Ryan Seeks to Deflect Attention Away From Romney\'s Tax Returns

September 21, 2012, 10:00 pm

By RICHARD A. OPPEL JR.

BARTOW, Fla. - Representative Paul D. Ryan sought to reframe attention on Friday away from the low effective tax rate that Mitt Romney pays compared to many Americans who earn much less, by emphasizing that Mr. Romney and his wife, Ann, gave away about $4 million to charity in 2011.

“I think what this shows is that the Romneys are extremely generous people,” said Mr. Ryan, who was named as the vice-presidential candidate last month by Mr. Romney, the Republican presidential nominee. “They gave away 30 percent of their income to charity.”

“Mitt Romney's always believed, ‘To whom much is given, much is required,' and he's living proof of that,” Mr. Ryan added. “And this just shows you how generous the Romneys are as people.”

Mr. Romney paid an effective federal tax rate of 14.1 percent in 2011, according to information his campaign released on Friday. Mr. Romney's federal taxes have been a major political issue because of the comparatively low overall rate he has paid despite earning millions of dollars, especially when so-called payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare are factored in, which, for most people, eat up a decent chunk of their income but are barely a factor for the Romneys since payroll taxes are only paid on a certain level of income.

Moreover, most of Mr. Romney's income is taxed at low capital gains rates instead of higher rates applied to so-called ordinary income like salaries, which explains why he pays a lower effective rate than so many people who earn far less money than he does.

The Obama campaign has sought to use the Romneys' low effective tax rate as proof of why the tax system is skewed too heavily in favor of the wealthy, and Obama aides have also sought to portray the Republican challenger as an out-of-touch millionaire who uses offshore accounts and owes much of his personal financial success to aggressive tax maneuvers.

But it was clear on Friday that Mr. Ryan and others close to the Romneys were seeking to focus attention on Mr. Romney's large charitable donations as a way of deflecting the Obama campaign's attacks.

What was also notable about Mr. Romney's tax disclosure on Friday was that he actually did not claim all the charitable deductions he was entitled to, Romney advisers said, in order to make good on his earlier statement that in recent years he has always paid at least a 13 percent effective rate.

In fact, Mr. Romney claimed a deduction for just slightly more than half of his total charitable contributions in 2011, though tax experts said it is possible he could still deduct the unclaimed donations in future years.

But Mr. Ryan seemed to dismiss the significance of Mr. Romney limiting his deductions for 2011, suggesting it is always hard to know what your true tax rate will be before you actually complete your tax returns.

“That's because when you pay estimates, that's how it works,” Mr. Ryan said, in brief comments to reporters at a fruit stand here.

Obama\'s Health Care Law Would Drive Romney\'s Tax Bill Up

September 21, 2012, 8:25 pm

By FLOYD NORRIS

Most Americans pay more in payroll taxes â€" which finance Social Security and Medicare â€" than they do in income taxes. The rich are different.

Mitt and Ann Romney paid virtually no payroll taxes in 2011, because nearly all their income came from investments on which payroll tax was not owed.

For most taxpayers, the 2.9 percent Medicare tax levied on wage income will be the same next year as it was in 2011. But starting in 2013, high-income taxpayers will pay more â€" and in the Romneys' case â€" much more.

Married taxpayers with income over $250,000 will pay a 3.8 percent Medicare tax rate on income over that amount, and all income will be covered, including the capital gains that make up most of the Romneys' income.

If their 2013 income were unchanged from this year, their Medicare tax bill would exceed $500,000.

That tax was passed as part of the health care bill enacted by Congress and signed by President Obama in 2010 â€" a law known as “Obamacare.” Mr. Romney has pledged to seek repeal of that law.

Romney\'s Family Trust Invested in Chinese Oil Company

September 21, 2012, 8:05 pm

By FLOYD NORRIS and MICHAEL D. SHEAR

On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney has become increasingly critical of China, saying the country is engaging in unfair trade practices and vowing to crack down on them in ways that are much more severe that the current administration.

The 2011 tax returns his campaign released on Friday show that Mr. Romney's family trusts had invested in shares of a Chinese-owned state oil company but got rid of those investments this summer as Mr. Romney's anti-Chinese rhetoric heated up on the campaign trail.

In 2009 and 2010, the W. Mitt Romney blind trust invested $77,262 in shares of Cnooc Limited, the state-owned Chinese oil company, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of Chi na. On Aug. 10, 2011, as Mr. Romney was emerging as a harsh critic of China, the shares were sold, producing a profit of $8,138, as the trust made money on the oil company but lost money on the bank.

The trust also invested in derivative securities linked to the Japanese stock market and to an index that includes stocks in every major country except the United States. It invested in a derivative that would profit if the dollar fell against a group of foreign currencies.

Mr. Romney's campaign has repeatedly criticized President Obama for failing to take a tough line against Chinese trade practices. After Mr. Obama this week announced tough new trade actions against China, Mr. Romney took credit for forcing the president's hand.

