Source-CNN
Funny how the WORTHLESS MAINSTREAM MEDIA can dig up trash on every person on the planet, but Barry Soetoro, nothing??? 4 years and 6 TRILLION DOLLARS IN ADDED DEBT!
Funny how the WORTHLESS MAINSTREAM MEDIA can dig up trash on every person on the planet, but Barry Soetoro, nothing??? 4 years and 6 TRILLION DOLLARS IN ADDED DEBT!
Source-ABC NEWS
Newt Gingrich lacks the moral character to serve as President, his second ex-wife Marianne told ABC News, saying his campaign positions on the sanctity of marriage and the importance of family values do not square with what she saw during their 18 years of marriage.
In her first television interview since the 1999 divorce, to be broadcast tonight on Nightline, Marianne Gingrich, a self-described conservative Republican, said she is coming forward now so voters can know what she knows about Gingrich.
CLICK HERE to see a preview of ABC News' exclusive broadcast interview with Marianne Gingrich and then catch the full interview tonight on ABC News' Nightline at 11:35 p.m. ET.
In her most provocative comments, the ex-Mrs. Gingrich said Newt sought an "open marriage" arrangement so he could have a mistress and a wife.
She said when Gingrich admitted to a six-year affair with a Congressional aide, he asked her if she would share him with the other woman, Callista, who is now married to Gingrich.
"And I just stared at him and he said, 'Callista doesn't care what I do,'" Marianne Gingrich told ABC News. "He wanted an open marriage and I refused."
Marianne described her "shock" at Gingrich's behavior, including how she says she learned he conducted his affair with Callista "in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington."
"He always called me at night," she recalled, "and always ended with 'I love you.' Well, she was listening."
All this happened, she said, during the same time Gingrich condemned President Bill Clinton for his lack of moral leadership.
She said Newt moved for the divorce just months after she had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, with her then-husband present.
"He also was advised by the doctor when I was sitting there that I was not to be under stress. He knew," she said.
Gingrich divorced his first wife, Jackie, as she was being treated for cancer. His relationship with Marianne began while he was still married to Jackie but in divorce proceedings, Marianne said.
There was no immediate comment from Gingrich on his ex-wife's allegations. Gingrich has said during the campaign he has "no relationship" with Marianne.
While she had been quoted earlier as saying she could end his career, Marianne Gingrich defended Newt's ethics while he served in Congress and came under several ethics investigations.
"At the time, I believed him to be ethical," she said in the interview.
The former Mrs. Gingrich says Newt began to plan a run for President at the time of the divorce and told her that Callista "was going to help him become President."
In a statement to ABC News provided by the campaign, Gingrich's two daughters from his first marriage said, "The failure of a marriage is a terrible and emotional experience for everyone involved."
The daughters, Kathy Lubbers and Jackie Cushman said they would not say anything negative about Marianne and said their father "regrets any pain he may have caused in the past to people he loves."
Marianne Gingrich said Newt has never expressed any such regrets or apologized to her.
Newt Gingrich lacks the moral character to serve as President, his second ex-wife Marianne told ABC News, saying his campaign positions on the sanctity of marriage and the importance of family values do not square with what she saw during their 18 years of marriage.
In her first television interview since the 1999 divorce, to be broadcast tonight on Nightline, Marianne Gingrich, a self-described conservative Republican, said she is coming forward now so voters can know what she knows about Gingrich.
CLICK HERE to see a preview of ABC News' exclusive broadcast interview with Marianne Gingrich and then catch the full interview tonight on ABC News' Nightline at 11:35 p.m. ET.
In her most provocative comments, the ex-Mrs. Gingrich said Newt sought an "open marriage" arrangement so he could have a mistress and a wife.
She said when Gingrich admitted to a six-year affair with a Congressional aide, he asked her if she would share him with the other woman, Callista, who is now married to Gingrich.
"And I just stared at him and he said, 'Callista doesn't care what I do,'" Marianne Gingrich told ABC News. "He wanted an open marriage and I refused."
