Obama to Romney: Let's Make a Deal on Tax Returns

Romney to Obama: Let's not, thanks
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 17, 2012 7:18 AM CDT
Updated Aug 17, 2012 9:13 AM CDT
Obama to Romney: Let's Make a Deal on Tax Returns
Mitt Romney writes on a white board as he talks about Medicare during a news conference at Spartanburg International Airport, Aug. 16, 2012, in Greer, S.C .   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

By now, Mitt Romney is probably beyond sick of hearing about his tax returns, so the Obama campaign is offering him a deal: If he releases just five years' worth of them, they won't blast him for not releasing any more. Campaign manager Jim Messina made the offer to Romney Campaign Manager Matt Rhoades via letter today, the AP reports. He says he's doing it because Romney "apparently fears the more he offers, the more our campaign will demand that he provide."

But it doesn't look like Romney is biting. Rhoades swiftly replied with a letter telling Messina that Team Obama could talk about tax returns all it wanted. "If Governor Romney’s tax returns are the core message of your campaign, there will be ample time for President Obama to discuss them over the next 81 days," he wrote, reports the Washington Post. "In the meantime Governor Romney will continue to lay out his plans" to help the economy. Romney yesterday insisted that his annual tax rate had been no less than 13% each year for the past decade. (More Mitt Romney stories.)

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