Democrats Launch Offensive on Romney's Offshore Accounts

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz went after Romney's tax history, and his multiple international bank accounts?during her appearance on?Fox News Sunday. "I?d really like to see Mitt Romney release more than one year of tax records because there?s been disturbing reports recently that he?s got a ... secretive Bermuda corporation that no one knows anything about, investment in the Caymans ... he?s got a? Swiss bank account," she said.?"Americans need to ask themselves: why does an American businessman need a Swiss bank account and secretive investments like that?"

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The line of the day goes to senior Obama campaign adviser Robert Gibbs, who offered a new idea for a Romney campaign slogan during an appearance on CNN's?State of the Union.?"This is a guy whose slogan is 'Believe In America' but it should be ?Business In Bermuda?. That?s what Mitt Romney?s all about," he said. He was discussing whether Romney's done anything illegal by having a Swiss bank account.?"We don't know. Nobody knows," he said.?"The one thing he can do, Candy, to clear up whether or not he's done anything illegally, whether he's shielding his income from taxes in Bermuda or Switzerland, is to do what every other presidential candidate has done and that's to release a series of years of their own tax returns.?The best way to see if Mitt Romney is complying with America tax law is to have him release more of his tax returns," he said. Gibbs explained how he chooses his bank, but wondered why Romney chooses his.?"I pick a bank because there's an ATM near my home," he said. "Romney had a bank account in Switzerland."

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Another good candidate for line of the day was Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin's line about Romney being the dead beat dad of the Affordable Care Act on CBS's?Face the Nation. "Let?s get down to the bottom line here," Durbin said. "Mitt Romney is the Obamacare daddy. He gave birth to this baby up in Massachusetts, and now he doesn?t?recognize it."

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Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley asked similar questions about Romney's financial history, in his own way, on ABC's?This Week with George Stephanopolous. "I?ve never known of a Swiss bank account to build an American bridge, a Swiss bank account to create American jobs, or a Swiss bank accounts to rebuild the levies to protect the people of New Orleans," O?Malley said. "That?s not an economic strategy for moving ourcountry forward."

The only Republican asked to defend the questions about Romney's offshore bank accounts was Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who struggled to come up with a reasonable answer.?"Is it fair for voters to consider, governor, what Mitt Romney does with his money outside the United States?" Jindal was asked on This Week. Jindal tried to dodge the question, but it didn't really work.?"I will get to that question, but look. Gov. O'Malley -- he's talked about President [George W.]?Bush several times now. That election was eight years ago," he said. "Look, I'm happy he's a successful businessman. We've got a president today who's never run a business, never run anything including a lemonade stand before he was president of the United States."?

"Governor, what about the Swiss bank accounts?" pressed host Terry Moran.

Jindal tried to answer with more talk of Obama's inexperience running a business. "We can't afford four more years of on-the-job training. Look, the bottom line is, I'm thrilled that Mitt Romney has been successful in the private sector," he said. "I want somebody who's got that private-sector experience."?

That wasn't enough for Moran, who interrupted Jindal. "But what about his money out of the country?" he asked again. "Is it OK for voters to consider the amount of money that he's put out of the country in tax havens offshore, in secret Bermuda companies? Does that make sense for voters to consider?"?

Jindal blew off the question, essentially, and said voters will consider all "distractions thrown out by the Obama campaign," but at the end of the day it's Obama or Romney. That's it. Then he attacked the President's history so far in office. "It's about President Obama, who wants to continue to spend money we don't have. They incurred now $1 trillion-plus deficit every year he's been president, after he promised we'd cut the deficit in half by the end of his first term,? the governor said. ?He hasn't done that. Promised unemployment would be below 8 percent, hadn't done that. Promised he'd reform the entitlement programs, hasn't done that."

Watch Jindal and O'Malley spar on This Week here:?

