Election 2012 - A Must Read Before You Vote

In yesterdays R2G, I said that I would not endorse a candidate for President because I thought the media should in no way try to sway voters.  This morning I got up early, jumped on the laptop and came across this story published by The Huffington Post.  I thought you should have this information before you go to vote today.  In 2004, Bain Capital, a company that Mitt Romney invested in evaded paying $102,000,000 in taxes by using a financial loophole in the Netherlands.  The Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant and the website Follow The Money claim that by routing it's investments in a Irish Pharmaceutical Company Warner Chilcott through the Netherlands it was able to dodge dividends and capital gains taxes.  In 2009, 4 years after investing in Warner Chilcott, Bain moved the company's seat from Bermuda to the Netherlands to evade possible stricter tax laws on the island.  Then two years ago, Bain registered its interest in Warner Chilcott with the private Dutch company Alter Domus, which provides administrative services for multinational corporations and investment funds. If a Dutch company owns more than five percent of the shares in another company, then that other company is exempt from paying taxes on all capital gains.  Through exemptions like that and a host of other complicated tax treaties, the Netherlands offers huge tax breaks to companies like Bain, which is reported to have evaded 80 million euros or $102 million in dividend taxes by running through the Netherlands.  This is a well known move in the investment world and it even has a name.  It's the old "Double Irish With A Dutch Sandwich."

So how does Mitt tie into all of this?  Follow The Money explained that Mitt Romney had left Bain in 1999 to run the Olympics in Salt Lake City, but his retirement package allowed him to participate in Bain deals and thus share in the profits. (It's also not clear that he did, in fact leave.  Back in July the Huff Post reported that Mitt Romney's repeated claim that he played no part in executive decision-making related to Bain Capital after 1999 is false, according to Romney's own testimony in June 2002, in which he admitted to sitting on the board of the LifeLike Co., a doll maker that was a Bain investment during the period.  Just to be clear here, Romney himself didn't avoid $80 million in Irish dividend withholding taxes, but a Bain fund he invests in did. The Bain fund also avoided an unknown amount (probably tens of millions) of Irish capital gains tax. Romney did receive $2,1 million in dividends from the fund in 2010/2011 and $5,5 million in capital gains. 

So to sum it all up in a bank roll,  Mitt Romney is profiting from a company that dodges the U.S. tax laws.  PERIOD!  I have to say, it would be hard for me to vote for a person who pulls and end around play to avoid paying taxes.  Hell, I can't do it!  You can't do it!  My grandmother didn't do it!  This guy knows that Bain is evading taxation by moving to the Netherlands but he still invests his money there.  No wonder the rich keep getting richer and us poor slobs keep getting taxed out the ying yang.  This kind of stuff really sets my hair on fire.  I can't believe that this clown has enough guts to actually run for President and that the people of this country are dumb enough to vote for him.  He is nothing but a crook.  I am going to go back on my thoughts about the media not endorsing a candidate and I am now endorsing Barack Obama for President of the United States.