Another hour, more GOP hypocrisy. This time it's about broken promises over investments that were supposed to have been discontinued due to conflicts with Republican policies. But then this is Etch A Sketch Mitt we're talking about.
Willard Romney's spokesgaffer is using the old "But he has no control over a blind trust!" excuse again. Except that yeah, Willard says he kinda does. (video here)
Romney: The blind trust is an age old ruse, if you will, which is to say, you can always tell a blind trust what it can and can not do. You give a blind trust rules.
WASHINGTON — Presidential candidate Mitt Romney promised in 2007 he would shed any investments that conflicted with Republican positions on hot-button domestic and foreign policy issues. But Romney's family trusts kept some of those holdings and repeatedly bought new ones until 2010, when they were finally sold off for more than $3 million, according to a detailed review of Romney's financial records by The Associated Press.
Recently disclosed tax returns for three family trust funds for Romney, his wife, Ann, and their adult children show scores of trades in companies whose business operations are inconsistent with Republican Party stances that Romney favors on Iran, China, stem cell research, abortion and other issues. [...]
The continual trading between 2006 and 2010 raises questions about why the investments continued for three years, even after Romney said in 2007 that the trust would sell off any conflicted holdings. Those trades came during a period when Romney has sought to convince voters of his conservative Republican values. The trades also raise questions about whether any of the transactions were vetted for possible conflicts or political perception before they were made. [...]
Romney's tax returns, which he released under pressure on Jan. 24, also described numerous recent stock trades in companies tied to the Chinese government or to its censorship and crackdown on free speech. ... Some of the largest stock trades made by the Romney trust involved companies that have operated in Iran.
About those tax returns, Mitt... See why they could be helpful now? To America, not you necessarily.
Sniff, sniff, detect an unpleasant odor? That would be the smell test that Team Romney is failing.
Much more at the link.
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