Marianne described her "shock" at Gingrich's behavior, including how she says she learned he conducted his affair with Callista "in my bedroom in our apartment in Washington."
"He always called me at night," she recalled, "and always ended with 'I love you.' Well, she was listening."
All this happened, she said, during the same time Gingrich condemned President Bill Clinton for his lack of moral leadership.
She said Newt moved for the divorce just months after she had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, with her then-husband present.
"He also was advised by the doctor when I was sitting there that I was not to be under stress. He knew," she said.
Gingrich divorced his first wife, Jackie, as she was being treated for cancer. His relationship with Marianne began while he was still married to Jackie but in divorce proceedings, Marianne said.
There was no immediate comment from Gingrich on his ex-wife's allegations. Gingrich has said during the campaign he has "no relationship" with Marianne.
While she had been quoted earlier as saying she could end his career, Marianne Gingrich defended Newt's ethics while he served in Congress and came under several ethics investigations.
"At the time, I believed him to be ethical," she said in the interview.
The former Mrs. Gingrich says Newt began to plan a run for President at the time of the divorce and told her that Callista "was going to help him become President."
In a statement to ABC News provided by the campaign, Gingrich's two daughters from his first marriage said, "The failure of a marriage is a terrible and emotional experience for everyone involved."
The daughters, Kathy Lubbers and Jackie Cushman said they would not say anything negative about Marianne and said their father "regrets any pain he may have caused in the past to people he loves."
Marianne Gingrich said Newt has never expressed any such regrets or apologized to her.
NEWT EX-WIFE UNLOADS ON CAMERA; NETWORK DEBATES 'ETHICS' OF AIRING BEFORE SC PRIMARY
**Exclusive**
Wed Jan 18 2012 18:47:14 ET
Marianne Gingrich has said she could end her ex-husband's career with a single interview.
Earlier this week, she sat before ABCNEWS cameras, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
She spoke to ABCNEWS reporter Brian Ross for two hours, and her explosive revelations are set to rock the trail.
But now a "civil war" has erupted inside of the network, an insider claims, on exactly when the confession will air!
MORE
ABCNEWS suits determined it would be "unethical" to run the Marianne Gingrich interview so close to the South Carolina Primary, a curious decision, one insider argued, since the network has aggressively been reporting on other candidates.
A decision was tentatively made to air the interview next Monday, after all votes have been counted.
Gingrich canceled a press conference on Wednesday to deal with the matter.
"He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don't have to be connected," Marianne Gingrich, Newt's wife of 18 years, explained to ESQUIRE last year.
Developing...
UPDATE: The AP reports ABC is now likely to air the segment Thursday on NIGHTLINE.
**Exclusive**
Wed Jan 18 2012 18:47:14 ET
Marianne Gingrich has said she could end her ex-husband's career with a single interview.
Earlier this week, she sat before ABCNEWS cameras, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.
She spoke to ABCNEWS reporter Brian Ross for two hours, and her explosive revelations are set to rock the trail.
But now a "civil war" has erupted inside of the network, an insider claims, on exactly when the confession will air!
MORE
ABCNEWS suits determined it would be "unethical" to run the Marianne Gingrich interview so close to the South Carolina Primary, a curious decision, one insider argued, since the network has aggressively been reporting on other candidates.
A decision was tentatively made to air the interview next Monday, after all votes have been counted.
Gingrich canceled a press conference on Wednesday to deal with the matter.
"He believes that what he says in public and how he lives don't have to be connected," Marianne Gingrich, Newt's wife of 18 years, explained to ESQUIRE last year.
Developing...
UPDATE: The AP reports ABC is now likely to air the segment Thursday on NIGHTLINE.
Source-Human Events.com-Gingrich plan after South Carolina
Should Newt Gingrich turn in a strong showing in the South Carolina primary Saturday and his rivals for the conservative vote drop out of the GOP presidential race, the former House speaker feels confident he can draw a sharp contrast with front-runner Mitt Romney and win their party’s nomination for President this year.
