Harry Reid is stirring up some serious shit with his assertion that he received a phone call from a Bain Capital investor who told him that Mitt Romney didn’t pay any income taxes for ten years. Yet, personally, I prefer his quote about how his internal polling shows that he is in good shape to maintain his position as Majority Leader unless Citizens United sweeps all his power away:
“We feel comfortable in the Senate,” he said. “Where the problem is, is this: Because of the Citizens United decision, Karl Rove and the Republicans are looking forward to a breakfast the day after the election. They are going to assemble 17 angry old white men for breakfast, some of them will slobber in their food, some will have scrambled eggs, some will have oatmeal, their teeth are gone. But these 17 angry old white men will say, ‘Hey, we just bought America. Wasn’t so bad. We still have a whole lot of money left.'”
“So that’s the only problem we have with our candidates,” Reid concluded, suggesting that virtually everything, his leadership position included, could be swept away by outside cash.
Harry Reid was born poor. His father was a miner. His mother was a laundress. They had no indoor plumbing or telephone. He once choked a man who tried to bribe him. And he was an amateur boxer.
Sometimes, I kind of like the guy.
I didn’t know Harry Reid could be that eloquent. Despite the starkness of the message, I think it’s a good sign that he’s now able to be himself.
I just realized my last sentence was ambiguous. What I meant was, the fact that Reid is now able to be himself is a good sign. It’s a good sign because it means he’s comfortable delivering the message that the Democrats need to deliver. And the reason he’s comfortable is because (a) that’s where he really comes from (as you pointed out) and (b) he senses that the majority of Americans do want to hear that message.
Much of the animus on the left to Obama’s methods of governance are because of the “naivete” of his first 2 or 3 years. I think some of that analysis is real. He was (for a time) a community organizer, and they are trained to see the reality that the racist pig running the gas station on the corner really DOES need the black guys to fill up, or he’s are going to lose his business with no fallback plan. This is real, it is exploitable and if you don’t plan on screwing the asshole who owns the gas station, it works well.
Unfortunately, the Senate is not a gas station, and the assholes AREN’T faced with a stark use or lose position. The same rules don’t apply.
After that lesson was learned, the game changed. Obama and Co. started giving rope to the jerks and they promptly used it hang themselves. War on Women, Tax breaks for the wealthy, more $$$ for the military, personhood amendments, … This has an effect on people who are not true believers.
Harry Reid is now in the position of the longsuffering person who has given their spouse every chance in the world to not screw around. I think the divorce has begun and its going to be a good one.
I’ve got a slightly different perspective on how Pres. Obama’s (relatively brief) community organizing background may have played into the last few years.
Organizers know (or learn quickly) that their opponents will try to demonize and marginalize them—painting them as outsiders, questioning their motives, accusing them of creating problems where none existed before, calling them radicals.
Organizers also know that if those labels “stick”, they and the organizations they work for lose access to some sources of power (e.g., the “have a little, want some mores” to use Alinsky’s language).
As a result, many organizers do what Obama has tended to do: fight hard to stake a claim to the political middle, be willing to compromise on means to achieve their ends, be willing to compromise on some ends (e.g., single payer) if it will help achieve other ends (health care for 30-50 million people).
Potayto
Potahto
That’s an amazing quote. And impressive bio facts. I wonder if Meh refuses to disclose taxes, will an honest co-religionist spill the beans, or rather, come forward with name attached
Don’t forget something. Willard and Harry share the same religion. People tend to forget, for what ever reason, that Harry is a Mormon, also, too. So he wouldn’t say what he is unless he had good reason to.
John Kerry and Antonin Scalia are both Catholics. Granted tribalism is stronger in Mormons than US Catholics, but social democratic Mormons go back a long way (and don’t get much respect within their church hierarchy).
“Social democratic Mormons go back a long way (and don’t get much respect within their church hierarchy).”
The exact same thing is true of Catholics.
Yes, that’s what I was getting at, a co-religionist [of Meh and Harry] either allowing Harry to use his name, or talking to the media. Harry, with his commitment to honesty, might be hearing quite a bit from co-religionists who feel he’s on their wave length.
Reid said, “Bain Capital investor,” not “Mormon brother or sister.” Can imagine Mitt bragging to Bain Capital investors that he hadn’t paid taxes in ten years (a marketing strategy for the socially awkward), but what reason would he have to share it with fellow Mormons?
And what Bain investor is going to announce themselves publicly? As someone said below, Reid is stealing a page from the LBJ playbook, with a little more truth behind it, I’m sure.
You think workers are the only ones who get screwed when people like the Bain investors get together to make money? If one of those people decided that the split wasn’t fair, they’d turn on the golden goose faster than a duck on a junebug.
Piss and moan about poor me. It’s really the only thing the rich do better than the poor and middle class.
