Claims about Romney’s taxes diminish Harry Reid’s credibility

Harry Reid's decision to turn into a stalking horse for President Barack Obama proved one thing: Reid couldn't get a job at any self-respecting newspaper. But he's probably a decent badminton strategist.

By declaring that presidential aspirant Mitt Romney didn't pay any taxes for 10 years, without offering proof and while covering his fanny by saying he didn't know whether it was even true, Reid became a figure of fun on Jon Stewart's satirical show and was held up to ridicule nationwide.

"Now, do I know that that's true? Well, I'm not certain," Reid said. That certainly diminishes his credibility.

If the words hadn't spewed from the mouth of the Senate majority leader, or someone of his supposed stature in politics, the Huffington Post, which first reported Reid's comments Tuesday, would never have published them. Reid knew that. He had tried earlier.

On July 12, in a Senate floor speech, Reid claimed Romney "basically paid no taxes the prior 12 years." His comment was ignored until this week, when he added that his information came from a Bain Capital investor. Then the Huffington Post went with it. That opened the floodgates of media coverage that has been kept alive by Reid the rest of the week.

Reid used his high-ranking position to force the media to cover a story based on his word without any proven substance. He did it deliberately, as he does most everything. He quoted one unnamed source at Bain Capital, and only then did he a find a taker.

If Harry Nobody had said the exact same thing, it wouldn't have been published in legitimate newspapers without some evidence or a second credible and independent source.

According to Reid, an investor in Romney's former private equity firm Bain Capital called the senator saying Romney had paid no taxes for 10 years. (Previously Reid said 12 years.)

Then on Wednesday, Reid enhanced his second version and created a third, telling Nevada reporters, "I have had a number of people tell me that." Of course, except for the Bain Capital source, he wouldn't reveal anything about the other sources.

On Friday, the Democratic senator issued a news release calling Romney "the most secretive presidential candidate since Richard Nixon," hammering him again on failing to release his taxes.

Not by coincidence, Friday was the day Romney was visiting North Las Vegas. He told the news media, "I have paid taxes every year. And a lot of taxes. So Harry is wrong."

Mind you, I find it extremely suspicious that Romney released only the returns from 2010 and 2011, the two years when he knew he was running for president and knew it was a routine request that presidential candidates make their returns public.

It smells like cat poop that he won't release anything from the years he was a private citizen.

Now in the playground that's politics, Reid contends the burden is on Romney to disprove Reid's claims, and Romney is telling Reid to "put up or shut up."

Capturing more of the playground atmosphere, later Friday, Reid used the flap to raise money for Friends for Harry Reid.

"I'm not backing down because Mitt Romney is hiding something - and the American people deserve to know what it is," the Reid email declared.

That may well be true. Romney may be hiding something in his taxes; otherwise he would have released more than two years.

What Reid has done is irresponsible, not to mention embarrassing to his home state of Nevada, where he learned his basic values, apparently including "Say anything, do anything to win."

The political world has fallen one more step downward into the muck, courtesy of Harry Reid. How low can we go?

Jane Ann Morrison's column appears Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Email her at Jane@reviewjournal.com or call 702-383-0275. She also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/morrison.