“I have a game plan to win after South Carolina,” said Gingrich, who spoke to HUMAN EVENTS Wednesday morning between campaign stops in the Palmetto State. While freely admitting he is “totally focused on winning South Carolina,” Gingrich echoed the view of Florida campaign chairman Bill McCollum that he can defeat Romney in that state’s primary January 31st.
“And then, we will be competing in the Republican caucuses [to choose national convention delegates] in Colorado and Minnesota February 7 and then the caucuses in Washington State [March 3] and then we’re into ‘Super Tuesday,’ he told us, referring to the voting March 6 in which caucuses and primaries in a dozen states will choose their delegates.
“The one significant mistake we made in the campaign so far was failing to get on the ballot in Virginia [March 6],” Gingrich conceded, but he quickly added that “we learned from that mistake and we just have to work harder in the other Super Tuesday states to make up for this. (He did not mention that he also failed to qualify for the primary ballot in Missouri February 7, but Gingrich backers pointed out to us that the Show Me State primary is a non-binding “beauty contest” and that actual delegates are chosen at a state convention later in the year in which they insist their man will be competitive).
Gingrich’s “game plan” depends on conservative opponents such as Rick Perry and Rick Santorum leaving the race soon and letting him face Romney, whom he dismissed as a “confused Massachusetts moderate.” Referring to a recent appearance by Karl Rove on Fox Television, Gingrich recalled how the former Bush White House counselor concluded that Romney could not win if there was a “consensus conservative vote coming to South Carolina.” Gingrich himself believes “if there was a unified conservative vote in South Carolina, I would defeat Romney by at least 60-40.”
The ever-confident candidate expects that if Santorum and/or Perry dropped out of the race, their supporters on the right would flock to his banner without hesitation.
“There are a number of people in Texas who would donate to me the minute Perry is out” he said. When we pressed for names, he declined, saying “I’m just totally focused on South Carolina.”
Like his South Carolina chairman and onetime U.S. House colleague John Napier, Gingrich believes “we have a real chance to win here Saturday” but he would be satisfied with a “strong place showing.” After such results, the former speaker believes that there would be strong pressure for Santorum and Perry to leave the race and for him to get the desired “one-on-one” with Romney scenario needed for his game plan to work.
In the coming days and weeks, Gingrich told us, he plans to hammer Romney on three key points: contrasting his own “bold” plan for a 15% flat tax (“for all taxpayers and not just those who make $200,000 or more”) with what he called Romney’s “timid” tax reform plan; his call for a Chilean-style personal account plan for Social Security (“Romney’s belittling it in our last debate reminded me of George Bush denouncing Reagan’s tax plan as ‘voodoo economics’ in 1980”), and his “bold” national security policy, which includes strong defense of Israel (“Romney would be a more cautious, establishment type on national security.”).
Does Gingrich feel he is in the same spot as Ronald Reagan in 1976, who lost a string of primaries before defeating Gerald Ford in North Carolina in April and then went on to nearly win the nomination? He replied that there are two major differences: “First, there was no divided field among conservatives and he got to go one-on-one with [Ford] and second, he didn’t have to face Romney’s big money machine, with all of its Wall Street donations. It’s small by Obama standards, but huge by Republican standards.”
Should Newt Gingrich turn in a strong showing in the South Carolina primary Saturday and his rivals for the conservative vote drop out of the GOP presidential race, the former House speaker feels confident he can draw a sharp contrast with front-runner Mitt Romney and win their party’s nomination for President this year.
“I have a game plan to win after South Carolina,” said Gingrich, who spoke to HUMAN EVENTS Wednesday morning between campaign stops in the Palmetto State. While freely admitting he is “totally focused on winning South Carolina,” Gingrich echoed the view of Florida campaign chairman Bill McCollum that he can defeat Romney in that state’s primary January 31st.
