Mittens Is Peeved

Great white bwana Mitt Romney wants us to know that his tax returns have lots and lots of pages and we simple natives probably can’t understand them. When asked about his tax returns by a hack writing a puff piece for National Review, he said,

My tax returns that have already been released number into the hundreds of pages. And we will be releasing tax returns for the most current year as soon as those are prepared. They will also number in the hundreds of pages. In the political environment that exists today, the opposition research of the Obama campaign is looking for anything they can use to distract from the failure of the president to reignite our economy. And I’m simply not enthusiastic about giving them hundreds or thousands of more pages to pick through, distort, and lie about.

Ooo, that Obama is so mean. And he plays rough. And Mittens is just so tired of having to deal with the little people and their little issues about tax returns.

See also the Booman.

Willard’s Olympic Gold Medal for Cronyism

About the only part of Mitt Romney’s resume that isn’t being publicly trashed at the moment is his gig at the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. But that could change.

Charles “he da man” Pierce points to a 2001 Sports Illustrated article that explains how the 2002 Olympics turned into a big, fat pork pie for a few Utah businessmen:

Is this a great country or what? A millionaire developer wants a road built, the federal government supplies the cash to construct it. A billionaire ski-resort owner covets a choice piece of public land. No problem. The federal government arranges for him to have it. Some millionaire businessmen stand to profit nicely if the local highway network is vastly improved. Of course. The federal government provides the money.

How can you get yours, you ask? Easy. Just help your hometown land the Olympics. Then, when no one’s looking, persuade the federal government to pay for a good chunk of the Games, including virtually any project to which the magic word Olympics can be attached.

For the past few years, while attention was focused on the Great Olympic Bribery Scandal—in which Salt Lake City boosters dispensed as much as $7 million in gifts, travel, scholarships, medical care, jobs and other goodies to IOC members (and their relatives and companions) to ensure that Utah’s capital city would be chosen to host the 2002 Winter Games—private and public interests have siphoned an estimated $1.5 billion out of the U.S. Treasury, all in the name of those same Olympics.

To be fair, Mittens is only mentioned twice in the article.

This is not to say that the recipients are unappreciative. Mitt Romney, SLOC’s president, has acknowledged the U.S. government’s contribution by saying, “We couldn’t have done it without them. These are America’s Games.” …

… Security is costing you about $240 million. Given the events of Sept. 11, few people would quibble with so large an outlay even though it’s a 150% increase over the federal tab for safeguarding the Atlanta Gaines, which had twice as many venues and four times as many athletes to protect. What’s surprising is that $200 million of this was approved before Sept. 11. Less than 24 hours before the attacks, in fact, Romney was in Washington seeking $12.7 million to cover a portion of salaries and expenses for Utah police who will be involved in Games security.

One of the major recipients of federal largesse named in the article is Robert Earl Holding. Holding is an oil billionaire who owns a resort that was the site of several ski events. Last February the Dems accused Mitt of cronyism regarding his ties to Holding, and at the time it didn’t make much of a splash. But maybe it’s time to trot it out again. I found this little snip from February about Holding at Forbes, of all places —

And now Mitt Romney, about to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his leadership of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, is being accused of cronyism.

Politico notes that one of the biggest players in the 2002 games was Idaho billionaire Robert Earl Holding.

Holding owns Snowbasin, a Utah resort that served as the venue for many 2002 events, including the men’s and women’s downhill races. He also held a seat on the Salt Lake Olympics Organizing Committee.

Politico points out that Holding was kicked off the board at Romney’s request. Romney continued to back him, however, saying he had done nothing wrong.

Holding, in turn, has backed Romney, contributing $9,600 to his campaigns in the past five years and co-hosting a fundraiser in 2011.

This is from Politico:

Romney helped out cronies and at least one campaign donor. One of the biggest players in the games was Utah oil and real estate magnate Robert Earl Holding, who sat on Romney’s Olympic board — while also garnering a $14 million contract for from the committee for use of his ski resort in downhill events.

Holding’s project, Snowbasin, also reportedly benefited from earmarks for road improvements, and a controversial land-swap deal that Romney helped push for.

Holding was eventually booted off the board by then Utah-Gov. Michael Leavitt — at Romney’s request. But he defended Holding’s honor, saying the businessman “hadn’t done anything inappropriate.”

He’s also publicly claimed that such “conflicts of interests” were a natural part of business and only wrong if those involved didn’t recuse themselves from discussion of their own projects.

Holding, incidentally, has contributed $9,600 to Romney’s campaigns since ’07 and co-hosted a fundraiser for Romney in Ketchum, Idaho last summer.

John McCain, now a Romney man, slammed the Holding-Olympics axis a decade ago as part of his anti-earmarks crusade.

“It’s one thing to rip off the taxpayers… but then you also enrich developers for tens of millions more through land swaps and building roads for them,” McCain told NPR in 2003, “referring to Holding,” according to the network.

Mittens, of course, is now lamely accusing President Obama of “crony capitalism.”