“President Obama has spent 43 months failing to confront China's unfair trade practices,” Mr. Romney said in a statement after Mr. Obama's announced that the government had filed trade complaints aga inst China. “Campaign-season trade cases may sound good on the stump, but it is too little, too late for American businesses and middle-class families.

The Romney family trusts invested around the world. It also owned shares in Credit Suisse, the Swiss bank; FLSmidth, a Danish machinery company; Arcelormittal, a steel company based in Luxembourg with operations around the world, and Komatsu, a Japanese machinery company. All those investments were sold on Aug. 10, the day before a Republican debate in Iowa.

Ann Romney\'s Plane Makes Emergency Landing

September 21, 2012, 4:29 pm

By RICHARD A. OPPEL JR.

NEW ORLEANS â€" Representative Paul D. Ryan faced a tough and at some points hostile audience on Friday at the AARP convention here, drawing applause when he introduced his mother but eliciting wide boos and shouts of “No!” when he called for the repeal of Obamacare, as well as scattered shouts of “47 percent” and “liar” as he attacked other aspects of President Obama's policies.

While Mr. Ryan received a standing ovation from many in the crowd when he was introduced â€" and was applauded at other parts of his speech â€" it seemed to be the most critical audience that the 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman has faced since he was named last month to be Mitt Romney's running mate.

The response contrasted with the more positive reception given to President Obama, who had spoken to the convention over a satellite link earlier on Friday morning. AARP is a nonpartisan organization but supported the Affordable Care Act, which many Republicans refer to as Obamacare.

The booing started when Mr. Ryan repeated his ticket's longstanding view that the health care law should be repealed.

“If we reform Medicare for my generation, we can protect it for those in or near retirement today,” Mr. Ryan began, to some applause.

“The first step toward a stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare, because it is the worst of both worlds,” he added, although the last few words were nearly drowned out by hoots and shouts of “No!”

“I had a feeling there would be mixed reactions,” Mr. Ryan said.

Mr. Ryan also drew a negative response when he implied that Mr. Obama was willing to forsake retirees for his o wn political survival.

“Time and again this president has ducked the tough issues,” he said. “He's put his own job security over your retirement security. He said he'd be willing to work with Republicans, but he has not moved an inch closer to common ground.”

“Liar! Liar!” some in the crowd shouted.

But other arguments drew more uniform applause, as when Mr. Ryan said, “Our idea is to force insurance companies to compete against each other to better serve seniors, with more help for the poor and the sick, and less help for the wealthy.”

According to AARP, the median age range for members who attended the convention was 58 to 63. Interviews with a number of members before the speeches suggested that more people who are younger than the group's traditional demographic may have attended because, unlike in past periods when Social Security and Medicare were not seen as threatened, there is now more concern among people in middle age that t he programs will be cut, even as private employers trim back pensions and health care benefits.

Many in the audience were plainly wary of the Romney-Ryan approach to Medicare. “I'm not going to vote for anybody who has a voucher plan,” said Doug Turton, a 53-year-old from Maine who said he was scared by their plans. “I've been working for 30-plus years to obtain” benefits, “and it would not be fair.”

“In my opinion the Republicans are very unyielding and not willing to take a look at the whole picture to benefit everybody,” Mr. Turton said. “It is a very elitist attitude toward things.”

But Mr. Ryan did have a number of supporters, even if, taken together, they were less vocal at times during his speech than those who shouted criticisms.

In an interview before Mr. Ryan spoke, Martha Brown, a medical researcher from Michigan, said she appreciated Mr. Obama's view that Social Security and Medicare are benefits that workers have earne d through paying into the programs for many years. But she said she was frustrated that he spun out only what she said were dire possibilities to describe what would happen under Republican alternatives.

“Three-quarters of what he said was a lie,” Ms. Brown said, referring to the speech Mr. Obama had just given over a satellite link.

“He lied about what the Republicans want to do with their voucher program,” she said. “He said, ‘It could lead to this, it could lead to that' â€" he was inventing scenarios that were totally negative. But when people hear it from the president, they believe it is true.”

Ann Romney\'s Plane Makes Emergency Landing

September 21, 2012, 5:06 pm

By ASHLEY PARKER

A private plane carrying Ann Romney, the wife of Mitt Romney, made an emergency landing in Denver on Friday afternoon after the cabin filled with smoke.

Mrs. Romney was flying from Los Angeles to Omaha for a campaign event when her plane was forced to divert, a result of an apparent electrical fire, said an aide to Mrs. Romney.

The aide added that everyone was safe, and the plane was surrounded by fire trucks and emergency vehicles upon touching down in Colorado. Mr. Romney, in Las Vegas for a rally and fund-raiser, spoke to his wife by phone after she landed.

Mixed Reaction for Ryan at AARP Convention

September 21, 2012, 4:29 pm

By RICHARD A. OPPEL JR.

NEW ORLEANS â€" Representative Paul D. Ryan faced a tough and at some points hostile audience on Friday at the AARP convention here, drawing applause when he introduced his mother but eliciting wide boos and shouts of “No!” when he called for the repeal of Obamacare, as well as scattered shouts of “47 percent” and “liar” as he attacked other aspects of President Obama's policies.

