Harry Reid refuses to back down from his claim that Mitt Romney didn’t pay taxes for ten years
Earlier this week Harry Reid made a claim, based on no evidence and with only some anonymous source, that Mitt Romney didn’t pay taxes for ten years. He was asked if he wanted to walk back this baseless claim and not only did he refuse to do so, he actually doubled down on the accusation.
I am not basing this on some figment of my imagination,” Reid said in a telephone call with Nevada reporters. “I have had a number of people tell me that”
When asked to reveal these phantom whistleblowers Harry Reid refused to do so and then he said something that I found most interesting:
“I don’t think the burden should be on me,” Reid said. “The burden should be on him. He’s the one I’ve alleged has not paid any taxes. Why didn’t he release his tax returns?”
Harry Reid believes that just because he accused somebody of doing–or in this case, not doing–something, without any proof, that is now up to the accused to prove what he said is false, if he does not answer the question it must be an admission of guilt. Yet Harry Reid doesn’t believe he needs to offer any proof to back up what he is saying, in fact he seemed a little indignant that he would be asked to prove what he is claiming is the truth. What I said in my previous post on this issue is true, in today’s political world a person is guilty until proven innocent and not the other way around as it is supposed to be.
When a person is accused of a crime some evidence is supposed to be brought forth to back up the claim, at that point it is up to the individual to prove his or her innocence. But Harry Reid believes anybody can throw anything out there without any proof and the person must prove the claims are false just because the question has been asked, no matter how outrageous that claim may be. Rumors and speculation are now fair game.
Having said that, I have heard a few rumors as well, so following Harry Reid’s lead, there are a few issues I believe Barack Obama needs to address:
I heard a rumor about Barack Obama engaging in sexual favors with Larry Sinclair while smoking crack with him in the back of a taxi cab while he was a sitting state senator in Illinois.
I heard a rumor that Barack Obama is a Muslim.
I heard a rumor that the Birth Certificate Barack Obama released to prove he wasn’t born in Kenya was forged.
I heard a rumor that Frank Marshall Davis is Barack Obama’s real father and is listed as such on the Birth Certificate.
I heard a rumor that Barack Obama is listed as ‘white’ on his Birth Certificate because the only relatives present at his birth was his white mother and white grandmother.
I heard a rumor Barack Obama has a Connecticut Social Security Number even though he never lived in that state.
I heard a rumor that Barack Obama renounced his United States citizenship so he could attend a madrassa in Indonesia.
I heard a rumor that Barack Obama entered the most elite colleges in America because he was listed as a foreign exchange student.
I heard a rumor that Barack Obama signed a paper pledging support for Black Liberation Theory when he attended Reverend Wright’s church.
Do I have proof of any of this? No, but to paraphrase Harry Reid, I don’t think the burden of proof should be on me. It should be on him because he is the one whom I alleged did all these things. I haven’t written much about these issues simply because they are rumors, speculation, and conspiracy theories but now that Harry Reid has decided rumors are fair game all bets are off.
Barack Obama, are these rumors true? It is time you answered these questions and if you do not it is proof you are guilty, right Harry?
Two can play at this game…..
America's Watchtower 
And where are the constitutionalist in congress who should be taking action against this pencil dick’s baseless allegations perpetrated against an American citizen on the floor of the U.S. Senate, which incidentaly is illegal? As I stated once before on this site the moral vacuum in which these elected officials operate and perpetuate is just another example if the cultural and social breaking down of what was once a great country. Again, my pessimism and pragmatism dictate my belief that floppy ears’ win in November will lead to the final nail in our nation’s coffin. For Reid, the misuse of the once hallowed office of Senate Majority Leader, it’s just another episode of his business as usual.
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I don’t know if it is illegal or not, but it certainly seemed wrong for Harry Reid to make those claims while on the Senate floor and in campaign mode.
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Peter, Reid is just full of himself! He has let his authority go to his head and is abusing the position he was elected to. Let’s hope the Nevada “educated” people vote him out of there, they would be better off if they did. Problem is, they have alot of VOTES that are found or questionable, there is what has to be fixed. It is so “in your face” illegal how he goes about getting reelected each time, but still they let him do it. Guess you could call them “stupid” after so many time of this idiot getting in, couldn’t you?