“And then, we will be competing in the Republican caucuses [to choose national convention delegates] in Colorado and Minnesota February 7 and then the caucuses in Washington State [March 3] and then we’re into ‘Super Tuesday,’ he told us, referring to the voting March 6 in which caucuses and primaries in a dozen states will choose their delegates.
“The one significant mistake we made in the campaign so far was failing to get on the ballot in Virginia [March 6],” Gingrich conceded, but he quickly added that “we learned from that mistake and we just have to work harder in the other Super Tuesday states to make up for this. (He did not mention that he also failed to qualify for the primary ballot in Missouri February 7, but Gingrich backers pointed out to us that the Show Me State primary is a non-binding “beauty contest” and that actual delegates are chosen at a state convention later in the year in which they insist their man will be competitive).
Gingrich’s “game plan” depends on conservative opponents such as Rick Perry and Rick Santorum leaving the race soon and letting him face Romney, whom he dismissed as a “confused Massachusetts moderate.” Referring to a recent appearance by Karl Rove on Fox Television, Gingrich recalled how the former Bush White House counselor concluded that Romney could not win if there was a “consensus conservative vote coming to South Carolina.” Gingrich himself believes “if there was a unified conservative vote in South Carolina, I would defeat Romney by at least 60-40.”
The ever-confident candidate expects that if Santorum and/or Perry dropped out of the race, their supporters on the right would flock to his banner without hesitation.
“There are a number of people in Texas who would donate to me the minute Perry is out” he said. When we pressed for names, he declined, saying “I’m just totally focused on South Carolina.”
Like his South Carolina chairman and onetime U.S. House colleague John Napier, Gingrich believes “we have a real chance to win here Saturday” but he would be satisfied with a “strong place showing.” After such results, the former speaker believes that there would be strong pressure for Santorum and Perry to leave the race and for him to get the desired “one-on-one” with Romney scenario needed for his game plan to work.
In the coming days and weeks, Gingrich told us, he plans to hammer Romney on three key points: contrasting his own “bold” plan for a 15% flat tax (“for all taxpayers and not just those who make $200,000 or more”) with what he called Romney’s “timid” tax reform plan; his call for a Chilean-style personal account plan for Social Security (“Romney’s belittling it in our last debate reminded me of George Bush denouncing Reagan’s tax plan as ‘voodoo economics’ in 1980”), and his “bold” national security policy, which includes strong defense of Israel (“Romney would be a more cautious, establishment type on national security.”).
Does Gingrich feel he is in the same spot as Ronald Reagan in 1976, who lost a string of primaries before defeating Gerald Ford in North Carolina in April and then went on to nearly win the nomination? He replied that there are two major differences: “First, there was no divided field among conservatives and he got to go one-on-one with [Ford] and second, he didn’t have to face Romney’s big money machine, with all of its Wall Street donations. It’s small by Obama standards, but huge by Republican standards.”
Source-CNN: Gingrich to consider Sarah Palin in his Administration
Gingrich: I'd like Palin in my administration
Comments (50) By MAGGIE HABERMAN | 1/18/12 4:28 PM EST
In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Newt Gingrich described Sarah Palin's comments about how she would vote for him if she lived in South Carolina as an "endorsement," and said he'd ask her to join a Gingrich administration:
"Gov. Palin is somebody who I think was a very good reform governor. She was extraordinarily effective negotiating with big oil. She did a good job in the state of Alaska. I think she’s a very articulate leader of the tea party conservative movement. I was honored and delighted last night when she said if she were in South Carolina, she’d vote for Newt Gingrich. I hope everybody who likes her decides she’s right. And I hope they vote for me.
"Certainly, she’s one of the people I’d call on for advice. I would ask her to consider taking a major role in the next administration if I’m president, but nothing has been discussed of any kind. And it wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss it at this time.
"I’m just delighted that she and Todd have been both of them so supportive of my candidacy. And they recognize that, you know, I’m a tea party Reform conservative. I’m not part of the Washington establishment. And I think that’s the signal that her endorsement last night really sends."
