Under pressure, Romney reveals more tax details

Mitt Romney released more income tax details Friday evening — this time for 2011 — in an attempt perhaps to stem a sense that his campaign has gone astray over the last few days.

Mitt Romney released more income tax details Friday evening — this time for 2011 — in an attempt perhaps to stem a sense that his campaign has gone astray over the last few days.

He paid $1.95 million tax on an income of $13.7 million, at 14.1%. Most of his income was in capital gains, which is taxed at a lower rate.

The Romney campaign also gave a summary of his taxes for 20 years starting 1990 — it never fell below 13.66% — but did not give any other details, such as the amount of taxes he paid.

The new details don’t show him any richer or poorer than the disclosure for tax year 2010. But they very fact the campaign did it despite refusing earlier showed a certain

desperation.

The Republican challenger has been hammered lately for comments at an off-camera fundraiser in Florida, and has seen his number dip since the party convention in Tampa

Conservative writer William Kristol called Romney’s fundraiser comments — that 47% of Americans don’t pay taxes and they are with Obama — “arrogant” and “stupid”.

President Barack Obama’s biggest challenge is the sluggish economy, with joblessness stubbornly above 8%. No president seeking re-election with unemployment this high has ever won.

But Obama’s poll numbers have been on the swing recently, with many surveys showing him ahead in states not committed to either party.

“The president has a small lead, and he’s trying to run out the clock, because if the status quo remains, he wins,” said Peter Brown of Quinnipiac University polling institute.