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I thought there was a good chance he would be defeated in 2010 but he wasn’t, now we are stuck with him for still another four years!
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So you’re acknowledging the President is a citizen? That’s a good start . . .
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I believe the citizen he is talking about is Romney.
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TGY, it is a traitor if it is a citizen, a spy if it is not.
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I really, really dislike Harry Reid. What he is doing is hitting below the belt and should be beneath the dignity of his office.
On the other hand, I am seeing more and more comments on different posts and stories about this that are declaring Romney should release his tax returns. Many of them are alluding to the theory that the only reason he doesn’t is because he really does have something to hide. I hate to see Romney fold his hand, but I am beginning to wonder if it wouldn’t be best for him to release the returns. Then he could weather the storm and move on to more important issues.
Just my two cents, for what it’s worth.
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I have gone back ond forth myself about whether or not he should release them. At first I thought he should, but now I am thinking that if he does the Democrats will slowly leak out information they think is harmful every day from now until the election , so maybe it is better that he didn’t release them. Maybe by not releasing them it will keep the Democrats distracted and off target, and I don’t know how many people really care about this other than Barack Obama’s base.
But if you ask me tomorrow I might just change my mind again, it is a tough call.
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You should read the comments at this link. My posts are cross-posted at Open Salon and the leap of logic some of them are making to declare Romney guilty is amazing.
http://open.salon.com/blog/political_realities/2012/08/03/obama_campaign_gets_personal_with_attacks_on_romney#post_comments
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Thanks Larry, I will check it out right now.
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Wow! I have to hand it to you Larry, they are trying to hammer you over there but you are holding your own against the onslaught!
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I am probably more stubborn than they realize. The misinformation they are spewing is astounding.
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I don’t think he should. Obama has been able to hide everything that might have an adverse effect on him, so why should Romney? Just because it is the right thing to do appears to be one sided. I am not thrilled with Romney, but if that is our choice, then I will vote for him. I know we can’t survive another 4 years of Obama and most people are just not paying attention to what is going on, so they will pull that lever for him like they did last time. Add in all the illegal votes or votes found and the military being shackled on their votes, we pretty much know what the outcome is going to be, don’t we? I am hoping I am wrong, but I doubt it. Where there is a will there is a way and it appears that Obamas will might just be stronger than Romneys for wanting to be in OUR HOUSE. All we have to do is look around at the company Obama keeps to see what kind of seedy actions will be coming our way. Let’s say that the next few months will be an eye opener, even for those of us that have been paying attention. For the clueless, let’s hope they see the errors to their ways before it is too late and vote for the good of the country, not for what benefits THEY can get alone.
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My recollection, Steve, is that past candidates have shared a number of years of tax returns. The people are legitimately concerned with the candidate’s financial activity not only for the year immediately preceding that candidacy, but for many years prior. This isn’t some middle management job he’s seeking in the local bank, after all.
As to Reid – perhaps he’s become something of a scold, but he’s been the target of a lot of baseless attacks himself. I recall the wild-eyed fury of the talk-show crowd when he had the temerity to vote for a bride just six miles
from a piece of property he owned. He may not consider himself to initiating the game of requiring others to disprove rumors, but joining one already in progress.
And while you may consider yourself to be playing tit-for-tat with your list of rumors, don’t forget that you got them from others for whom that’s their daily fare – the small but disturbingly loud collection of birthers, truthers, and other conspiracy theorists for whom no rumor is too outrageous.
You may be outraged by Reid’s tactic, but I’m not going to insult your intelligence by suggesting you actually believe it’s appropriate to adopt it yourself.
Have a magnificent weekend, and may God bless us all!
TGY
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Bride, yeesh. Not a bride, a bridge.
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Larry, I think they are finding out the hard way.
Lou, if I were Romney I would probably tell Obama that I will release my taxes when he releases his college records. Give a little, get a little.
TGY, Romney should have released all his tax records a long time ago if he wanted to avoid this controversy and it would already be behind him. That was a tactical error on his part, but I do think that the campaign went over the line by suggesting Romney was a felon and Reid went over the line with this baseless claim.
