Rosalind S. Helderman at The Washington Post asks, because “…Romney seemed to suggest that he might think so last week, when he responded to questions about how much he pays in taxes by suggesting that people should take into account his total contributions to the government and charities.”

The comment was a quick one — a by-golly insistence that despite paying a relatively low tax rate on his vast income, the millions he has given to charity show that he’s not a greedy guy.

But experts who research public attitudes on philanthropy on both sides of the political spectrum said it was an inadvertently revealing moment, a brief window into the deep philosophical differences between how liberals and conservatives view government and society.

Another question raised here earlier is why are donations to the Mormon Church considered ‘charity’ and are therefore tax deductible — especially when such tithing is required by the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? We know the Romneys tithe the required 10% to the Church, so you’d presume that if their 2010 return says they gave 13% to charity, then 10% of that was to the LDS Church. In January (not followed up, ever heard about this?) ABC News found there may be even more contributions to the Church from the Romney family through Bain Capital (one wonders, with the associated tax deductions?):

Newly uncovered stock contributions made during Romney’s Bain days suggest there is another dimension to Romney’s support for the church — one that could involve millions more than has been previously disclosed.

As part of just one Bain transaction in 2008, involving its investment in Burger King Holdings, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission reveal that an unnamed Bain partner donated 65,326 shares of Burger King stock to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, holdings then worth nearly $1.9 million. And there were numerous others, giving the church a stake in other Bain properties, such as Domino’s Pizza, the electronics manufacturer DDi, the phosphates company Innophos Holdings, and Marquee Holdings, the parent to AMC Theaters.

The Republican presidential candidate’s campaign staff confirmed that some of the stock transactions were at Romney’s direction, but they would not say which ones. 

[...] In some cases the filings are vague about the way stocks are apportioned to the different recipients. In others, such as the 2000 stock sale involving DDi Corporation, the records show the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held 27,016 shares, worth $754,827 at the time of the sale. In a 2008 stock sale involving Innophos Holdings, the church’s 50,301 shares were worth nearly $1.4 million. SEC filings for Marquee Holdings note that “certain members and other employees of Bain and its affiliates may make a contribution of shares to one or more charities prior to this offering, including … The Corporation of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Charitable donations! You know what would actually be wonderfully karmic? If at some point, Bain Capital had given Stericycle stock to “The Corporation of the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Mitt Romney’s fortune combined with all the associated business dealings through Bain Capital — which can now be connected in unknown numerous ways with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – is like traveling down the rabbit hole without hope of returning anytime soon.

What Mitt Romney has on his side is American media: they don’t like to research such information or follow the money — it could get ‘uncomfortable’ with their pre-programmed formula of “both sides do it,” the GOP loves America, and Democrats are socialist hippies. Of course now the question becomes: how much of our mainstream media might be owned (by a one- to six-degree separation) by Kolob or the billionaires who are working behind the scenes to buy the White House?

Maybe people ought to start paying more attention.