Gingrich: I'd like Palin in my administration
Comments (50) By MAGGIE HABERMAN | 1/18/12 4:28 PM EST
In an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Newt Gingrich described Sarah Palin's comments about how she would vote for him if she lived in South Carolina as an "endorsement," and said he'd ask her to join a Gingrich administration:
"Gov. Palin is somebody who I think was a very good reform governor. She was extraordinarily effective negotiating with big oil. She did a good job in the state of Alaska. I think she’s a very articulate leader of the tea party conservative movement. I was honored and delighted last night when she said if she were in South Carolina, she’d vote for Newt Gingrich. I hope everybody who likes her decides she’s right. And I hope they vote for me.
"Certainly, she’s one of the people I’d call on for advice. I would ask her to consider taking a major role in the next administration if I’m president, but nothing has been discussed of any kind. And it wouldn’t be appropriate to discuss it at this time.
"I’m just delighted that she and Todd have been both of them so supportive of my candidacy. And they recognize that, you know, I’m a tea party Reform conservative. I’m not part of the Washington establishment. And I think that’s the signal that her endorsement last night really sends."
Source-ABC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE TEAM
Romney Parks Millions in Offshore Tax Haven
By MATTHEW MOSK, BRIAN ROSS and MEGAN CHUCHMACH
34 minutes ago
Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven.
A spokesperson for the Romney campaign says Romney follows all tax laws and he would pay the same in taxes regardless of where the funds are based.
As the race for the Republican nomination heats up, Mitt Romney is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a shroud of secrecy around the details about his vast personal wealth, including, as ABC News has discovered, his investment in funds located offshore and his ability to pay a lower tax rate.
"His personal finances are a poster child of what's wrong with the American tax system," said Jack Blum, a Washington lawyer who is an authority on tax enforcement and offshore banking.
On Tuesday, Romney disclosed that he has been paying a far lower percentage in taxes than most Americans, around 15 percent of his annual earnings. It has been Romney's Republican rivals who have driven the tax issue onto center stage. For weeks, Romney has cited a desire for privacy as his reason for not sharing his tax returns -- a gesture of transparency that is now expected from presidential contenders.
"I can tell you we follow the tax laws," he said recently while on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. "And if there's an opportunity to save taxes, we like anybody else in this country will follow that opportunity."
But tax experts tell ABC News there are other reasons Romney may not want the public viewing his returns. As one of the wealthiest candidates to run for president in recent times, Romney has used a variety of techniques to help minimize the taxes on his estimated $250 million fortune. In addition to paying the lower tax rate on his investment income, Romney has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry. Another investment, which Romney reports as being worth between $5 million and $25 million, shows up on securities records as having been domiciled in the Caymans.
Official documents reviewed by ABC News show that Bain Capital, the private equity partnership Romney once ran, has set up some 138 secretive offshore funds in the Caymans.
Romney campaign officials and those at Bain Capital tell ABC News that the purpose of setting up those accounts in the Cayman Islands is to help attract money from foreign investors, and that the accounts provide no tax advantage to American investors like Romney. Romney, the campaign said, has paid all U.S. taxes on income derived from those investments.
"The tax consequences to the Romneys are the very same whether the fund is domiciled here or another country," a campaign official said in response to questions. "Gov. and Mrs. Romney have money invested in funds that the trustee has determined to be attractive investment opportunities, and those funds are domiciled wherever the fund sponsors happen to organize the funds."
Bain officials called the decision to locate some funds offshore routine, and a benefit only to foreign investors who do not want to be subjected to U.S. taxes.
Tax experts agree that Romney remains subject to American taxes. But they say the offshore accounts have provided him -- and Bain -- with other potential financial benefits, such as higher management fees and greater foreign interest, all at the expense of the U.S. Treasury. Rebecca J. Wilkins, a tax policy expert with Citizens for Tax Justice, said the federal government loses an estimated $100 billion a year because of tax havens.
Blum, the D.C. tax lawyer, said working through an offshore investment vehicle allows the investor to "avoid a whole series of small traps in the tax code that ordinary people would face if they paid tax on an onshore basis."