While Mr. Ryan received a standing ovation from many in the crowd when he was introduced â€" and was applauded at other parts of his speech â€" it seemed to be the most critical audience that the 42-year-old Wisconsin congressman has faced since he was named last month to be Mitt Romney's running mate.

The response contrasted with the more positive reception given to President Obama, who had spoken to the convention over a satellite link earlier on Friday morning. AARP is a nonpartisan organization but supported the Affordable Care Act, which many Republicans refer to as Obamacare.

The booing started when Mr. Ryan repeated his ticket's longstanding view that the health care law should be repealed.

“If we reform Medicare for my generation, we can protect it for those in or near retirement today,” Mr. Ryan began, to some applause.

“The first step toward a stronger Medicare is to repeal Obamacare, because it is the worst of both worlds,” he added, although the last few words were nearly drowned out by hoots and shouts of “No!”

“I had a feeling there would be mixed reactions,” Mr. Ryan said.

Mr. Ryan also drew a negative response when he implied that Mr. Obama was willing to forsake retirees for his o wn political survival.

“Time and again this president has ducked the tough issues,” he said. “He's put his own job security over your retirement security. He said he'd be willing to work with Republicans, but he has not moved an inch closer to common ground.”

“Liar! Liar!” some in the crowd shouted.

But other arguments drew more uniform applause, as when Mr. Ryan said, “Our idea is to force insurance companies to compete against each other to better serve seniors, with more help for the poor and the sick, and less help for the wealthy.”

According to AARP, the median age range for members who attended the convention was 58 to 63. Interviews with a number of members before the speeches suggested that more people who are younger than the group's traditional demographic may have attended because, unlike in past periods when Social Security and Medicare were not seen as threatened, there is now more concern among people in middle age that t he programs will be cut, even as private employers trim back pensions and health care benefits.

Many in the audience were plainly wary of the Romney-Ryan approach to Medicare. “I'm not going to vote for anybody who has a voucher plan,” said Doug Turton, a 53-year-old from Maine who said he was scared by their plans. “I've been working for 30-plus years to obtain” benefits, “and it would not be fair.”

“In my opinion the Republicans are very unyielding and not willing to take a look at the whole picture to benefit everybody,” Mr. Turton said. “It is a very elitist attitude toward things.”

But Mr. Ryan did have a number of supporters, even if, taken together, they were less vocal at times during his speech than those who shouted criticisms.

In an interview before Mr. Ryan spoke, Martha Brown, a medical researcher from Michigan, said she appreciated Mr. Obama's view that Social Security and Medicare are benefits that workers have earne d through paying into the programs for many years. But she said she was frustrated that he spun out only what she said were dire possibilities to describe what would happen under Republican alternatives.

“Three-quarters of what he said was a lie,” Ms. Brown said, referring to the speech Mr. Obama had just given over a satellite link.

“He lied about what the Republicans want to do with their voucher program,” she said. “He said, ‘It could lead to this, it could lead to that' â€" he was inventing scenarios that were totally negative. But when people hear it from the president, they believe it is true.”

Romney\'s Taxes Compared With Everyone Else\'s

September 21, 2012, 4:17 pm

By ANNIE LOWREY

The Romney campaign revealed Friday afternoon that Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, paid a 14.1 percent effective federal tax rate in 2011, paying $1.9 million in taxes on $13.7 million in income, much of it from investments. (That $13.7 million in income most likely puts him in the top 0.01 percent of earners, by the way.)

Where does that effective tax rate put him in the universe of taxpayers? The Romneys paid a higher effective tax rate than the average middle-income American, though a significantly lower rate than the average rich, or very rich, American.

According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, the middle quintile of taxpayers â€" earning between $33,542 and $59,486 a year â€" had an effe ctive direct federal tax rate of about 12 percent in 2011. The top 1 percent of earners, making more than $532,613 a year, paid a direct federal tax rate of about 22.7 percent. And the top 0.1 percent of earners, making more than $2,178,886 a year, paid a direct federal tax rate of about 21.4 percent.

(We're just using income, employee-side payroll and estate taxes in this comparison. A fuller picture would include state and local, employer-side payroll and corporate taxes.)

Still, the Romneys revealed that they paid more taxes than they really owed, pushing their effective federal rate higher. The couple made more than $4 million in charitable donations in 2011, but claimed a deduction for only $2.25 million of those donations “to conform to the governor's statement” that he “paid at least 13 percent in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.”

Some back-of-the-envelope math suggests that had the Romneys claimed the full deduction, their effectiv e tax rate would have fallen to about 9 percent.

In light of that, expect Mr. Romney to take some heat for this statement, which he made to ABC News in July: “ I don't pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don't think I'd be qualified to become president. I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires.”

Romney\'s Taxes Compared With Everyone Else\'s

September 21, 2012, 4:17 pm

By ANNIE LOWREY

The Romney campaign revealed Friday afternoon that Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, paid a 14.1 percent effective federal tax rate in 2011, paying $1.9 million in taxes on $13.7 million in income, much of it from investments. (That $13.7 million in income most likely puts him in the top 0.01 percent of earners, by the way.)

