Why Rachel Maddow needs reading glasses and the public needs Romney’s tax returns

Let me say a at the outset, I am a Rachel Maddow fan, but the other night when discussing Mitt Romney’s missing years at the Olympics and his income form Bain Capital, Inc, she kept asking the question: why was he paid  $100,000 a year by Bain from 1999 to 2002. That was a big mistake, because the Financial disclosure form with the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission for 2001, Romney  disclosed not $100,000 from Bain capital but “Over $100,000” As others have pointed out, this means we don’t know how much Bain Capital paid Romney more than $100,000. Was it a million? Two million?

But there is more. Actually Romney was paid “Over $100,000” by four other Bain related entities: Bain Capital LLC, BCIP Associates, BCIP Associates II, and BCIP Trust Associates.You can view the whole disclosure form at: http://romneyfacts.com/assets/Personal%20Financial%20Forms/Personal%20finances/SFI/2001%20SFI%20WMR.pdf

Assuming that his actually take from each of these five Bain entities was “only” one million dollars a year, that would mean he received five million dollars a year. Without his income tax forms, we can only estimate his income.

Does any one really believe that he was uniformed of  ‑ or informed and opposed to ‑ the actions of Bain while he was pulling in “over” $500,000 a year and quite likely more than $5,00,000. There is only one way to get real answers to Romney’s Bain related income from 1999 to 2002. He should release his income taxes for those years.

He gave John McCain 12 years of income tax returns in 2008 when being vetted for a possible Vice Presidential nomination. Does the public deserve any less.