Our Views: Mud wrestling in government

In an “even for Washington” moment, the head of the Republican Party calling the Senate’s Democratic leader a “dirty liar” seems to have crossed some kind of rhetorical line.

So even in Washington, there’s a bit of shock about the episode — even if the whole fracas is a bit of political theater, and the event was caused by a Democratic allegation that appears backed by no evidence whatsoever.

Short form: U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he was told that GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney hasn’t paid income taxes for years, presumably because of tax dodges. Reid appears to care little about evidence, and doesn’t seem to have any: He’s a loose cannon that the Republicans have loaded by Romney’s decision to release only a bit of his tax records.

Leaving aside this specific dispute, is this “dirty liar” episode just more of the same or something different?

For the bad news, Stuart Rothenberg in Roll Call suggests the name-calling that has been escalating all summer will have a long-term effect, whoever wins the presidential election. “The past two years could seem like a period of bipartisanship compared with the next two,” Rothenberg said.

“Even if a scorched-earth campaign bent on crippling Romney’s credibility yields a victory, (President Barack) Obama is almost sure to encounter a new Congress with a shrunken popular-vote mandate, an even more narrowly divided Senate, and a House majority even more ideologically antagonistic than it is now, if that is possible,” wrote Major Garrett in National Journal.

Some in the fray disagree. “I don’t think the campaign will impact the sense of urgency of addressing the problems after the election,” U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., told National Journal. “What it will affect is who wins. The campaign is going to be scorched earth on both sides. The difference is Obama will still be president.”

If this cheering-on of the piling-on is correct, the dirty liar becomes a lamb laying down with the lions once the election is over? With the nation so closely divided, does it matter how low the politics gets?

We wonder if there is a failure of governance built into today’s political rhetoric. The spirit of compromise might be of great importance to the nation, but far down the list of politicians still bitter about the arguments of this election year.

Comments

1) Comment by Whatnow - 21/08/2012

Crickets on my question.....

2) Comment by Mygulfbleedsforu - 20/08/2012

We went though this before. It's called tax amnesty. If you cheated on your taxes, even badly, you can come forward during tax amnesty and avoid prosecution, and maybe even some or all penalties, depending on how the particular amnesty law is written. The IRS had a tax amnesty for unreported offshore funds in the year 2009. @ Attila, are you reading this? He may not have taken tax amnesty for cheating in the past, or he may have and now he is legal, but you cannot assume all is well simply because you haven't heard that it isn't.

3) Comment by Whatnow - 20/08/2012

Obama is hiding his school records to Occidental and Harvard. The records from his past are all hidden and he is paying thousands to keep them hidden. Why?

4) Comment by Attila - 19/08/2012

@Loki and DMJ: Why do you people hate success so? I see nothing "preposterous" about Mitt no releasing any more tax returns that required. I am wondering how much you two make. Would y'all please post your tax returns on the internet so that we see see if you are "patriotic"? Romney has broken no tax laws. If he had the IRS would have been all over him. Do either of you refuse to take tax deductions, aka loopholes, to which you are legally entitled? Sure you do! Try as I may I guess I never will understand the libtard mentality.

5) Comment by DMJ - 19/08/2012

What records is Obama supposedly hiding? Unlike Romney, he released the past 12 years of tax returns. Was it not enough that he had to suffer the indignity of having to release his birth certificate, proving what everyone (save the racist yahoos) already knew, that he was born in the USA?? And excuse me...but why are Republicans going to bat for Romney hiding his money in tax havens? Why not invest in American finance, Mitt? Doesn't seem very patriotic to me, especially considering the debt we've racked up over the decades.

6) Comment by tradewinns - 19/08/2012

mr. reid is a dirty liar!

7) Comment by lovemykids - 19/08/2012

DMJ thank you for the truth. Hopefully this campaign will teach each of us in the US a lesson.

8) Comment by DMJ - 18/08/2012

This has been a very negative, very cynical campaign. And the amount of money spent on it has been staggering.

9) Comment by Whatnow - 18/08/2012

@Loki. What if it turns out Reid was right? Well, anyone can just come out and lie and the person lied about has to prove it??? Is that how it works? Reid has no proof and there is nothing wrong nor illegal with off shore accounts and Swiss accounts as long as he paid his taxes on them, which he does. Look it up instead of falling for the innuendos from the left. Why is Obama paying to hide his past records? How many people that run for President do that? But, I guess that's okay because he's a Democrat.

10) Comment by monsignor - 18/08/2012

November 6 can't come fast enough for me.

11) Comment by Loki - 18/08/2012

Clutching my pearls here... Isn't this the party that said Obama was apologizing for America and bowing before foreign leaders? There are any number of ridiculous, untruthful, and wasteful statements from this shameful group that harms the country for their political gain. Here's the facts: Romney hasn't paid taxes on lots of money he 'earned,' and it is right there in the records that show that they are parked offshore. Not releasing his taxes is just preposterous. The guy has a lot of money and doesn't want it used for our country. Remember that. What if it turns out Reid was right? I expect a correction from all these professional 'centrists.' Opposing views on whether the Earth is round, indeed.

12) Comment by Whatnow - 18/08/2012

Wow, put it on the Republicans first, why don't you, Advocate. They are just supposed to take the gutter talk and just lay down with the lions, right? Not only this episode of lying, but implying that Romney is a tax cheat, a murderer and a job killer is just the tip of the iceberg coming. The Obama campaign will say or do anything NOT to talk about the economy. If you tear down your enemy, they will forget how incompetent you are, right Obama? Reid and the Obama campaign (Pelosi, Wasserman, Reid, Obama) are the ones who seems to have crossed some kind of rhetorical line. I hope they keep it up. It only shows how desperate and filthy they are.

13) Comment by [e-mail] - 18/08/2012

Staying above the fray on this one? Not quite, I'd say. Reid has failed to put up a budget for a vote, and instead tries to dictate to the House of Representatives, who has the constitutional duty to initiate ALL spending, what it has to do to get along with him. Anything that comes out of his mouth is highly suspect. He is certainly a proven liar, but whether or not he showers regularly is not known. Maybe he should prove that he does shower at least once a week?