There may be some among the brethren who would either want a piece of it or would consider it made him a better leader.
But I can see it backfiring, too. LDS are big on community, and some of them might be a bit put out that Bishop Mittens ain’t ponying up. (The tithe doesn’t exactly count.)
Any road, there’s got to be something in there that I think makes him at least unelectable…. and probably several years’ worth of things that might not stand up to close scrutiny.
Reid knows what he’s doing. He is sitting on some explosive iron-clad PROVABLE information that Mitt must be sleepless about on that flight back home.
Good tag teaming by Democrats, with the House Dems making loud noises and that brutal ad about tax cuts and who’s not getting them while the fatcats get more for their yachts. Meanwhile Pres. Obama’s campaign also came out with their own economic populism ad. Seems like they a goading Romney. There’s blood in the water.
I bet Romney is wondering what the Dems know. Keep him guessing, Harry Reid, keep him guessing. You sure were a savvy boxer.
Or he’s pulling out one from the old playbook.
From MassCommons
The beauty of this one is that to deny it, Romney has to release the tax returns that will tell everyone what he’s hiding.
That was my first thought – and it’s a freakin’ beautiful play. (As a hardball player, LBJ learned from some of the best and added a few tweaks of his own.)
It won’t work with the baggers, of course, but nothing will as long as THAT guy is the opponent.
It may score some points on the handful of actual “uncommitted” voters. (Not gonna call them “independents” as those are, by and large, the ones who think the Republicult is too liberal.)
There is always some breaking point for true believers. The “(literally) in bed with a live boy (except for uncloseted gay men) or dead girl” remains as much a political career destroyer as it was in LBJ’s day.
Reid tends to be cautious which is why most will assume that he has solid information on this. However, this is one of those rare instances where he can’t lose regardless of what the truth is about Mitt’s taxes.
Maybe there SHOULD be a breaking point for true believers… but I don’t believe there IS one.
I come from a Klan family, many of whom are (at last contact) still waiting for the word from Richmond that the truce is over and it’s time to go get the slaves back. (Last contact was when they told me it was time to do my duty to my family and my people and join up.)
I see that same sort of sociopathic fanaticism (and in some cases that exact same perspective) from most of the wingers and all of the baggers… and I don’t think there actually IS a breaking point for many of them.
Because they’re not FOR. They’re AGAINST. And they’re on a Mission from God. And for those folks… regardless of which God and what’s to be AGAINST… there are never limits.
You tell the truth, stormkite. The true believers will never believe. When confronted with irrefutable proof, they will say it was faked by a conspiracy. “All a Communist Plot”
We need to convince the low-info fencesitters, the ones with maybe shallow racism instead of deep fanatical hatred, the ones who think maybe a business guy could fix things so they get a job, the ones stampeded into throwing away the safety net because they are spooked about the deficit. Unfortunately, they control elections.
And we REALLY have to stop the ones who plan to vote for Obama because they don’t like Romney but plan to balance that by voting republican for the Senate and House.
Then let their gods provide them their Social Security, SSDI, VA benefits, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, minimum wage, etc. Most will break soon enough without all those benefits they enjoy and are against.
If were true that there is no breaking point for the racists, bigots, etc., Obama couldn’t have been elected. George Wallace would never have appointed blacks to his cabinet and apologized for his prior fierce segregationist policies.
Along those lines, they should start a rumour that Mittens was drinking wine while in France on mission, and became a wine lover.
As a Mormon, that’s a no-no.
Good idea. He can deny that by pointing out that he was cloistered in a Mormon safe house and therefore, wouldn’t have come close enough to French culture, cuisine, or people to have encountered wine much less drink any. That will boost his international credentials and also inform the fundies that Mitt’s Mormon Mission wasn’t a hardship.
Harry Reid is a co-religionist with Romney!
So?
Are you saying that gives him more credibility? Because I don’t think it does.
Harry Reid and Mitt Romney have only two things in common. They’re white men and they’re Mormons. That’s it.
Boo:
Don’t forget something. Mormons are a close-knit group. For Reid to talk this kind of smack means he must know something. Whatever it really is, there is obviously something very fishy in Willard’s taxes.
Harry Reid and Mitt Romney are not tight-knit. At all.
Maybe Calvin is referring to the talk that many investors in Bain are Mormons. Other investors in Bain might reap the same benefits rMoney did – i.e. no taxes for years.
I don’t know if other Bain investors are Mormons. Some probably are. I didn’t say Willard and Reid are tight. I’m saying Mormons in general are. Which means that this is going to get around in Mormon circles. And also don’t forget that Willard is a somewhat high-ranking official in the Mormon Church. This kind of talk, if false, would not go over well with other Church Elders. Especially considering they know the truth. How do I know that? Because Mormons expect you to tithe 10% of your salary to the Church. And they don’t f-ck around. They demand proof and documentation so they don’t get screwed out of the money owed. It wouldn’t look so good if a Mormon Elder was stiffing the Church out, especially from a money bags like Willard.
