Lew Hodgett wrote:
Can we stand back and pause a short minute to take in the spectacle
of a man who wants to be President of The United States, who wants
us to seriously regard him as a paragon of the American civic ideal,
declaiming proudly and in public that he has paid his taxes at a third
of
the rate normally associated with gentlemen of his economic benefit.


Certainly.

That Romney paid a lesser rate implies that he took advantage of tax breaks,
deductions, etc., built into the tax code.

Now these exemptions and so forth were placed in the tax code by our betters
to further various social goals such as contributions to charity, home
mortgage interest, and the like. To the degree that Romney sought out and
participated in those social goals, he should be commended!

Ross Perot, as an exemplar, paid NO taxes on his millions in income because
his income was solely in the form of tax-exempt mutual bonds.

Because Romney evidently helped fund various social goals, cities are
improved, children don't go to bed hungry, the homeless find succor,
alcoholics have access to treatment programs, and, for all I know, stray
dogs and cats get three hots and a cot.