About that Team Romney pushback on being a tax cheat.
They’re not receiving any help from establishment figures. Former RNC chair Haley Borbour called on Mitt Romney to release more taxes returns yesterday, and today Senator Lindsey Graham says he doesn’t blame Mitt Romney for dodging taxes (but I thought Romney wasn’t dodging taxes?) because “it’s really American.”
WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney shouldn’t be criticized for using off-shore tax havens because “it’s really American to avoid paying taxes, legally,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Tuesday. [...]
“As long as it was legal, I’m OK with it,” Graham said. “I don’t blame anybody for using the tax code to their advantage. I blame us for having it so complicated and confused. Pick a rate and make people pay it.”
“It’s a game we play,” Graham said. “Every American tries to find the way to get the most deductions they can. I see nothing wrong with playing the game because we set it up to be a game.”
It was legal!
I don’t even know where my money is!
Everyone’s doing it!
Say what you will about Democratic messaging on economic issues in the past, but right now Republican messaging is a damn disaster.
