Where's the money, Mitt?

By Michael J.W. Stickings

When it comes to Romney's money, the issue isn't that he has a lot of it but how he got it and what he's done with it.

How he got it is clear enough. His dad was rich and famous and, leading a privileged life that included an expensive education, he got into vulture capitalism, making a fortune by destroying / outsourcing jobs, ruining lives, and otherwise doing anything and everything for a buck (or, really, millions and millions of them).

What he's done with it is trickier to determine. Certainly he's spent a lot of it on things like dressage and car elevators, and of course it costs a lot to be a rich douchebag with friends who are NFL and NASCAR owners, and with a wife with expensive (if questionable) tastes, a couple of Cadillacs, and her own penchant for Romneying.

But there's a lot, an awful lot, he hasn't spent on his privileged rich lifestyle. And a lot of it he keeps well away from public view, even as he asks for the public trust in his run for the highest office in the land, even well away from his own country, hidden away in secretive offshore accounts, in places like Switzerland, the Caymans, Bermuda.

Is this an issue? Should it be? Yes and yes.

It would be troubling enough were he just a private citizen, given that such accounts are often/usually used to avoid domestic taxation, allowing the rich to get richer. (The rich can get away with it. Everyone else, not so much. Just try to hide some of your income from the IRS.) But it's even more trouble in Romney's case given that he's running for president -- and so is a public future who wants to be the country's chief public servant.

And so I highly recommend the fantastic investigative report on Mitt's money by Nicholas Shaxson at Vanity Fair:

For all Mitt Romney's touting of his business record, when it comes to his own money the Republican nominee is remarkably shy about disclosing numbers and investments. Nicholas Shaxson delves into the murky world of offshore finance, revealing loopholes that allow the very wealthy to skirt tax laws, and investigating just how much of Romney's fortune (with $30 million in Bain Capital funds in the Cayman Islands alone?) looks pretty strange for a presidential candidate.

It's very long, but it deserves your attention.

You can make up your own mind as to whether or not, or to what degree, Romney should be held accountable for what he's done with his money, but you should at least know something of the truth.

And Romney won't be the one to fill you in. You can be sure of that.

(Image from The PBH Network.)