Mitt Romney Lost Iowa, Hiding Millions Offshore

Mitt Romney's fortune just went from the presumed clear cut GOP presidential nominee to potential footnote in history if Wednesday night's news reports have teeth.

First, ABC News reported Mitt Romney is "hiding" up to $33 million in offshore Caribbean accounts, and rumors immediately circulated it was to avoid paying U.S. taxes on the princely sum. Romney's campaign claimed he had paid taxes on all of the money, but Romney continues to refuse to release his tax returns. This latest development could force him to release those returns before he is comfortable, with him citing he would "likely" release the tax information in April, which would be after he has sewn up the GOP nomination and too late for competitors to do anything with the material.

However, the report by ABC News is quickly sprouting legs, with other news agencies and political blogs picking up on it, and the possibility that Romney has been avoiding paying U.S. taxes on the income. Reuters reports Romney also has funds in Ireland, Bermuda, and Hong Kong.

The IRS claims over $100 billion in taxes goes unpaid and unreported every year from money hidden in offshore accounts. To many Americans, the idea of keeping millions of dollars in offshore banks sounds seedy and gives the impression something dishonest is going on. I would bet good money, perhaps the $10,000 Romney offered to bet Rick Perry during one debate, that the Super PAC's will jump on this story and have new commercials attacking Romney as a tax cheat and a fraud airing on South Carolina Television stations by Thursday afternoon. One word we haven't heard yet: Criminal.

The other big news rumored to be announced on Thursday has been brewing for weeks. Recounts and certification of the Iowa caucus results show Mitt Romney did NOT win Iowa. Original results had Romney winning by 8 votes, but the recounts have reportedly found Romney was credited with 22 votes at the Garret Memorial Library when the recount shows he actually had 2. Subtracting 20 votes from Romney's results means Rick Santorum won Iowa by 12 votes. However, the New York Times is reporting late Wednesday night that instead of announce that Santorum won Iowa, the GOP will do the all-American thing and will void the entire election and throw out all results. Iowa will not count and not get to vote in the GOP primaries. The "reasoning" is that the GOP cannot certify the results in their own required time line. I find it fascinating that as Romney has appeared to have the nomination completely sewn up, Santorum appears to have picked up many delegates in Iowa and been given a second chance, only to find those votes will just disappear. So much for the illusion of democracy. Lawsuits will surely follow.

But the Iowa story is likely to be buried by the damning revelations about Romney and his millions hiding in offshore banks.

One GOP consultant told the NY Daily News the truth about Romney is irrelevant, “This will be wrapped around his neck in the fall. It fits perfectly into Obama’s theme that Romney is another Republican robber baron getting rich at the expense of the poor middle class.”

It also fits into the theme that the richest people in the world always find a way to cheat the system, avoid paying their share, and then spin the truth, what we poor people call "lying."

UPDATE: The GOP did announce Santorum won Iowa but the state's results cannot be certified because they have lost 8 precincts votes.