You know that I haven’t adopted the many conspiracy theories which surround the president, and I haven’t really written about them even when Arpaio held his press conference and declared the BC a fraud, but after hearing Reid I thought a little reminder would be in order to show what can happen when people throw around claims without any proof.
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That’s what I thought.
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TGY, believe it or not I actaully did wonder how you would take this post before I published it. In the end I knew you would understand the point I was trying to make even if you disagreed with the way I went about it.
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Very well done, Steve. Seriously, should think about sending your post to the Washington Times or the Examiner. They just might run it. Harry Reid is a slime ball. I met him several times when I lived in Nevada. I didn’t like him any better then than I do now.
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Thank you Jim, maybe I will. You met Reid several times? No wonder why you left the country! 🙂
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Haha! Jim is right on your article, you have been fine tuning them and are getting quite good at getting your point across. You should be right up there with others that are calling themselves Journalists As for Harry Reid, I can’t stand looking at him, let alone listening to his soft, whispering, deceiving voice. There are certain people I would like to see out of office and he and Pelosi top the list. You can include Al Franken, as well, he is a joke and never should have been elected.
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Thanks Lou for the compliment, I actually have been trying to take a little more time on them instead of just throwing them out there like I did when I started. I am glad to know it shows, the only downside is that I have fewer daily posts.
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Quality, not quantity!
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That is something I have come to realize Lou, but it isn’t always easy. Believe it or not I feel like I let the regular readers down if I don’t post on all the issue I think I should.
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There are enough of us here, if there is something major that comes up we usually throw it into a post. You do what you think you need to do and we do the same, it usually comes out pretty well. There is just so much going on lately, guess it would be hard to pinpoint just one subject, but I think you are doing a fine job.
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Thanks again, you are right about them throwing quite a bit at us. I think they do it on purpose so that we can’t keep up with it. They throw out a bunch of smaller issues to the public to distract us and when we aren’t looking they throw out the one they are really interested in–like amnesty.
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I’ve heard from several places that Harry Reid is a pederast! You don’t know, he might be. Prove it isn’t so, Harry.
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Harry isn’t young enough to be a pederast, he’s a shriveled old man. Pedophile would be the right term.
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I’ll buy that one!
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Those are both serious charges, Harry needs to answer them!
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Indeed!
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If Romney gives in to this hernaphrodite’s ( apologies to all the other earthworms) blackmail then we need not participate in November’s charade; give it up now.
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Reid is Right.
Release your Returns Romney
…or go back to playing dressage!
We all have a RIGHT to see a Presidential Candidates tax returns!
WHAT is Romney hiding?
p.s.
AND how did you stuff all those millions into your tax-loophole IRA
while the rest of us poor smucks have limits?
You want MORE tax cuts for the rich, Mitt?
WHAT GALL!
Mitt- if you want to run for dog-catcher then
keep your returns, and clean off your car roof.
Otherwise put up or shut up and go away ….
BEFORE the convention.
The rich think that they have the God-given right
to do anything they want in this great country-
while the REST of us get screwed!
ENOUGH!
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A paid commentator I assume?
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How much money does Harry Reid and Barack Obama have, are they not also some of the evil rich against whom you speak?
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Steve, Reid and President Obama may have personal wealth that would shame our meager bank accounts, but compared to what we know about Mr. Romney, they’re both in the 99%
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I never would have thought that Reid and Obama and their ilk were actually considered some of the little people.
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Seriously, dude!!??
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Well, whether or not we have a right to see all candidates’ returns is questionable, but there’s no doubt we have a right to demand to see them. Candidates who do not respond positively to the people’s demands do so at their own risk, because it opens the door for all sorts of allegation, founded and otherwise, about what might be contained therein.
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Reid plays a dangerous game. Romney may not have paid some taxes, a result of IRS approved exemptions. but claims of non-payment is presented as a fact of wrong doing.
Reid is well known for his personal corruption in Nevada, taking gifts from boxing interests as well as from casino bosses – no secret. Reid, like Obama, has no problem deflecting and engaging in obfuscation regardless of truth.
Obama has more to hide than any other player on the current political scene as witness his failure to allow insight into his education and past associations. What’s he hiding?