Wilkins agreed, saying the "primary advantage to setting those funds up in an offshore jurisdiction like the Cayman Islands or Bermuda is it helps the investors avoid tax."
"It helps U.S. investors avoid U.S. tax," said Wilkins, "it helps foreign investors avoid taxes in their home country, so it's not illegal or improper to set those funds up in a foreign jurisdiction, but it makes it more attractive to investors because it helps them avoid paying taxes on that income."
Bain Accounts in the Cayman Islands
Bain's presence in the Cayman Islands is not something the firm advertises. ABC News found references to the firm's accounts there in the footnotes of securities filings. When ABC News went to the office address listed for Romney's Bain funds, lawyers in the Caymans were not eager to answer questions.
Asked if he could confirm the existence of the Bain accounts, David Byrne, the chief marketing officer for the law firm Walkers, listed on documents as Bain's Caymans' representative, said he could not. "No, I can't at all," said Byrne. "Unfortunately, I can't comment at all on that."
There is now less secrecy than there was even two weeks ago surrounding Romney's tax rate. The money he made through Bain investments was taxed as capital gains at a 15 percent rate, instead of the higher tax rates borne by most Americans. Newt Gingrich told reporters Wednesday that his income was taxed at 31 percent.
The so-called "carried interest" rule has been the source of extensive debate in Washington, with opponents criticizing the allowance to tax those earnings at 15 percent a glaring loophole that benefits only the wealthiest Americans. Under the carried interest rule, income that is determined to be capital gains – like the profit reaped by hedge fund managers -- is subject to the lower 15 percent rate.
Wilkins said Romney's arrangements reminded her of the now famous remarks by billionaire financier Warren Buffet, who revealed in 2007 that he was paying taxes at a lower rate than his receptionist.
"Well, I think it's the issue that is sort of on the front page every day, when we look at the Occupy Wall Street movement and that people are really losing patience with the idea that a lot of multinational corporations have and a lot of wealthy people have that while they benefit from everything this country has to offer … they don't seem to be willing to pay their fair share," she said.
Romney, who left Bain in 1999, has confirmed that his earnings largely come from investments, and the tax rate he pays is consistent with that "because my last 10 years, my income comes overwhelmingly from some investments made in the past, whether ordinary income or earned annually. I got a little bit of income from my book, but I gave that all away. And then I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much."
Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.
Romney Parks Millions in Offshore Tax Haven
By MATTHEW MOSK, BRIAN ROSS and MEGAN CHUCHMACH
34 minutes ago
Although it is not apparent on his financial disclosure form, Mitt Romney has millions of dollars of his personal wealth in investment funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a notorious Caribbean tax haven.
A spokesperson for the Romney campaign says Romney follows all tax laws and he would pay the same in taxes regardless of where the funds are based.
As the race for the Republican nomination heats up, Mitt Romney is finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a shroud of secrecy around the details about his vast personal wealth, including, as ABC News has discovered, his investment in funds located offshore and his ability to pay a lower tax rate.
"His personal finances are a poster child of what's wrong with the American tax system," said Jack Blum, a Washington lawyer who is an authority on tax enforcement and offshore banking.
On Tuesday, Romney disclosed that he has been paying a far lower percentage in taxes than most Americans, around 15 percent of his annual earnings. It has been Romney's Republican rivals who have driven the tax issue onto center stage. For weeks, Romney has cited a desire for privacy as his reason for not sharing his tax returns -- a gesture of transparency that is now expected from presidential contenders.
"I can tell you we follow the tax laws," he said recently while on the campaign trail in New Hampshire. "And if there's an opportunity to save taxes, we like anybody else in this country will follow that opportunity."
But tax experts tell ABC News there are other reasons Romney may not want the public viewing his returns. As one of the wealthiest candidates to run for president in recent times, Romney has used a variety of techniques to help minimize the taxes on his estimated $250 million fortune. In addition to paying the lower tax rate on his investment income, Romney has as much as $8 million invested in at least 12 funds listed on a Cayman Islands registry. Another investment, which Romney reports as being worth between $5 million and $25 million, shows up on securities records as having been domiciled in the Caymans.