Where does that effective tax rate put him in the universe of taxpayers? The Romneys paid a higher effective tax rate than the average middle-income American, though a significantly lower rate than the average rich, or very rich, American.

According to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, the middle quintile of taxpayers â€" earning between $33,542 and $59,486 a year â€" had an effe ctive direct federal tax rate of about 12 percent in 2011. The top 1 percent of earners, making more than $532,613 a year, paid a direct federal tax rate of about 22.7 percent. And the top 0.1 percent of earners, making more than $2,178,886 a year, paid a direct federal tax rate of about 21.4 percent.

(We're just using income, employee-side payroll and estate taxes in this comparison. A fuller picture would include state and local, employer-side payroll and corporate taxes.)

Still, the Romneys revealed that they paid more taxes than they really owed, pushing their effective federal rate higher. The couple made more than $4 million in charitable donations in 2011, but claimed a deduction for only $2.25 million of those donations “to conform to the governor's statement” that he “paid at least 13 percent in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.”

Some back-of-the-envelope math suggests that had the Romneys claimed the full deduction, their effectiv e tax rate would have fallen to about 9 percent.

In light of that, expect Mr. Romney to take some heat for this statement, which he made to ABC News in July: “ I don't pay more than are legally due and frankly if I had paid more than are legally due I don't think I'd be qualified to become president. I'd think people would want me to follow the law and pay only what the tax code requires.”

Doctors Say Romney and Ryan Are in Good Health

September 21, 2012, 3:48 pm

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Mitt Romney is a “vigorous man” who has “reserves of strength, energy and stamina that provide him with the ability to meet unexpected demands,” his personal physician wrote in a letter released by the campaign on Friday.

The two-page letter said that Mr. Romney, 65, takes Lipitor daily to lower cholesterol in part because of a family history of cardiac issues, including heart attacks.

The doctor, Randall D. Gaz of Massachusetts General Hospital, said Mr. Romney will undergo regular cardiac evaluation with monitoring of his EKG and his heart rhythm.

But the doctor concluded that Mr. Romney had no “physical impairments” that would interfere with his ability to be president.

“He has shown the ability to be engaged in multiple, varied, simultaneous activities requiring complex mental, social, emotional and leadership skills,” Dr. Gaz wrote.

The doctor said that Mr. Romney also had a family history of prostate cancer and will undergo close observations of the prostate and “serial PSA testing and urologic examination.”

Mr. Romney's campaign also released a letter from Representative Paul Ryan's doctor, who also stated that his overall health is “excellent.”

The one-page letter from Brian P. Monahan, an attending physician for the United States Capitol, says that Mr. Ryan - a noted fan of intensive exercise - has a history of asthma that occasionally is treated with an inhaler. He also has a herniated disk and a prior knee insure.

“Your overall health is excellent,” Mr. Monahan wrote. “You have practiced important preventive lifestyle choices to include regular vigorous aerob ic and strength-building exercises, a heart healthy diet, smoking abstinence and infrequent alcohol use.”

Romney\'s Health Plan Would Have Immediate Impact on Retirees

September 21, 2012, 3:51 pm

By MICHAEL COOPER

When Representative Paul D. Ryan faced a skeptical audience - and some boos - at the AARP convention in New Orleans on Friday, he tried to reassure them by noting that the Romney-Ryan health plan “makes no changes for those in or near retirement.”

He was apparently referring to Mitt Romney‘s plan to reshape Medicare in a decade so that future recipients would get fixed amounts of money to buy private insurance or a form of traditional Medicare. But other aspects of their health plan would affect people in retirement now.

Overturning President Obama's health care law, as Mr. Romney has pledged to do, could wipe out several benefits that retirees are currently receiving because of the law. Chief among them are its provisions to help Medicare recipients pay for prescription drugs, to help cover the gap known as the “doughnut hole.” In the first eight months of this year, the Department of Health and Human Services said on Friday, the law helped the average recipient save $641 on drug coverage.

And Mr. Romney's proposal to cap Medicaid spending and turn it over to the states in block grants, which he estimates would save about $100 billion a year, could have an impact on the many older Americans who rely on Medicaid for their long-term care and nursing homes. A recent Medicaid primer by the Kaiser Family Foundation noted that “the elderly and individuals with disabilities make up about 25 percent of enrollees but about two-thirds of spending.”

“Medicaid spending per capita in 2009 was $2,313 for children and $2,926 for non-disabled adults,” the primer said. “Per capita spending for the elderly ($13,186) and disabled ($15,453) was about seven times the per capita spending for children and adults. The elderly and disabled have higher utilization and intensity of use for acute care services, and the elderly and disabled are more likely to use long-term care services.”

For AARP Convention, Obama Plays Fact-Checker in Chief

September 21, 2012, 3:12 pm

By MICHAEL COOPER

President Obama's re-election campaign released an ad on Thursday that uses an analysis of an outdated Medicare plan by Representative Paul D. Ryan to warn, “The Romney-Ryan plan could raise seniors' costs up to $6,400 a year.”

