Harry Plotter And The Prisoner Of Rafalca

I've stayed away from the story earlier this week involving Senate majority leader Harry Reid going after Mitt Romney, saying that he was told by a former Bain Capital executive that Romney refuses to release his tax returns because has paid roughly zero federal taxes for ten years through various tax games.  It smacks of unsourced nonsense and frankly I don't believe even Romney's that stupid.

But now Harry Reid is repeating the claim, and the Romney camp's response to it makes me think that Reid is telling the truth.

On Wednesday, Reid stuck to his story, and broadened it.

"I am not basing this on some figment of my imagination," Reid said in a telephone call with Nevada reporters. "I have had a number of people tell me that."

Asked to elaborate on his sources, Reid declined. "No, that's the best you're going to get from me."

"I don't think the burden should be on me," Reid said. "The burden should be on him. He's the one I've alleged has not paid any taxes. Why didn't he release his tax returns?"

A Romney spokesman said Reid's charge was baseless and below the belt.

"This is further proof that the president's campaign is willing to say whatever it takes to distract from his economic record, no matter how baseless, unfounded or demonstrably false their attacks are," spokesman Mason Harrison said. "President (Barack) Obama condemned these kinds of negative attacks in 2008, but like many of the promises he made back then, they have turned out to be just more words."

Reid challenged the media to be more aggressive in digging into Romney's finances.

"What if he has paid no taxes, like I am saying he hasn't," Reid said. "What if he has all these moneys as we already know ... in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, Swiss banks. I mean, gee whiz, rather than ask me why I should do this, that is a story you should be writing."

On one hand, this "reporters told me" crap is pretty much the kind of stupid play I expect from Republicans, and let's remember that while they are howling about this being below the belt, Republicans gleefully spread rumors about President Obama's birth certificate.  I've got no tolerance for that level of hypocrisy and they can kiss my ass.

Second, Mitt still needs to release his damn tax returns.  There's a really, really easy way to prove Harry Reid's full of crap, right?  You would think that the Romney camp would now love to fatally embarrass the leader of the Dems in the Senate in an election  year where the GOP has a good chance of being able to win back control of the upper chamber.  If they wanted to call Harry Reid and the Democrats out as liars, they now have every reason to do so.

Except the Romney camp isn't doing that.

One has to honestly ask now why.  Reid has made this claim twice now in 72 hours or so.  If he's full of nonsense, then the Romney camp could prove that at their leisure.

Why aren't they?