I believe that is thought to be correct or that Mormon backers got Bain started. There’s also something with Marriott. What I’m saying is the person, if there is one, who spoke to Harry Reid, may well know this – not because Meh boasted about it, but because he also benefited from whatever Meh did. There are financial advisors involved, giving the advice to others as well.
We don’t know a lot about Romney’s taxes, tithing and personal finances. But what we do know suggests that he does take seriously the injunction to tithe.
If it’s true, Romney will never release his tax returns and the rumors and controversy will simmer. If it’s false or exaggerated, Romney could be pressured to release his returns to “squash the rumors.” And there are definitely things in there that he doesn’t want the public to see. Either way, this issue harms Romney.
Paying no taxes, even if it’s legal, is the kiss of death. Or at least it was.
Texas governor’s race, 1990. Clayton Williams lost because of many things: “When rape is inevitable sit back and enjoy it”, refusing to shake hands with Ann Richards, racist statements, and other things.
However, what really KILLED his 20 point lead was PAYING NO TAXES FOR FIVE YEARS.
In a side note, Claytie is STILL doing bizarre things to enrich himself … and STILL SCREWING IT UP!!!!
Above all Harry REid has the Mormon & Senior Statesman cred to cause people to sit up and wonder/listen. The fact that media has taken this up is a good sign. Let the extension of Mitt’s week-long nightmare continue. I feel positively fiendish! Ha!
The “17 angry old white men” quote is brilliant. The TV ad writes itself. God, I hope somebody runs with it.
Give ’em hell, Harry!
These charges are outrageous!
As an honest liberal, I call on Mitt Romney to put these scurrilous accusations to bed once and for all.
Heh.
And the pot is bubbling nicely: This morning in the cnn.com comments threads, the “Romney didn’t pay any (“income” not always included) taxes for ten years” meme is popping up again and again.
The fact that he won’t release his tax returns makes the accusation so plausible, eh?
This is gonna smart.
It’s a great version of: So, Mr. Romney, when did you stop beating your wife?
Go get that sumbitch, Harry!!!
In fact…go get alla them sumbitches!!!
Even the DemRat ones. Let’s make every sumbitch w/an important role in the permaGov disclose every last cent that they made and the taxes that they paid on that money for at least 4 years prior to their election or appointment.
Yeah!!!
That’d do it, fer sure
Eh?
Whut’s that you say?
Maybe not Nancy Pelosi or the Clintons?
Maybe not you?
Maybe not any DemRats?
Not even Rahm Emmanuel?
Just RatPublicans?
Oh.
Nevermind.
Yore freind,
Emily Litella
P.S. I just got a call mysel, from a major corporate DemRat investor/media controller. He’d only identify himself by his code name, “Mockingbird.” Here’s whut he had to say:
Deal wid it.
Not that it matters a whole lot, but the Obamas’ and the Bidens’ tax returns for the last 12 years are available:
http://www.barackobama.com/tax-returns/
Yes, I am sure that they are. Perhaps I shold have included the reqirement of other public information as well. Like say…all political contributors, Super PACs included.
I am not trying to say that all Dems…or all Republicans for that matter…are crooked. At least not within a very narrow definition of that word. I am saying that he entire system is skewed towards dishonesty and that in a criminal system, only criminals…and the occasional very, very lucky honest person…are successful to any great degree.
I have been saying here that the IQ level rises dramatically as you go from right to left in this country, and that includes the whole spectrum of relative importance and wealth. (Of course…”importance” and “wealth” are nearly synonymous here at present, but why split hairs?) However, the general level of dishonesty remans pretty much the same. Case in point? G. W. Butch was a terrible liar while Barack O’Bomber is an absolutely brilliant one. It stands to reason that bright people are more successful thieves and hustlers …harder to catch and more careful in the scope of their dishonesties…than are stupid ones. But as my sig says, “Always remember…the lesser of two evils is still an evil.”
Well, the smarter of two evils is also still an evil.
If a real truth serum or technique was ever found and applied to major pols in the U.S., with very few exceptions the magnitude of hustle on every level of politics would make Wikileaks and The Pentagon Papers look like the confessions of not-very-bad Catholic schoolboys.
Bet on it.
It’s endemic.
It’s part of the gig.
It’s the way things work here now.
Sorry, but there it is.
I wish it were otherwise.
Later…
AG
Eh?
Whut’s that you say?
Maybe not Nancy Pelosi or the Clintons?
Maybe not you?
Maybe not any DemRats?
Who, exactly, is saying this?
I couldn’t help but notice that, as frequently happens, the only voices you are hearing are the ones in your head.
No. I hear you too. I just don’t much agree.
AG