Newt Gingrich; A Liberal’s Nightmare

    That is what der Standard's Florian Niederndorfer from Austria calls Mr. Gingrich. The reporter forgot to add that Newt has also become the GOP’s recurring nightmare as of this election cycle.

    der Standard      February 1, 2012

Translated By Ron Argentati At WatchingAmerica.com

In spite of Florida, “Comeback Kid” Newt Gingrich reminds us of the darker side of the Clinton years.
The television series “Portlandia” tells us, "The dream of the '90s is alive in Portland," the hipster capital of the United States. According to the program's plot, the liberal Clinton years never died there, but the idyllic image ignores the fact that there's often a dark side to pleasant dreams. Anyone dreaming of a return to the 1990s, as the protagonists in the series do, will have a sleepless night courtesy of Newt Gingrich, Clinton's most determined enemy.
The 68-year-old is a nightmare plaguing liberal Americans both inside and outside Portland's city limits ever since the 1990s, and it's one that stubbornly refuses to let go. Despite his defeat in Florida, Gingrich fights on with determination against his rival Mitt Romney. He has often been on the ropes before in this match, but just as his political career appears to be gradually fading, he shows why he earned the title of “Comeback Kid” in his battles with Clinton.
Liberal America is obliged to take part in these flashbacks that recall the darker side of the Clinton years. As Speaker of the House, Gingrich criticized Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky, a 23-year-old White House aide. He did so at the same time he was cheating on his wife, who was ill with multiple sclerosis, by carrying on his own affair with an assistant 23 years his junior. And he also attacks a prudish Mitt Romney for his supposedly improper role as an investment banker in the 1990s, while he himself was earning millions from the bankrupt Freddie Mac mortgage company.
Newt Gingrich, the Scourge of the '90s, is still alive and kicking, at least until Super Tuesday, and he still sees his fight against liberal America as unfinished.

Technorati Tags: Newt Gingrich,2012 Elections,Liberals,Democrats,Republicans,Mitt Romney,Current Events,An American Gothic,Politics,Watching America

 

Mitt Romney and Wife Ann: Offshore Accounts

   You all know about GOP front-runner Mitt’s offshore banking interest, but, it looks as if his wife also has had a Swiss bank account with $3 million in it.

Ann Romney: $3M Swiss Bank Account for fun and pleasure

Fri Feb 03, 2012      By Polecat @ Daily Kos

Mitt Romney's wife had $3M in a secret UBS Swiss Bank Account through 2010.  This was not reported on Federal Disclosure Forms.

link and here's a Google cache because the other link is very slow.

The release of the tax returns shows Romney neglected to disclose some required financial information in his personal disclosure form filed with the Office of Government Ethics last year. His team apparently timed the release of his tax records with the hope that State of the Union hooplah would dominate news coverage and result in his finances getting less attention than they might otherwise. And that appears to been correct. His failure to divulge information about 23 investments, and more important his use of secret Swiss bank accounts, has been given a free pass.

23 Investments were not declared on his Federal Disclosure in 2011.

From the LA Times

An examination by the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau found that at least 23 investments detailed in the couple's 2010 tax returns did not show up or were not listed in the same fashion on Romney's most recent financial disclosure, including 11 based in low-tax foreign countries such as Bermuda, the Cayman Islands and Luxembourg.

(my emphasis)

Among the assets omitted is a Swiss bank account in Ann Romney's blind trust that held $3 million until it closed in 2010. The account was listed on a financial disclosure Romney filed in 2007, but it was mistakenly named as an asset held by the couple, not as part of Ann Romney's trust. A campaign spokeswoman said Thursday that Romney will file amendments to both his 2007 and 2011 financial disclosures to correctly identify the bank account.

The Romney campaign dismissed the omission of information as inadvertent and inconsequential, noting he has released more than 600 pages of details about his finances. Indeed, among the hundreds of investments listed on his recent financial disclosure are many foreign funds.

Inconsequential.  $3M in a Swiss Bank Account for your wife.

And she has a blind trust?  Is this blind trust also run by your close friend that runs your own trust, Mr. Romney?

The part that I find the most interesting is that it was closed in late 2010: "I'm running for office, for Pete's sake!"

Yeah.

Technorati Tags: Mitt Romney,Ann Romney,Taxes,Offshore Banking,UBS,Federal Disclosure,2012 Elections,Current Events,An American Gothic