Romney gets the last laugh on taxes

Oops. Looks like Mitt Romney's critics stepped in it when they demanded that he release his income tax returns.

Romney paid 42% his income in taxes and donations to charity. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post lists the Federal expenditures Mitt paid for out of his own pocket here.

It seems that when all the deductions and tax shelters are taken into account, Mitt's effective tax rate was 13%. Nobody, remember, has suggested that he has done anything illegal. The question seems rather obvious: would the American people prefer a president smart enough to take every legal tax break to which he is entitled, or one who...well, isn't?

Meanwhile, new front-runner presumptive Newt Gingrich may already have stepped in it. The Commission on Presidential Debates has ruled that the audiences at future debates must remain silent. Newt- being his typical, impulsive self- promptly threatened to boycott the rest of the debates if the audience can't cheer.

The problem is that it's the debates that have been working for Newt. If he stays away, he'll be forfeiting his only real advantage and letting the commercials carry the burden of the campaign. Which- as we saw in Iowa and New Hampshire- is not exactly to the former speaker's advantage.

I continue to think that somewhere along the path to the nomination Newt will self-destruct. It may already be happening.