Dr J. provides some good speculation as to Mitt Romney’s reluctance to release his tax forms.

There could be another reason that most people, in media and even the politicians, do not realize: Mitt Romney probably has a tax form that is as far from a 1040EZ as you can get.

As a CEO of Bain, Romney likely had his personal income intermixed with the financial structure of Bain itself. This is quite common in many officer-level circles, where partnerships and officer-status financially ties you into the firm’s finances. This is often true for people paid with stocks, options, bonuses, and more. This is also why a guy like Warren Buffet pays less tax than his secretary: he doesn’t earn income quite the same way the average person does.

Therefore, it is entirely possible that Romney’s taxes for the last umpteen years may be a complete mess, even though correct and above board. There may be a need to have a reconciled form that removes internal financial information about Bain that, if simply redacted, will look suspicious when in fact it is not.

There is, in other words, the real possibility that only a few accountants would ever understand his tax returns, and the average media newshound will find all sorts of non-existent controversies within there. The Czar can foresee the Romney camp attempting to prevent non-issues from become The GOP Scandal of the Day (with retraction on page 112) until they get this done right.

Imagine explaining all that in under a minute to John King.

The Czar of Muscovy

Божію Поспѣшествующею Милостію Мы, Дима Грозный Императоръ и Самодержецъ Всероссiйскiй, цѣсарь Московскiй. The Czar was born in the steppes of Russia in 1267, and was cheated out of total control of all Russia upon the death of Boris Mikhailovich, who replaced Alexander Yaroslav Nevsky in 1263. However, in 1283, our Czar was passed over due to a clerical error and the rule of all Russia went to his second cousin Daniil (Даниил Александрович), whom Czar still resents. As a half-hearted apology, the Czar was awarded control over Muscovy, inconveniently located 5,000 miles away just outside Chicago. He now spends his time seething about this and writing about other stuff that bothers him.