National Journal: FACT CHECK: Some Romney Housing Investments Were Not In Blind Trust
On January 26, 2012, National Journal reported:
Yet, according to Romney's financial disclosure forms, not all of his mutual funds were part of a blind trust. The Boston Globe reported in September that Romney owned between $250,001 and $500,000 in a mutual fund called the Government Obligation Fund that invests in debt notes of various government entities, including mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and he made between $15,001 and $50,000 in interest from those investments. Since those assets were considered a charitable trust rather than a blind trust, Romney could have reviewed them himself.
ProgressOhio: AWOL Mandel
On January 26, 2012, ProgressOhio posted the following:
Only one day after the Associated Press reported that Ohio Treasurer and Senate candidate Josh Mandel has never attended a Board of Deposit meeting, he skipped yet another one to attend a high-dollar fundraiser in Washington, DC. American Bridge trackers caught Mandel on his way to the fundraiser in DC, as well as his absence from the Board of Deposit meeting.
Miami Herald: Mitt Romney's Freddie Mac-Attack On Newt Gingrich Has Some Blowback
On January 25, 2012, the Miami Herald reported:
As he tries to tie Newt Gingrich to the housing crisis in Florida, Mitt Romney’s criticisms of Freddie Mac are drawing attention to his own campaign and background, which are full of ties to the mortgage giant. [...] Also, AP and the Democratic group American Bridge 21st Century has pointed out that one of Romney’s investments yielded $500,000 from the federally backed lender, Fannie Mae.
Boston Globe: Romney’s Returns Open A Window On The Wealthy
On January 25, 2012, the Boston Globe reported:
The returns also offered a window into the finances of the rich, complete with a Swiss bank account, investments in the Cayman Islands, and Social Security taxes for domestic help - all well within the law, Romney’s spokesman said yesterday. Romney declined to field questions from reporters about his returns.
POLITICO: American Bridge Outlines Fla. Attack On Romney
On January 25, 2012, POLITICO reported:
Mitt Romney’s problems in Florida go beyond tax returns and Swiss bank accounts, the Democratic group American Bridge argues in a memo shared with POLITICO. The missive from American Bridge senior adviser Ty Matsdorf (readable here) points the way toward three other issues that could be problematic for Romney in the Sunshine State: his views on immigration, disaster preparedness and space exploration. The memo reads as much like a how-to-attack-Romney manual for other GOP candidates — or a warning of other Democratic hits to come — as a dispassionate readout of the state of play in Florida, as Matsdorf highlights potentially damaging information that hasn’t been front and center in the Republican race.
Washington Post: Liberal Groups Join In Fla. Ad War Against Mitt Romney
On January 25, 2012, the Washington Post reported:
Broadcast ads aren’t the only tactic available to Democratic-aligned groups hoping to influence the Republican contest. American Bridge for the 21st Century, a liberal super PAC that focuses mostly on opposition research, blanketed Columbia, S.C., with hundreds of hot-pink leaflets trumpeting Romney’s support for gay rights during the Massachusetts phase of his political career. The group said the leafleting was aimed at sowing doubts among Republicans in the state about Romney’s conservative bona fides. “It’s not that we were trying to portray him as a quote-unquote liberal, but to show that he’s flip-flopped on so many key issues,” American Bridge spokesman Ty Matsdorf said. “It’s highlighting his lack of core beliefs.”
TPM: Three Key Questions Raised By Romney’s Tax Revelations
On January 25, 2012, Talking Points Memo reported:
Romney’s revelations confirm that his effective tax rates in the past couple years have been as low or lower than those of workers with truly modest means. They also confirm that he’s availed himself of truly complex tax strategies designed to boil his liability down to the lowest level allowed by the country’s heavily rigged, labyrinthine tax code. And we know, too, that these are things Romney didn’t want voters to know — at least not yet. But they raise a series of new questions that will likely require Romney to disclose several years’ worth of additional tax returns if he wants to answer them satisfactorily. Here are three big ones that touch generally on the theme of Romney’s efforts to reduce his tax burden by taking advantage of areas of the law that simply aren’t available to most people...
Romney's Latest Flip: The 99 Percent
It’s been a tough week for Mitt Romney. After finishing a distant second in the South Carolina primary, Romney finally released his 2010 tax returns, revealing that he pays a lower effective tax rate than many working families despite his status as part of the 0.0006 percent. At Wednesday’s Univision forum in Florida, Romney took on a populist tone as he attempted to connect with middle-class voters. “I know what it takes to make America the most attractive place for jobs again,” he said. “I want to do that, not because I'm worried about the 1 percent. The 1 percent is doing fine. I want to help the 99 percent.” Of course, that’s the kind of language that Republicans – Romney included – typically deride as “class warfare” and the politics of “envy.” When asked last week how he would “support the 99 percent,” Romney accused his questioner of “hurting the country,” adding, “America’s right and you’re wrong.” Watch Romney's sudden change of tune:
AP: Thompson Earned At Least $8.5 Million Since 2005
On January 24, 2012, the Associated Press reported:
Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson has earned more than $8.5 million in compensation since 2005 from a web of private sector companies that includes a prominent Washington lobbying firm, a medical device manufacturer and a globally recognized consulting firm, according to public filings and reports. Thompson's work in the private sector is getting fresh scrutiny as he mounts a bid for a political comeback, running for the U.S. Senate seven years after he left his last public post, as President George W. Bush's Secretary of Health and Human Services, and more than 13 years since he last faced voters. American Bridge 21st Century, a Democratic political group that researches Republican candidates and proposals, provided documentation of all of Thompson's publicly disclosed earnings to The Associated Press. They were then reviewed and independently verified.
On Fox News, Mitt Romney Lies About His Investments In Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac
On the January 25 edition of Fox & Friends on Fox News, Mitt Romney was asked about his personal investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He responded by falsely claiming the investment was part of a mutual fund chosen by a trustee and part of his blind trust.
BRIAN KILMEADE (HOST): Yesterday Newt Gingrich joined us and said, "I just found out that Mitt Romney was in investor in Fannie & Freddie." What's the truth? MITT ROMNEY: [Laughs] That's pretty funny. My investments, of course, are managed not by me. For the last ten years they've been guided and managed by a trustee, they're in a blind trust. And the trustee invested in mutual funds and so forth and apparently one of the funds had Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac bonds.That's not true. As the Boston Globe originally reported in September: "And unlike most of Romney’s financial holdings, which are held in a blind trust that is overseen by a trustee and not known to Romney, this particular investment was among those that would have been known to Romney." Full research after the jump.