Presidential candidate qualification: Personal wealth

by YankeeJim | January 24, 2012 at 03:48 am

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Individual wealth may 1) be an indicator of personal accomplishment, 2) be an indicator of parents’ and grandparents’ accomplishments and inheritance.

America’s founding fathers were all accomplished individuals with sufficient wealth to enter politics and government. When considering presidential candidates one should focus on accomplishments.

In America and the capitalists’ world, wealth is power. Now, you may challenge that premise as I do, but that is the way it is.

In the instance of Mitt Romney, he inherited wealth and exploited his advantage. In the instance of Newt Gingrich, he had a very humble start; made it to Speaker of the House; exploited the powers of political office to become a wealthy person. He did that by lobbying, of course.

Which of these deserve voter respect?

Compare with President Obama. Obama had humble beginnings, raised by working class people who worked for government. He leveraged his minority status and combined that with intellect to get a superior education. He knocked around a little as a lawyer and became an instructor. He wrote a couple of successful books; ran for state legislature and used that success to become a US Senator. Through all of this, he managed to make some money.

From all of the candidates above, only one was a CEO of a turnaround company. One has economic development experience and managed a large international sports event.

Only one has been an incumbent President and commander-in-chief.

Which one can best deal with Congress to renew America? Does personal wealth have anything to do with that? Does a person’s religion? Do their views on abortion?

“Romney’s tax returns and Gingrich’s business dealing fuel back-and-forth in Fla. campaign

By Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, January 24, 3:11 AM

TAMPA, Fla. — Mitt Romney’s tax returns and Newt Gingrich’s business dealings are likely to remain at center stage of the increasingly contentious Republican presidential primary campaign in Florida.

Romney predicted during a sometimes heated debate that his 2010 tax returns and an early report on his taxes for last year will generate chatter but not any surprises.

“You’ll see my income, how much taxes I’ve paid, how much I’ve paid to charity,” he said on the debate stage Monday night. “Will it be an article? Yeah. But is it entirely legal and fair? Absolutely. I’m proud of the fact that I pay a lot of taxes.”

Romney earned $21.7 million income in 2010, most of it from his investments, according to records his campaign released within hours of the debate’s conclusion. He donated a combined $3 million to charitable causes and the Mormon Church and paid about $3 million in federal income taxes for an effective tax rate of about 14 percent, the records showed.

For 2011, he’ll pay about $3.2 million with an effective tax rate of about 15.4 percent, the campaign said.

The tax records may silence Gingrich and others who argued that Republican voters should know the details of Romney’s wealth before they select their presidential nominee and not after, as Romney had wanted. But a new line of criticism rising from the records was expected to be leveled at the former front-runner, who keeps some of his personal fortune in investments in the Cayman Islands, where many international investors shelter their income from American taxes.

In Monday’s debate, Gingrich faced harsh questions about his own financial dealings. While comfortable as the aggressor in previous encounters with Romney and their rivals, he found himself battered by Romney’s criticism as the pair clashed repeatedly in sometimes personal terms.

“You’ve been walking around the state saying things that are untrue,” Gingrich told Romney.”