On Friday that statistic - which the Obama campaign has used in previous ads, and which was used in several speeches at the Democratic National Convention - was questioned by a fact-checker who noted that the figure referred to Mr. Ryan's “original plan” and that it had since been “modified.”

The fact-checker? President Obama, who mentioned it in a speech beamed by satellite to AARP's convention in New Orleans.

Mr. Obama noted in his speech that independent analysts had found that Mr. Ryan's original Medicare proposal to give older Americans fixed amounts of money to buy private health insurance could force future recipients to pay “over $6,000 more for their Medicare” because it would cap the amount of money they would get each year and would therefore fail to keep up with rising health care costs.

But then Mr. Obama included some context and clarification that his ads do not.

“Now, that was his original plan, and I want to be fair here,” Mr. Obama said. “He then modified it, because, obviously, there was a lot of pushback from seniors on that idea. So he said, well, we're going to have traditional Medicare stand side by side with the voucher program, and no current beneficiaries will be affected.”

The Romney campaign says that its version of the Medicare plan - which would offer recipients the option of using the money to buy traditional Medicare - does not call for the kind of hard spending caps that would have left many recipients making up the difference out of their own pockets.

But it is not exactly clear how that plan would work.

The Romney campaign's Web site asks: “How high will the premium support be? How quickly will it grow?”

The answer: “Mitt continues to work on refining the details of his plan, and he is exploring different options for ensuring that future seniors receive the premium support they need while also ensuring that competitive pressures encourage providers to improve quality and control cost. His goal is for Medicare to offer every senior affordable options that provide coverage and service at least as good as what today's seniors receive.”

In his address to AARP, Mr. Obama warned that even without the cap the move toward private insurers could pose risks to the program. “The problem is that insurance companies, once they're getting vouchers, they're really good at re cruiting the healthier, younger Medicare recipients and weeding out and leaving in traditional Medicare the older, sicker recipients,'' he said. “And over time what happens is that because there are older, sicker folks in the traditional Medicare plan, premiums start going up, they start going through the roof.”

Weighing the Right Thing to Do

September 21, 2012, 2:03 pm

By BUCKS EDITORS

As Paul Sullivan recounts in his Wealth Matters column this week, anyone considering the financial rewards of becoming a whistle-blower should fully consider all the possible fallout. A lawyer who has represented whistle-blowers, John Phillips, explained it this way: “You may find yourself unemployable. Home foreclosures, divorce, suicide and depression all go with this territory.”

In other words, the decision to become a whistle-blower should not be made lightly.

Other lawyers who handle these cases also cautioned against thinking that the recent $104 million whistle-blower award from the Internal Revenue Service to Bradley C. Birkenfeld is typical. The payouts from most cases, if they ever r each that point, are usually far, far less.

What would you do if you knew about something, perhaps in your workplace or among your circle of friends, that amounted to defrauding the government? Would you report it, realizing that you might be putting your livelihood and, perhaps, your own reputation on the line?

Romney to Release 2011 Tax Returns

September 21, 2012, 1:56 pm

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

Mitt Romney paid $1.95 million in taxes on his 2011 investment income of $13.7 million, his campaign revealed on Friday, saying it will make good this afternoon on Mr. Romney's promise earlier this year to eventually release his full returns for that year.

The Republican presidential nominee, who released his 2010 tax returns in January, continues to refuse demands from President Obama's campaign and other Democrats to release multiple years of his returns. Mr. Obama has sought to portray Mr. Romney as an out-of-touch millionaire who used off-shore accounts and accounting gimmicks to reduce his tax liability.

But Mr. Romney's lawyer said on the campaign's Web site that the candidate will releas e a letter later today from his tax advisers providing a summary of his tax liability for a 20-year period from 1990 to 2009. The campaign said the summary will show that Mr. Romney paid taxes every year during that period, that the lowest annual federal tax rate was 13.66 percent and that the Romneys gave an average of 13.45 percent of their income to charity during the period.

Mr. Romney, who made millions by running Bain Capital, a private equity firm, paid about 14.1 percent in taxes, the campaign said, primarily because most of his income was in the form of capital gains that are taxed at a lower rate than ordinary income. Mr. Romney has said that he has paid at least 13 percent in federal income taxes in each of the last ten years.

The campaign said Mr. Romney and his wife, Ann, donated about $4 million to charity in 2011. The campaign provided the numbers in a blog post and said it will release the entire tax return and all o f the supporting documents at 3 p.m. Friday afternoon.

For months during the Republican primaries, Mr. Romney refused to release any information about the taxes that he had paid, saying the information was not relevant despite a tradition of disclosure by presidential candidates that dates back to his father's 1968 bid for the presidency. George W. Romney released 12 years of returns.

In April, under pressure from his Republican rivals for the nomination and Democratic critics, Mr. Romney had estimated he would owe about $3.2 million in taxes on about $20.9 million in income during 2011. At the time, he promised to release the full returns before Election Day.

