Romney's New Bain

While opponents and pundits all thought that Bain capital would be Romney's only potential undoing, a new, smokier gun has emerged.

Romney, strangely, has refused to release his tax returns. Okay, he hasn't refused, but he has certainly demurred to a degree. During the recent SC debate, after Perry prodded him for not yet releasing his tax returns, Romney seemed surprisingly unhinged, and struggled to give a coherent answer as to why exactly, he has yet to release his tax returns.

What's truly amazing is that Perry is the only candidate to consistently get under Mitt's skin. Perhaps because when Santorum and Gingirch attack him, Mitt kind of expects it. But when the blundering Texan asks an irrelevant, yet crowd-pandering question, Mitt seems to find himself bewildered time and time again.

But Perry isn't the real issue. It's Romney's taxes. Another issue is Romney saying "I only made a little bit last year off of public speaking." (That little bit turned out to be $374,000).

So why hasn't Romney released anything yet? It only makes us wonder what exactly he has in those returns. A clue lies in the fact that Romney said he only pays 15% taxes, (while the rest of us pay closer to 40%). This is because, as Romney said, his income is primarily from investments, (except for that little bit in public speaking payments he received).

This tax issue seems to peaking just in time for the next SC debate and eventual vote. If Gingrich, Santorum, and even Perry continue to harp on Romney for not yet releasing his tax returns, the kinks in Romney's armor will begin to expand.