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Debbie Wasserman Schultz also went for the Romney campaign's jugular on a key swing state issue while on?Fox News Sunday.?"In Ohio, 80 of 82 counties in Ohio actually have an auto-manufacturing facility, and so if left to Mitt Romney, they essentially would have all gone out of business because he would have left those folks twisting in the wind," she said. Wasserman Schultz admitted the economy still has "a?long way to go," but said if it were up to Romney the American middle class would be in even worse shape.?"President Obama has been committed to not just getting the economy turned around and creating jobs but closing the achievement gap in education for Hispanics and African-Americans, investing in education and innovation and making sure we can keep folks in their homes," she said. "If you compare that to Mitt Romney's focus which was, 'Let's let Detroit go bankrupt and not rescues the American automobile industry,' African-Americans would have been devastated by that in particular."?She also called Mitt, "the most extreme presidential candidate in history on immigration policy."

Mitch McConnell wouldn't apologize for voting for Chief Justice John Roberts after Roberts voted to uphold the Affordable Care Act, but he did play the mom card. He said he's "disappointed" in Roberts.?"Are you sorry you voted for him?" asked?State of the Union host Candy Crowley.?"No, I?m not. But I was extremely disappointed," McConnell replied. Later, McConnell said he thinks Republicans have a 50-50 chance of taking back the senate. "50-50. I think it?s going to be a very close, competitive election," he said. "There are a number of places where we have opportunities for pickups. Not many places where we have much chance of losing a seat. I think at the end of the day we?re going to have a very narrow Senate one way or?the other."

Republic National Committee chair Reince Priebus was a bit of a drama queen on Fox News Sunday. He said Romney has to win in November or the very idea of America is at stake.?"The fact is, it?s not a question of whether can Mitt Romney win," Priebus said. "The statement is, Mitt Romney has to win for the sake of the very idea of America. Mitt Romney has to win for liberty and freedom. We have to put an end to this Barack Obama presidency before it puts an end to our way of life?in America."

Priebus also went on a tirade about how the election isn't about Romney winning over the voters, that it's actually about Obama losing them. "What this country is going to be faced with are two questions," Priebus said. "No 1, has this president lived and fulfilled the mission that he promised this country? Has he performed his job up to the standards that we?ve all expected and that he promised he would perform. That is a referendum on Barack Obama and of course, that?s the first box that people have to ask themselves. And then after they decide, 'look, we don?t want another four years of this misery,' the next question is, have the Republicans put up an intelligent, articulate alternative to this president who can fix the problem. That?s the next question. But you don?t get to No. 2 without getting to?No. 1."?

Former Senator Bill Bradley suggested that taxes need to be raised across the board to help get the country out of debt while on State of the Union.?"If we're going to succeed, we're going to have to face our problems squarely,"?he said.?"The deficit is one problem - and that requires taxes on a lot of people, not just the wealthy," Bradley said. Obama has said he wants to let the Bush-era tax cuts expire if he gets a second term, but Bradley doesn't think that's enough.?"No one's saying that right now, and someone has to say it," he said.?"What happens because politicians are unwilling to deal with, say, entitlements and taxes is we cut the things that are the foundations of our country ? like infrastructure, education."?

John McCain slammed the President's lack of leadership on the crisis in Syria again on Sunday. During his appearance on Face the Nation, McCain argued Americans need to get involved somehow, in some way, to lead internationally.?"How many more have to die before we take action?" he asked. "It's shameful the total lack of leadership that the United States has displayed for the last 14 months," he said."We need to show, first, leadership. The president of the United States should be speaking out for the people of Syria," he said. McCain advocated the President's office needs to start helping to arm the Syrian opposition forces.?"It's not a fair fight. Russian arms are pouring in, Iranians are on the ground," McCain said. "We need to establish a sanctuary so that they can organize."

Oh, and we're considering this week a win because no one took their name out of the running in the Veepstakes.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/democrats-launch-offensive-romneys-offshore-accounts-181916361.html

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