“Who Built That?” – Another Spasmodic Approval of Romney Fraud!

This is an article posted to the Easton StarDem last week, by Dan Bongino, Republican candidate for US Senator from Maryland.

Dan Bongino – Another Republican candidate buying into Romney’s fraudulent TV ad

Recently, I awoke at 5am to the sound of my six-month old daughter Amelia crying. When I entered her dark room to soothe her, I saw my wife, struggling to stay awake, holding Amelia in one arm as she was attempting to work on her barely lit computer screen with her other arm. My wife Paula is an entrepreneur and a small business owner. She also happens to be a first generation immigrant, who suffered through much chasing her American dream–all of her hard work culminating in her pledging allegiance to our flag as part of her citizenship ceremony. We both remember this as one of the proudest days of our lives.

I am writing of this incident because it succinctly describes a scenario repeating itself all over America today. Small business owners are making incredible sacrifices in their struggles to keep their businesses afloat. This is the reason why the President’s “you didn’t build that” comment has infuriated Americans across the political spectrum. The simple fact is that my wife did build “that.” She built her business, through countless hours of hard work and a commitment to a quality work product. I marvel daily at the countless hours she spends at her home office designing and repairing small business websites. She is the very epitome of the American dream, collectively enhanced but most importantly, self-made and personally driven.

The President’s statements are equally infuriating because he is attempting to create a fissure between Americans where there isn’t one. No Republican I am aware of is running for office on a platform of no taxes, no roads, no teachers and no military. I cite these examples because the President chose to mention the use of roads, the work of good teachers and the development of the backbone of the modern internet, through a military research initiative, as examples of how government should be the primary recipient of accolades for individual success. This is absurd and displays a backward logic which is hard to justify. It is the very success of people, such as my wife, willing to put their names behind a business endeavor, with no guarantee of success, that finance the government projects which the President speaks of. It is my wife’s, along with millions of others struggling for a better tomorrow, sweat, toil and willingness to take a risk that has made America exceptional amongst nations, not its roads.

The economy is clearly struggling. Americans are hurting and they are scared. Scared that for the first time, yesterday may have been the best it was ever going to be. This outlook has never been a component of our national psyche. The President’s statements will haunt him in this election as they echo all over our vast country. As my wife and I struggle through this historically poor economic recovery, I feel the pain of Americans hoping and praying that there is a better tomorrow and I ask the President to stop creating division by asking who built what, and to focus on getting our growing legion of unemployed Americans, just asking for a chance to build anything, back to work.

Dan Bongino, a devoted husband and father, served in the United States Secret Service for more than a decade, in which he was assigned to the elite Presidential Protective Division. He represented the U.S. as a lead government security official in over 25 countries. Holding graduate degrees in Business Administration and Psychology, Dan has gone on to start several successful businesses in Maryland. As an entrepreneur, he understands the role small businesses play in establishing a framework for continued prosperity and economic growth.

Dirty Harry Is Trumped By Dirtier Mitts!

The following is my reply to a post on another blog about Harry Reid’s allegations, received from a former Bain Capital investor, that Mitt Romney hadn’t paid any US income taxes in 10 years:

In what may be a moment of monumental reflection, I agree (mostly) with what this post is saying, “That Reid’s statement, without more, is not playing fair or by what we wish the rules were.” Ok, with that said, let me also say that “playing fair” is a concept that is not exercised by Romney’s pitbulls or campaign “strategists, either.

First, in regard to “fairness”…the President has released 12 years worth of tax returns. Excellent! The American people expect their leaders to be able to divulge that kind of information without having to beg for it. Romney has released 1 year of incomplete returns, with a promise to release another year…but, not necessarily before the election. A natural question, which has been asked by left AND right, is, “What can he be hiding?” Assuming guilt or impropriety, just from someone’s action or inaction, is something we Americans are proficient at.

Second, the question everyone is asking, “Why not show him (Reid) to be the “dirty liar” (per Reince Priebus) he is accused of being?” GOP pundits, politicians and political allies of Romney are questioning his strategy of refusing to follow in his father’s footsteps. George Romney started the practice of candidates for US President releasing their tax returns…and it has been followed ever since, to one degree or another. McCain released only 2 years in ’08. However, it was enough to quell the concerns of the left and right, since there were no questions of McCain’s loyalty or financial dealings.

Romney (Mitt, that is), has announced that he has a lower tax rate (13.9% on $21 million in income in 2010) than most Americans have on $75,000). He also has offshore accounts, (including investments, Swiss bank accounts and $100 million IRA), that pay no taxes to the US. Illegal? Maybe not. But I and many others question why, as a loyal American, he refuses to invest in American institutions rather than foreign, and how, with a $6000 per year limit on IRA contributions, he has amassed a $100 million…tax free! Even if it found to be a legal exploitation of a tax loophole, such exploitation is not an attractive quality in a President.

I would be remiss in responding to your correct allegations of “unfair play”, if I didn’t raise (again) an example where Mitt played dirty…in fact, on the border of criminal fraud. Of course, I’m talking about his hypocritical and intentionally fraudulent TV ad, regarding the President’s speech, now simply referred to by the extreme right as, “You didn’t build that!” We all know, by now, that Romney’s ad took the President’s speech, cut and pasted sections and tried to make it sound like the words, in order, of the President. Not only was it an attempt at fraud (defined as “an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual”)…but it was proof positive of what the President was truly saying…yes, we entrepreneurs work hard and long, but, we also have others to thank for the successes we enjoy.

It seems that the “poster boy” in the ad, a New Hampshire businessman, had several million dollars in government loans, guaranties and contracts! So, yes, his success, at least part of it, can be attributed to HELP FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT!! Gee, what a concept!

So, to summarize…Harry Reid is playing by some of the same rules as Mitt, only, whereas we have proof of Mitt’s fraud, we still don’t have evidence that what Reid has charged is false! Dirty Harry, true…but, there are dirtier Mitts than his in this game of politics!

Romney Says Releasing More Tax Returns Can Be Politically Damaging

Mitt Romney appeared on Fox and Friends Monday morning to respond to the growing number of conservatives who are calling on the former Massachusetts governor to release more of his tax returns. At least eight Republicans have urged Romney to publicize the records and put the issue behind him, but the candidate is sticking to his guns. The public will see just two years of returns and no more, Romney said, before appearing to admit that the records may contain something politically damaging: Romney: The Obama people keep on wanting more and more and more. More things to pick through, more things for their opposition research to try make a mountain out of and to distort and to be dishonest about. We’re going to put out two years of tax returns. Watch the video: One of the Republicans also raising alarms about Romney’s returns… MSNBC host and former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough predicted during Monday’s Morning Joe: The fact is, there are a couple of years he may not have paid any taxes . Maybe he’s concerned about that. But if it’s going to come out, he needs to get it out now so he has a couple of months to explain it. The Romney campaign played down the issue, arguing that Romney is already doing more than is required by law by releasing his 2010 and later his 2011 returns. Looks to me like he has taken advantage of every single conceivable tax shelter loophole that we can see. And now if elected…he is suppose to be the guy that’s gonna clean up our tax code and make it advantageous to average taxpayers and the country? I think not. The scary part is that it might even be worse than not paying his taxes… the fact that he is refusing to do what other candidates for president have done for decades tells you he has something to hide. Even conservative Republicans are telling him to release his taxes and he is now admitting that would cause him problems.  What is he hiding? Conservatives should be worried.