exemptions, etc. The reason people are pissed is that his effective tax rate was well under the median tax rate while his income was 1% levels. Even pretending his charitable contributions were taxes (and allowing Mormon tithing as charitable) he was paying less than the top rate of income tax (35%).
I'm reminded of a time Bill O'Reilly went on the
The Daily Show, and income and taxes and Obama the Communist came up. Stewart pointed out that in the 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, the top marginal tax bracket was 91%. Think about that, 91% of income over (whatever the bracket was then) paid in taxes. O'Reilly point out that essentially no millionaire of the era actually paid that tax, thanks to loopholes. Stewart asked whether that was principled, and rather than stopping at just saying it's principled enough to legally compliant, O'Reilly briefly argued that it is in itself
patriotic to pay as little taxes as possible.
Lots of people want millionaires to pay higher taxes than themselves. Romney pulled an interesting reversal on Gingrich in last night's debate - after talking for a bit about how Romney only paid 15% taxes because his income is mostly capital gains, Gingrich soon after described a tax plan that called for eliminating capital gains taxes altogether. Romney quipped that under Gingrich's tax plan, he would pay effectively nothing. It was like he was saying, "If you're ticked off that a millionaire like me is paying more taxes than you,
this guy wants me to pay squat," although his kind of awkward of saying it made it sound almost like bragging.
But more than wanting rich people to pay more taxes, virtually everyone wants themselves to pay less than they currently do. Ask absolutely anybody who qualifies for a tax break of some kind, and they'll probably boast wildly about it. This ties back to O'Reilly, which especially plays true with capital-C Conservative people. If your political philosophy counts as a founding principle a distrust and hatred for the federal government (especially when you don't like the President), then cheating the government out of taxes (including legally cheating) is itself a "good thing".
I'm curious to see which way Romney manages to play this (if he manages at all), after his Gingrich-line got so little response. There's two ways he can run this that both count as "populism" with Conservative voters, and they don't even have to be exclusive. I wonder if he can see that opening for what it is.
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Topic: American Election Megathread - It's Over (Read 720676 times)