His decision to release the of tax documents on a Friday afternoon could help his campaign minimize news coverage of them. Politicians often try to release potentially damaging information just before a weekend, when voters are often paying less attention to their television sets and newspapers.

In spite of the timing, the release of the tax return is almost certain to rekindle the discussion about Mr. Romney's personal wealth and Democratic attacks that his aggressive use of legal tax avoidance techniques sets him apart from average Americans.

In an Obama television ad, a narrator mentions tax havens, offshore accounts and carried interest and then says: “Makes you wonder if some years he paid any taxes at all. We don't know because Romney has released just one full year of his tax returns.”

Democrats have sought to link Mr. Romney's personal tax returns to the tax policies he would pursue if he were elected president. Mr. Obama argues that Mr. Romney's tax policies are designed to provide tax cuts to wealthy people, which would lead to tax increases for middle-class citizens.

“Governor Romney's tax plan would actually raise taxes on middle-class families with children by an average of $2,000,” Mr. Obama said last month at an event in Ne w Hampshire. “Not to reduce the deficit, or grow jobs, or invest in education - but to give another tax cut to people like him.”

At a rally in Cincinnati earlier this week, Mr. Obama mocked the complexity of Mr. Romney's tax returns.

“I've actually done my own taxes,” Mr. Obama said. “I don't know about some of these other folks, but I've done them, you know… So I know we can make it more simple and more fair.”

Mr. Romney's campaign has argued that his personal wealth is not relevant to the broader debate about who is best able to lead the country out of a sluggish economy.

Last month, Mr. Romney said the continued focus on his personal tax returns by his Democratic opponents and the media was “small-minded” in light of the economic problems that the country faces. His wife, Ann, has said the campaign is resisting a disclosure that would go back years because opponents would use the information against Mr. Romney.

“The more we get attacked, the more we get questioned, the more we get pushed,” Mrs. Romney said in an interview on NBC's “Rock Center” last month. “There's going to be no more tax releases given. Mitt is honest. His integrity is just golden.”

But Mr. Romney had little choice but to release the full details of his 2011 tax returns, having promised to do so earlier in the year.

The campaign also said on Friday that it will be posting letters from Mr. Romney's doctor and the doctor for his running mate, Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. The letters will make public “their current state of health,” the campaign said.

Measuring the Achievements of Adults Who Don\'t Get Family Financial Help

September 21, 2012, 1:57 pm

By RON LIEBER

In this weekend's Your Money column, I take a look at a group of haves and have-nots we don't focus on very often: adults who get financial help from their parents and those who do not.

There are many gradations of help here. For some of you, it may be a bit of money or a spare bedroom when you're between jobs or have just finished graduate school. For others, it may come in the form of covering college costs, down payment assistance or paying for camp or private school for grandchildren.

After writing about the topic this week - and considering Mitt Romney's insistence that he has inherited nothing - I'll never look at a résumé or measure someone's career accomplishments in the same way.

So if you're someone who has made it with no help at all, do you make a point of saying so to job interviewers and others? And if you've had plenty of help along the way, do you think you deserve less credit for accomplishing whatever it is you have achieved?

The Caucus Click: Biden Goes Pumpkin Picking

September 21, 2012, 1:51 pm

By JAMES HILL

Friday Reading: The High Cost of Out-of-Pocket Medicare Expenses

September 21, 2012, 9:18 am

By ANN CARRNS

A variety of consumer-focused articles appears daily in The New York Times and on our blogs. Each weekday morning, we gather them together here so you can quickly scan the news that could hit you in your wallet.

The Early Word: China

September 21, 2012, 6:00 am

By EMMARIE HUETTEMAN

In Today's Times:

• While President Obama started his presidency with a sense of hope and accommodation toward China, the relationship has become more complex, with the president toughening his approach toward this difficult partner - a strategy that is now being tested as China becomes a focal point in the campaign, Mark Landler reports.

• After starting an initial assault on the American diplomatic compound in Libya, the attackers waited and watched rescuers arrive before launching an ambush, Steven Lee Myers, Michael S. Schmidt and Suliman Ali Zway report. But much is left unknown about the attacks, including the identity of the attackers.

• It's campaign season, and electoral politics is in the air - markedly so on the Senate floor Thursday, with four pieces of legislation holding up Congress's expected departure for the campaign trail and affecting the fortunes of two senators in particular, Jonathan Weisman reports.

Washington Happenings:

• Mr. Obama will address a national AARP conference via satellite, then attend a campaign event in Woodbridge, Va., on Friday.

Fallout From \"47 Percent\" Comment Hits Senate Campaigns

September 21, 2012, 8:13 am

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

If there was any doubt that Mitt Romney‘s secretly recorded comments about the “47 percent” had jumped beyond the presidential campaign, it was erased with the first question of the Virginia Senate debate on Thursday.

Noting that the Senate contest between George Allen and Tim Kaine was occurring “in the shadow of the presidential contest,” David Gregory, the moderator of the debate and the host of NBC‘s “Meet the Press” program, asked the candidates to reflect on Mr. Romney's characterization of nearly half of the country as dependents who pay no federal income tax.

