CNN 2012-07-14

 Hey, I’m Anderson Cooper. Welcome to the podcast. Mitt¹ Romney's money and the political storm of where he keeps millions of it. "Keeping Them Honest", there’s also the "RidicuList". Let’s get started.

 

We begin tonight "Keeping Them Honest" with Mitt Romney's money and the political firestorm over the fact that some of it is or was invested overseas in countries like Switzerland, Bermuda, and the Cayman Islands, places that are well known as tax havens² for the very wealthy. 

 

But the Romney campaign says that's not true for the governor. Spokesman Kevin Madden says quote "Some investments in some foreign countries can be tax havens, but Mitt Romney does not hold any such investments." 

 

"Keeping Them Honest," though, a tax shelter expert who has investigated and written an article on Mr. Romney's holdings says it's not so clear-cut. You will hear my interview with him in just a moment. 

 

It's important to point out, though, no one is accusing Governor Romney of breaking any laws, either in how he earned that money or how he does his taxes. But Democrats³ are certainly having a field day with where some of Romney's fortune is or was invested. 

 

And this is a man who says President Barack Obama is out of touch, out of touch with the needs of the American people, this coming from a man who until recently had a Swiss bank account and millions of dollars invested in the Grand Cayman Islands beyond security, beyond scrutiny⁴. And the President Obama is out of touch? 

 

That was just part of a Democratic tidal wave. 

 

... against America when he put his money in Swiss bank accounts and tax havens and shelters and also set up the secret company, the shell company in Bermuda?

 

Won't answer any questions about why he opened a corporation offshore⁵ in Bermuda, why he keeps his finances offshore in the Cayman Islands, why he opened a Swiss bank account. 

 

Did you ever think you would have a nominee⁶ of a major political party running for president who has significant investments in the Cayman Islands? 

 

Americans need to ask themselves, why does an American businessman need a Swiss bank account and secretive investments like that?

 

This is a guy whose slogan is believe in America. And it should be business in Bermuda. 

 

Bermuda refers to one of a series of hedge funds operated by Bain Capital, Mr. Romney's former company. 

 

We know about it from the sole complete tax return that he made public, a tax return from 2010. He's also put out an estimated tax return from 2011, but he didn't want to release anymore. And we should point out he's not legally required to at all. No candidate is. He kept his taxes private in 1994 when he ran for the Senate, during his run for governor and during his 2008 presidential campaign. 

 

This time, though, under pressure from Republican primary opponents, he did this limited disclosure. The returns and other campaign filings revealed those overseas investments which are detailed⁷ in this month's "Vanity Fair" magazine. The article, the title, "Where The Money Lives," the article says Mr. Romney has a personal stake in at least a dozen Cayman companies worth as much as $30 million. 

 

In addition, "Vanity Fair" and the Associated Press did detail that hedge fund, the one established in Bermuda, that managed more than $100 million. Now for his part, Mr. Romney himself has said he pays all that the law demands in terms of taxes and not a penny more, same as anybody. His investments, he says, are in a blind trust. 

 

My investments have been held by a blind trust, have been managed by a trustee. I don't manage them, don't even know where they are. Those, that trustee follows all U.S. laws. All the taxes are paid, as appropriate. All of them have been reported to the government. There's nothing hidden there. 

 

"Keeping Them Honest," though, experts say there's no real way to know that precisely⁸ or for us to know how precisely some of these investments work without more data, which the candidate obviously is not supplying. 

 

Now, when asked today whether Mr. Romney should release his tax returns, meaning more than 2010 and 2011, Congressman⁹ Jason Chaffetz, who is a Republican, said he already has. "Governor Romney has been very successful," the congressman said. "Get over it."

1 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

2 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

5 offshore   

adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面

参考例句：

• A big program of oil exploration has begun offshore.一个大规模的石油勘探计划正在近海展开。
• A gentle current carried them slowly offshore.和缓的潮流慢慢地把他们带离了海岸。

6 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

7 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

8 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。