As for Romney’s tax returns – nothing more than a distraction from the administrations gross failure in rejuvenating the economy and defection from Obama’s agenda to dismantle the country as we know it. Romney is under no obligation to reveal anything to Harry Reid, the Democrats and their radical socialist enablers.
In reply to chaZ11222 : Your hero Obama and his lap dogs Reid and Pelosi and all those stimulus thieves take advantage of those same tax loopholes. I would also say that if you claim you don’t take any deductions on your returns then you are either a liar or on the dole in which case your intellect and drive are sorely lacking….WM
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Yes, what the left forgets is the fact that if ROmney paid lower taxes he did it legally using tax loopholes created by people like Charlie Rangel. And all these Democrats chirping about this are doing the exact same thing. It is one thing to claim Romney should pay a higher tax rate, but it is another thing altogether to claim he is a criminal, which is what Harry Reid is doing.
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This is an excellent reason to scrap the entire tax code and replace it with a FairTax – a consumption tax on ALL new goods and services, no exception. The use of the tax code as a social engineering tool has transformed it into a gigantic source of patronage, employed by the moneyed classes, both individuals and corporations, to generate systemic advantages for themselves to which the masses – that’s you and me – are not entitled.
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TGY, I do like the Fair Tax, as well.
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You have tried to sell me on the Fair Tax before but I am still a little leary about it, although not as much as before.
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The Romney campaign told Reid to “put up or shut up.” Besides, as some pundits-on both sides of the issue opined, whether he releases more tax returns or not won’t change anybody’s vote. If I were Romney I would move on and let the likes of Harry Reid go to war with himself.
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I think they are right, this really isn’t going to change anyone’s mind. This plays well to the base but I think that is about it.
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RJ, it is not like there are not more IMPORTANT things to focus on. This is more of the same old stuff of keeping the focus off Obama. Romney needs to move on and ignore it and as my mom always told me “to consider the source”!!!!
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Exactly, this is yet another diversion and if ROmney holds his ground it will be the Democrats who lose focus on the real issues.
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A source tells me Harry Reid stopped having sex with little boy’s. I don’t know if it’s true or not but I’m just saying?…….
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This is nothing more than a ploy to have Romney release more information that the Democrats can use to divert attention away from Obama’s Depression. They’re desperate and have nothing but non-issues to grab for! Keep the pressure up. This Community Activist in Chief needs to be tossed to the curb.
Phillip Cleary
Resident
The “Peoples Republic of Illinois”
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Exactly! This is a distraction and they are also want him to release the records so they can dig through them and release little tidbit every day from now until the election.
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Ah, Phillip, you are one of US here in Illinois that are trying to survive! Kinda hard with the Madigans and Quinn in there, isn’t it?
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The Republican Party here isn’t helping much. I was the Vice-Chair if the Joliet Republican Org. here for 15 years. In that time we put fine candidates up like Geo. Ryan overlooking some of the best conservatives in the state. Full knowing Geo. was a crook when he was Secretary of State. We basically self-immolated. I will finish my masters soon and quickly abandon this sinking ship.
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If all the Friggin people in the USA who hasn’t paid his/her taxes in years and expected to get away with it do ya really think, or…don’t ya think it would be Mittens ? Why hasn’t the firggin Nazi IRS audited him?…humm…
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Yeah, I think the IRS would have caught on bby now if this were true.
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I would say you covered a nice roundyup! Between Pelosi and Reid, I would think Americans would cartch on to the impossibility of getting out of our mud with these folks at or near the helm.
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I’m sure I forgot some of the rumors, but that is what I could remember off the top of my head. I hope the people see Reid and Pelosi as part of the problem, but being from Nevada and San Fransisco I wouldn’t count on it.
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This whole argument is academic. Send Harry the limp to the Mustang Ranch with a a roll of singles and be sure he gets a receipt so he can write it off as an entertainment expense on his tax return. Reid along with any of you lefty chumps imbecilic enough to surrender what little common sense you may to these torch bearers of your misplaced idealism should go to the outhouse and get a hold of yourselves.
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Someone told me that Harry Reid is the source of the White House Leaks.
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