the rix mix

Today  is the first time in the 2012 campaign that I thought Mitt Romney has a really serious problem, one that's going to be very difficult to overcome. Americans generally  don't have automatic gripes with ultra-wealthy people.  I wish we did but we don't.  But having given  Mitt an initial pass on being ultra-wealthy; his stiffness, his haircut, his obvious unfamiliarity with  real middle class life, his straight-laced Mormon dorkiness, Americans are now curious about what kind of rich guy he is. Does he take responsibility for the actions of his business, Bain? Why is he copping out on two specific years of owning the business? What happened during those years? Is it anything that'll make him look bad?  Surely he understands the meaning of "The buck stops here." Has he paid his fair share of taxes? Is he a  rich guy with some integrity or is he hiding something? America ought to pay more attention to the rich guys behind Romney; so much wealthier than him that they could buy the man many times over. One of them vows to spend $100 million of a personal fortune  if necessary to get Mitt elected.  What would be worth spending a hundred-million for if it wouldn't somehow return much more than a hundred-million? That won't be a campaign issue, unfortunately.  I'll settle for the dozen mystery years of Romney's unreleased  tax returns. Maybe Senator Harry Reid is talking through his butt when he claims Romney paid no taxes during those years. How would he know?   But if it's no big deal (unlike Obama's birth certificate), let's see them.