The answer by Mr. Kaine provided the newsiest moment in an otherwise predictable debate - and a prime example of how difficult it can be for candidates at all levels to navigate touchy issues that emerge on the presidential campaign trail.

In several of the most bitterly contested Senate contests across the county, candidates spent the week nervously trying to avoid getting caught up in the political fallout from Mr. Romney's comments. The remarks were first reported by Mother Jones magazine, which posted video clips on its Web site Monday.

Republican candidates, in particular, sought to distance themselves from Mr. Romney's assertion that nearly half of the country believed that they were “victims” and were entitled to a range of services that made them dependents of the federal government.

But as Mr. Kaine proved on Thursday, the issue can be tricky for some Democrats, too.

Mr. Kaine, the state's former Democratic governor, called Mr. Romney's comments “condescending and divisive,” but then went on to say he might support the idea of a minimum income tax that would ensure everyone pays at least some tax.

“I would be open to a proposal that would have some minimum tax level for everyone,” Mr. Kaine said.

It was clearly an attempt by Mr. Kaine, who served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to appear moderate on taxes and appeal to independent and Republican voters in Virginia who might be bothered by residents who pay no taxes at all.

But it provided an opening for Mr. Allen, the former Republican governor and Senator, to attack Mr. Kaine for “proposing” a new tax on all Virginia residents.

During the debate, Mr. Allen repeatedly dodged questions about whether he agreed with Mr. Romney's comments, saying that “I have my own point of view, and my point of view is that people of America still believe in the American dream.”

But after the debate, Mr. Allen seized on Mr. Kaine's response, saying, “I don't think everyone ought to be payi ng income taxes.”

In the presidential campaign, President Obama sought to keep the issue of Mr. Romney's comments alive by jabbing at his rival during a forum for Latino voters hosted by Univision in Florida on Thursday.

“When you express the attitude that half the country considers themselves victims and wants to be dependent on government, my thinking is that you haven't gotten around a lot,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Romney, meanwhile, sought to move past the controversy by insisting that he was concerned about “100 percent” of the people in the country. He also seized on a comment by Mr. Obama, who said Thursday that “you can't change Washington from inside, only from the outside.”

Meanwhile, Senate candidates were still trying to figure out how to handle the weeklong controversy.

In Wisconsin, Senator Tommy Thompson, the Republican candidate for Senate, blamed Mr. Romney's recent messaging troubles for his own drop in the polls in h is state. A new survey showed Mr. Thompson trailing Tammy Baldwin, the Democrat in the Senate race, by 9 points.

“The presidential thing is bound to have an impact on every election,” Mr. Thompson told WKOW, the television station in Madison on Wednesday. “You know, whether you're a Democrat or Republican. If you're a standard-bearer for the presidency is not doing well, it's going to reflect on the down ballot.”

In Massachusetts, the first debate between Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic challenger, and Scott Brown, the Republican incumbent, avoided any mention of Mr. Romney's comments.

That may be because Mr. Brown had moved quickly to denounce Mr. Romney's assertion that so many people saw themselves as victims. On Tuesday, Mr. Brown said, “That's not the way I view the world. As someone who grew up in tough circumstances, I know that being on public assistance is not a spot that anyone wants to be in.”

Ms. Warren has made a point throug hout the campaign of trying to tie Mr. Brown to Mr. Romney's views. During the debate on Thursday, Ms. Warren said repeatedly that she agreed with Mr. Obama's policies. Mr. Brown never mentioned Mr. Romney once.

In Nevada, a similar dynamic has emerged in the race between Dean Heller, the Republican candidate, and Representative Shelley Berkley, the Democratic candidate.

“Keep in mind, I have five brothers and sisters. My father was an auto mechanic. My mother was a school cook. I have a very different view of the world,” Mr. Heller told The Washington Post on Wednesday. “And as United States Senator, I think I represent everyone, and every vote's important. Every vote's important in this race. I don't write off anybody.”

In Connecticut, Linda McMahon, the Republican candidate for Senate, was quick to say that she disagreed with what she called “Governor Romney's insinuation” that nearly half of all Americans consider themselves to be victims.

“I know that the vast majority of those who rely on government are not in that situation because they want to be,” she said in a statement on her Web site this week. “People today are struggling because the government has failed to keep America competitive, failed to support job creators, and failed to get our economy back on track.”

What do all of those Senate contests have in common? They are all close races. The outcome of any of them could determine which party in Washington controls the Senate next year.

The question for all of the candidates is whether the debate over the “47 percent” ends up being a brief diversion or a lasting issue. If it lasts, it could help shape a two-month, state-by-state conversation about the role of government and the fairness of the tax system.

Or it could fade into the background, another intense - but fleeting - controversy that is largely forgotten by Election Day.

Fallout From \"47 Percent\" Comment Hits Senate Campaigns

September 21, 2012, 8:13 am

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR

If there was any doubt that Mitt Romney‘s secretly recorded comments about the “47 percent” had jumped beyond the presidential campaign, it was erased with the first question of the Virginia Senate debate on Thursday.

