Mitt Romney should make his income tax returns public. Not to satisfy his Republican opponents, but to let the American people see how much the super-rich contribute to maintain the society that allows them to get super rich.
The public will first see that the tax returns for a man who accumulated a quarter of a billion dollars or more running a private equity firm contain enough pages to make a fair-sized book; hundreds of pages full of complexities, all of which will need quite a bit of explanation to be intelligible to you and me.
More than likely, the public also will learn that a sizeable amount of Mr. Romney’s income is taxed at the 15 percent capital gains rate rather than the 39 percent rate that upper bracket ordinary income draws.
This may draw criticism. It shouldn’t. It’s the law and an argument could be made that anyone who doesn’t take advantage of the lower rates that the law provides isn’t smart enough to be president. When all of those remaining in the race for the GOP nomination release their returns, it will be interesting to see how many of them also had capital gains income.
The capital gains rate was lowered and made available to hedge fund operators and others under the unproved theory that more capital will be employed for job-creating enterprises if the profits made from selling such businesses are taxed at the same rate that run-of-the-mill taxi drivers and store clerks pay.
Most of the people who profit from the capital gains tax rate are in the upper quarter of the nation’s earners.
Romney and the rest should release their personal returns for, say, the last three years, for another reason. The details in income tax returns say a lot about values and lifestyles. The deductions taken for interest on houses, for example. The charities listed. The investments made. The candidates supported. It’s a crime to commit perjury on a tax return. The laws covering statements made in a political campaign are not so picky.
Romney said the other day he is rethinking his refusal to release his returns and may do so in April. The nomination will be wrapped up for him by then. And in the general election, President Obama will probably focus on the problems facing the nation and give Romney’s personal finances a pass.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
