[EL] Mitt's returns & Obama's records

[Lillie Coney]

Running for public office is an employment process. 

We may need to develop a formal list of what a job applicant for President of the United States should bring to the interview. I believe that sources of income and taxes are important because it would provide reliable measurements from election to election.  We have had Presidents of the United States who came from wealth  and privilege and those who came from modest means. 

I am trying to remember when was the last presidency that had no domestic or international challenges that did not take American lives our risk security or leadership in some key area.  We just do not seem to be getting
any free rides--and the downsides for mistakes hit average people without personal resources hardest and these are the people who do not think about how they might benefit from a bad turn of events. 

People in the private sector make the economy work without them--the life that many people aspire to have today would not be imaginable.  However, the skill set for business success is very different from the ones required for 
success in seeking national public elected office--the people who can bridge the two although few--are extraordinary or at the least very well prepared.

We have some very good people from both major parties who are great at business who achieved success as public elected officials.  They may or may not have wanted both but life and opportunities prepared them
for success in both areas. There are people who wanted to do nothing else but be elected officials--they prepared for that life and have the temperament and talent to achieve great success.   There seems to be a couple of issues in this public elected official path-- a business record that may disclose information to the public that was not created for public disclosure or the requirement that a candidate for high public office has a track record (e.g. a  term as governor and a very successful re-election or a series of elected offices increasing in difficulty and skill development) that create the public record without the downside of a non-public public record.

I do find it problematic that someone who has sought high public office before and knows that taxes can be a key issue is not prepared when seeking the nation's highest public elected office.

People in academic institutions know about legacy and non-legacy students--would a transcript be a very trustworthy measure for academic performance in institutions of higher education. Perhaps the military academies may be in a class that would make the grade on this test, but I do not know their internal workings so I hope it is the case that once a student is enrolled that merit comes before any other consideration.

I saw Governor Romney addressing Coalminers the other day--one news commentary said that something was odd about it--he did not shake any of the Coalminers hands and his body language was awful--it was the meet-and-greet at the plant shift change gate nightmare in full living color--Michael Deaver said it is all about the pictures and he was right.



On Aug 18, 2012, at 8:31 AM, Joe La Rue wrote:

> Interesting theory the Guardian has about Mitt. Of course, they fail to say that Mitt has no legal obligation to release the tax returns Obama wants. Regardless, I have a proposition: how about Mitt agree to release the returns, right after Obama releases his records from the U of Columbia, including his admissions records. He's been hiding those with nary a word from the media. Some of us think there must be a reason he's hiding them. There are several non-Birther theories to explain why Obama doesn't want us to see those records, each of which, if true, might derail the President's re-election (and at least one of which would implicate the president in fraud). So, let's see media calls for Obama to release his records, too. Then Mitt can release his returns. Sound fair?
> 
> “Mitt Romney’s tax returns: the ‘voter fraud’ theory”
> 
> Posted on August 17, 2012 9:01 pm by Rick Hasen
> The Guardian reports with the subhead: “There has been much speculation about why Romney refuses to disclose earlier tax returns. Could it be as simple as an address?”
> 
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