Mitt Romney's 'embarrassing' 15 percent tax rate confession

how many pay more in taxes then we HAVE TO?
Many of our Govt officials in BOTH PARTIES have actually evaded paying their taxes. If either side really think those who are well off, are not paying enough taxes then CHANGE the TAX CODE. They won't do this because they also are well off! they are just using this so you will vote for them so THEY can bend you over instead of the other guy bending you over.

I'm no mitt rino fan by any stretch, but why is it embarrassing? It just means he's a savvy investor with a good accountant. If I paid more than 15%, I would fire my accountant.

Working class people, like me, usually have their investments in 401Ks...and when you retire you will pay the INCOME RATE, not the INVESTMENT RATE on your funds !

This is a missed opportunity for Mitt (and the other Republican candidates) to explain why they think it is a good idea to tax income from investments a lot lower than income from labor. It would really help if voters understand this issue. There are actually good arguments to support this, but with none of the candidates explaining it in simple terms, how are voters supposed to know? I would expect any Republican who wants to be President to have practiced this for the debates.

The same is true for the bailouts of a companies like AIG. Again, there are good arguments supporting it, but we never hear them. I would expect any politician running for reelection to be able to explan that.

What's embarrasing is the fact that Yahoo gives this author ink...

John, because income is income and should be taxed as such ! Not a special rate for Corporate Raiders and Hedge Fund Managers !

Whether a Democrat or Republican, there is no excuse for a multi-millionaire to pay 15% in taxes. The money that they save does not create new jobs. It just creates a situation where their kids and their kids' kids never have to work a day in their lives. End these ridiculous loopholes.

The American people are notoriously undereducated when it comes to matters of finance and taxation. There have been countless articles for years about how unequal the treatment for different kinds of income has become thanks to special breaks and laws passed by Congress. Maybe this will wake up the vast majority and make them realize that the tax code is so warped that we have to do something about it soon.

They could also keep in mind a common proposal of the Republican candidates....that all capital gains should be untaxed. That means that the hedge fund managers, corporate CEOs and others of their ilk who get the majority of their income from sources classed as dividends and capital gains will pay even less in taxes and the average person will pay more.

The US separated from England because people were tired of being ruled by a wealthy upper class that ignored their needs in favor of profitability for themselves. The French in similar circumstances managed to kill off a large portion of their oblivious upper class, though I cannot say that the fanatics that replaced them did any better. If we cannot learn from history, there is a great likelihood that similar events will take place again.

Doesn't seem fair that I work & pay considerably more than 15% tax on my income while he just makes profits from investments while doing no work & pays just 15%. I guess that is because it ISN"T fair.

Romney should be embarrassed and just proving the left right!

You cannot much blame rich people for taking advantage of tax loopholes. (Well, I suppose you could REALLY moralize and say they don't have to take loopholes that are unjust, but practically that isn't likely.)

What I do blame Romney and others for is not taking advantage, but fighting to keep those loopholes and to make even bigger ones so they pay even less taxes. Romney pays about 15%, but he thinks he should pay about 0%. I blame him for that.

Take the 15% tax rate while you can, but when the other people wake up and say, "Hey, I work for my money and I pay 25%! That isn't fair!", don't argue that it is just that you pay a lower percentage, and don't say that what you pay is unfair.

They call them Corporate Raiders and Vulture Capitalists, they destroy companies, that is who Romney really is, a destroyer, not an employer !

Hey New Braunfels, Texas... guess what? It matters or he wouldn't be trying to hide it. Further and even more troubling is that he considers $362,000 "Not very much." Really? I'm sure he will bring spending under control with an attitude like that, eh? Wake up dammit!

He's not a tax evader, but he is an advocate of a system where the wealthy pay a smaller percentage of their income to support things like the military than do much poorer people.

Romney got $$$ by taking it out of other companies, who earned it ! Leaving them wounded or closed. Putting people out of work, or lowering their wages ! And for this raiding he made $$$$$ and only pays 15% taxes !

So the man has good tax attorney's to prepare his taxes....what is the problem? I think people are too fixated on his income and on his religion. Better we look at the candidates abilities to run the country and to fix the economy and get us rolling again.

Just release the tax records for twelve years like your honorable father and take it like a man.

I don't really care about Romney's money, but I don't think it entitles him to buy the election either.

If we recall, our last President was born with a silver spoon, graduated from college with an MBA, governed a state, ran several companies, and ran the economy right into the ground on his way out of office.

So I'm not sure why we are clamoring to put a businessman cut from the same cloth back into the White House.

Did he admit he has millions in off shore bank accounts yet?

Welfare in this county is now acceptable for the wealthy, as always, but not so for those who really need it. They're called all sorts of dirty names..............