Romney vs. Gingrich … oh and Ron Paul

Breaking News: Mitt Romney Rich!!!
Romney has an estimated wealth of between $190 million to $250 million, according to financial disclosure reports and pays taxes at a rate of 15%. As if it's an incrimination of some sort, liberal media was abuzz with the story, as it dovetailed nicely with Romney's lukewarm committal in the most recent Republican debate to release his tax returns in April.

Granted the half of America that pays taxes does so at a higher rate, closer to 25%, which makes Romney's 15% look like a bargain. Further fueling the liberal fire was Romney's comment that earning around $375k for speaking engagements wasn't a lot of money. Know what folks? To multimillionaires, it isn't. To the average American, making around $100,000/annum, the offer of being paid $10 to perform a service doesn't sound like a lot either. It's all relative.

Were anyone reporting on any of these points to engage some perspective, they may just make a case that even at 15%, the sheer dollar amount Mitt Romney pays in income tax is likely greater than all of the Occupy Wall Street crowd combined. Or even a simple math equation, Which would you rather have: 15% of $1,000,000, or 25% of $100,000? It doesn't take an accountant to realize that the 15% is a lot more money.

And just a simple reminder: this is America, the land of opportunity. We don't gain wealth by taking it from others (though our government does…hmmm), we have the rights and abilities afforded us to gain our own through personal effort. And to be frank, when it comes to paying taxes, paying as little as possible (via legal avenues) is as right as rain. My accountant gets a lecture every year on keeping his pencil sharp.

Hypocrisy: It isn't Just for Liberals
Newt Gingrich, who began the vilification of Romney's success at Bain Capital, stands to gain a bump in his polling numbers as a result of the resulting hoopla. Yes, the same Newt Gingrich criticized for owning a $500,000 line of credit at Tiffany & Company. People who live in glass houses, or in Newt's case, crystal...

While he still trails Romney, Gingrich continues to run ads in South Carolina stating that only he stands a chance of defeating b. hussein obama in the upcoming presidential debates. While it's commonly accepted that Newt is a consummate debater and usually exits the events with the most applause and sound bytes, there will be more to winning the White House than winning debates.

First, there have been on the order of 18 Republican debates, and even if obama had a semi-decent record on which to run, there isn't a prayer that he'd agree to more than two or three debates. Let's also consider that obama knows he cannot speak coherently without the use of a teleprompter. Does anyone really believe that the current president will allow any sort of an open format? Not a chance.

Any debates slated for the 2012 presidential campaign season will all be set with obama having home field advantage, meaning that they will be tightly controlled events. Candidates will receive questions well in advance, teleprompters will be used when delivering answers and no unscripted questions will be allowed. Newt's greatest skill is neutralized, or Newtralized, if you enjoy bad puns as do I.

Lovin' the Spin you're In
The TODAY Show's Matt Lauer, in an interview with New Jersey Governor, Chris Christy, this morning was again making a case for social justice and redistribution of wealth. Christy was an early supporter of Romney and potential running mate, was forced to defend his nominee's apparent reluctant disclosure of tax returns.

No matter how much Mitt Romney has made from his investments, interest, speaking engagements and other sources of income, he has the right to keep what he earns and pay as little as possible to the government, so long as it is done legally, it shouldn't be an issue.