Official documents reviewed by ABC News show that Bain Capital, the private equity partnership Romney once ran, has set up some 138 secretive offshore funds in the Caymans.
Romney campaign officials and those at Bain Capital tell ABC News that the purpose of setting up those accounts in the Cayman Islands is to help attract money from foreign investors, and that the accounts provide no tax advantage to American investors like Romney. Romney, the campaign said, has paid all U.S. taxes on income derived from those investments.
"The tax consequences to the Romneys are the very same whether the fund is domiciled here or another country," a campaign official said in response to questions. "Gov. and Mrs. Romney have money invested in funds that the trustee has determined to be attractive investment opportunities, and those funds are domiciled wherever the fund sponsors happen to organize the funds."
Bain officials called the decision to locate some funds offshore routine, and a benefit only to foreign investors who do not want to be subjected to U.S. taxes.
Tax experts agree that Romney remains subject to American taxes. But they say the offshore accounts have provided him -- and Bain -- with other potential financial benefits, such as higher management fees and greater foreign interest, all at the expense of the U.S. Treasury. Rebecca J. Wilkins, a tax policy expert with Citizens for Tax Justice, said the federal government loses an estimated $100 billion a year because of tax havens.
Blum, the D.C. tax lawyer, said working through an offshore investment vehicle allows the investor to "avoid a whole series of small traps in the tax code that ordinary people would face if they paid tax on an onshore basis."
Wilkins agreed, saying the "primary advantage to setting those funds up in an offshore jurisdiction like the Cayman Islands or Bermuda is it helps the investors avoid tax."
"It helps U.S. investors avoid U.S. tax," said Wilkins, "it helps foreign investors avoid taxes in their home country, so it's not illegal or improper to set those funds up in a foreign jurisdiction, but it makes it more attractive to investors because it helps them avoid paying taxes on that income."
Bain Accounts in the Cayman Islands
Bain's presence in the Cayman Islands is not something the firm advertises. ABC News found references to the firm's accounts there in the footnotes of securities filings. When ABC News went to the office address listed for Romney's Bain funds, lawyers in the Caymans were not eager to answer questions.
Asked if he could confirm the existence of the Bain accounts, David Byrne, the chief marketing officer for the law firm Walkers, listed on documents as Bain's Caymans' representative, said he could not. "No, I can't at all," said Byrne. "Unfortunately, I can't comment at all on that."
There is now less secrecy than there was even two weeks ago surrounding Romney's tax rate. The money he made through Bain investments was taxed as capital gains at a 15 percent rate, instead of the higher tax rates borne by most Americans. Newt Gingrich told reporters Wednesday that his income was taxed at 31 percent.
The so-called "carried interest" rule has been the source of extensive debate in Washington, with opponents criticizing the allowance to tax those earnings at 15 percent a glaring loophole that benefits only the wealthiest Americans. Under the carried interest rule, income that is determined to be capital gains – like the profit reaped by hedge fund managers -- is subject to the lower 15 percent rate.
Wilkins said Romney's arrangements reminded her of the now famous remarks by billionaire financier Warren Buffet, who revealed in 2007 that he was paying taxes at a lower rate than his receptionist.
"Well, I think it's the issue that is sort of on the front page every day, when we look at the Occupy Wall Street movement and that people are really losing patience with the idea that a lot of multinational corporations have and a lot of wealthy people have that while they benefit from everything this country has to offer … they don't seem to be willing to pay their fair share," she said.
Romney, who left Bain in 1999, has confirmed that his earnings largely come from investments, and the tax rate he pays is consistent with that "because my last 10 years, my income comes overwhelmingly from some investments made in the past, whether ordinary income or earned annually. I got a little bit of income from my book, but I gave that all away. And then I get speaker's fees from time to time, but not very much."
Click Here for the Blotter Homepage.
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