Noting that the Senate contest between George Allen and Tim Kaine was occurring “in the shadow of the presidential contest,” David Gregory, the moderator of the debate and the host of NBC‘s “Meet the Press” program, asked the candidates to reflect on Mr. Romney's characterization of nearly half of the country as dependents who pay no federal income tax.

The answer by Mr. Kaine provided the newsiest moment in an otherwise predictable debate - and a prime example of how difficult it can be for candidates at all levels to navigate touchy issues that emerge on the presidential campaign trail.

In several of the most bitterly contested Senate contests across the county, candidates spent the week nervously trying to avoid getting caught up in the political fallout from Mr. Romney's comments. The remarks were first reported by Mother Jones magazine, which posted video clips on its Web site Monday.

Republican candidates, in particular, sought to distance themselves from Mr. Romney's assertion that nearly half of the country believed that they were “victims” and were entitled to a range of services that made them dependents of the federal government.

But as Mr. Kaine proved on Thursday, the issue can be tricky for some Democrats, too.

Mr. Kaine, the state's former Democratic governor, called Mr. Romney's comments “condescending and divisive,” but then went on to say he might support the idea of a minimum income tax that would ensure everyone pays at least some tax.

“I would be open to a proposal that would have some minimum tax level for everyone,” Mr. Kaine said.

It was clearly an attempt by Mr. Kaine, who served as the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, to appear moderate on taxes and appeal to independent and Republican voters in Virginia who might be bothered by residents who pay no taxes at all.

But it provided an opening for Mr. Allen, the former Republican governor and Senator, to attack Mr. Kaine for “proposing” a new tax on all Virginia residents.

During the debate, Mr. Allen repeatedly dodged questions about whether he agreed with Mr. Romney's comments, saying that “I have my own point of view, and my point of view is that people of America still believe in the American dream.”

But after the debate, Mr. Allen seized on Mr. Kaine's response, saying, “I don't think everyone ought to be payi ng income taxes.”

In the presidential campaign, President Obama sought to keep the issue of Mr. Romney's comments alive by jabbing at his rival during a forum for Latino voters hosted by Univision in Florida on Thursday.

“When you express the attitude that half the country considers themselves victims and wants to be dependent on government, my thinking is that you haven't gotten around a lot,” Mr. Obama said.

Mr. Romney, meanwhile, sought to move past the controversy by insisting that he was concerned about “100 percent” of the people in the country. He also seized on a comment by Mr. Obama, who said Thursday that “you can't change Washington from inside, only from the outside.”

Meanwhile, Senate candidates were still trying to figure out how to handle the weeklong controversy.

In Wisconsin, Senator Tommy Thompson, the Republican candidate for Senate, blamed Mr. Romney's recent messaging troubles for his own drop in the polls in h is state. A new survey showed Mr. Thompson trailing Tammy Baldwin, the Democrat in the Senate race, by 9 points.

“The presidential thing is bound to have an impact on every election,” Mr. Thompson told WKOW, the television station in Madison on Wednesday. “You know, whether you're a Democrat or Republican. If you're a standard-bearer for the presidency is not doing well, it's going to reflect on the down ballot.”

In Massachusetts, the first debate between Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic challenger, and Scott Brown, the Republican incumbent, avoided any mention of Mr. Romney's comments.

That may be because Mr. Brown had moved quickly to denounce Mr. Romney's assertion that so many people saw themselves as victims. On Tuesday, Mr. Brown said, “That's not the way I view the world. As someone who grew up in tough circumstances, I know that being on public assistance is not a spot that anyone wants to be in.”

Ms. Warren has made a point throug hout the campaign of trying to tie Mr. Brown to Mr. Romney's views. During the debate on Thursday, Ms. Warren said repeatedly that she agreed with Mr. Obama's policies. Mr. Brown never mentioned Mr. Romney once.

In Nevada, a similar dynamic has emerged in the race between Dean Heller, the Republican candidate, and Representative Shelley Berkley, the Democratic candidate.

“Keep in mind, I have five brothers and sisters. My father was an auto mechanic. My mother was a school cook. I have a very different view of the world,” Mr. Heller told The Washington Post on Wednesday. “And as United States Senator, I think I represent everyone, and every vote's important. Every vote's important in this race. I don't write off anybody.”

In Connecticut, Linda McMahon, the Republican candidate for Senate, was quick to say that she disagreed with what she called “Governor Romney's insinuation” that nearly half of all Americans consider themselves to be victims.

“I know that the vast majority of those who rely on government are not in that situation because they want to be,” she said in a statement on her Web site this week. “People today are struggling because the government has failed to keep America competitive, failed to support job creators, and failed to get our economy back on track.”

What do all of those Senate contests have in common? They are all close races. The outcome of any of them could determine which party in Washington controls the Senate next year.

The question for all of the candidates is whether the debate over the “47 percent” ends up being a brief diversion or a lasting issue. If it lasts, it could help shape a two-month, state-by-state conversation about the role of government and the fairness of the tax system.

Or it could fade into the background, another intense - but fleeting - controversy that is largely forgotten by Election Day.