Romney on charity, church, and taking a salary

(CBS News) When Mitt Romney took over the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City, he refused a salary for the job. He didn't take a salary as governor of Massachusetts, either.

When CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley pointed the pattern out in an interview with Romney and his wife, Ann Romney, she laughed, "Oh, I know where you're going with this one."

The former governor and GOP presidential nominee wouldn't say whether he would accept the roughly $400,000 a year salary that comes with the White House if he wins in November, saying only, "I have no announcement. ... We'll see what the future holds."

But the Romneys stressed in the interview that they have long been involved in charity and service, particularly through the Mormon church, where Mitt Romney served as a bishop -- the leader of a local congregation similar to a pastor, priest, or rabbi.

Ann Romney said she doesn't understand the perception that Romney is stiff or uncomfortable in front of crowds. Instead, she said, her husband is someone who is "generous with his time and his talents through everything he's done in his life and is always reaching out and helping others" and "that's the side of him that people don't know about."

Republican Convention 2012: complete coverage

The Romneys have said they give 10 percent of their money to the church and are committed to giving 10 percent of their time to service -- although that may change if Mitt Romney becomes president.

"Ten percent of my time is donated to things of -- of a community nature, a national nature, church nature. The church required that kind of time of me, when I had a responsibility as the pastor of a congregation," Mitt Romney said,

But, "I don't expect my church over the next eight years will be asking for any of my time if I'm successful and in -- in winning this election," he said with a laugh.

"But I don't think you ever stop serving," Ann Romney said. "He will be serving in a much different way."

Pelley spoke to both Romneys in a wide-ranging interview last Friday.

More from the interview:

Ann Romney: Romney and Ryan are the "adults in the room" on women's issues
Romney: My views on abortion rights are clear
Romney says "birther" joke wasn't a swipe at Obama

[barbaragenaro]

I can't believe people!! You rather vote for a guy that support gay marriage, promote sex before marriage, support abortion on demand, supports LATE TERM abortions; than a good decent man as Mitt Romney! Our society is calling good evil and evil good!! Learn more about LATE TERM abortions:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwFIEprF_9Y (How Will You Answer?)

DEMOCRAT PLATFORM SUPPORTS TAXPAYER-FUNDED LATE-TERM ABORTIONS
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2012/09/04/Democrats-Support-

Extreme-Late-Term-Abortions-In-Platform

Democrats Prevent House Passage of Late-Term Abortion Ban
http://www.lifenews.com/2012/07/31/democrats-prevent-house-passage-of-late-

term-abortion-ban/

DNC Chair lies about abortion - ignores Obama support for infanticide
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjGXB4QT9Bo (Video)

Listen Barack Obama Calling Newborn Baby a "Fetus Outside of the Womb" http://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2012/08/24/listen_barack_obama_calls_newborn_baby_a_fetus_outside_of_the_womb

[Filmguy870]

Like he needs more money??? This is just a midlife crisis.....something to put on the resume....NOT a desire to serve the nation.

[Jhihmoac]

Yeah, right..."The Maker lives in the hearts and minds of those who make seven-digit incomes or higher..." - (BLAH!)

[erichsh]

Jealous much?

[sprankles]

Mojito...

I'm sorry that you depend on the government to "be in charge of our lives."

I can see what you're getting at, but... The leader of the free word is the "current conductor of America's future orchestra," and-- truth be told-- I trust a IL Democrat much less than a MA Republican, and I was born in raised in Illinois.

[hayseedbears]

Sprankles, what you talking about? How much more "governmentally intrusive" can it be than to take a stand on when life begins and legislate it (this happens to be a moral, reliqious issue)? Watch for the big federal department that gets set up to watchdog people's behavior should abortion be made illegal again. You say the GOP is against govenment intrusion? You gots your blinders on, silly!

[varigdc10]

Another Mitt failure as being a "regular guy", I know he does not need the money, it's all over the place including Switzerland and Bahamas and elsewhere. So, Mitt, I am a "regular guy", send the money to me, I need it just all "regular guys", what an ass.

[erichsh]

"Send the money to me". Spoken like a true Obama supporter.

[nohater]

mormon religion apparently doesn't teach or believe in telling the truth, being truthful. romney hides his tax returns, hides the names of his extremely wealthy supporters, hides the names of the extremely wealthy supporters he met with recently on a yacht flying the cayman islands flag, hid his extremely wealthy supporters behind a veiled curtain during the convention. on all those items, romney has been asked to be forthcoming but he refuses. how can anyone trust romney? as for lyin' ryan, he has already been exposed as a liar but people are overlooking his lies, his denials. why is that? why are people overlooking romney's refusal to tell the truth, to be forthcoming? obama/biden are not perfect but believe this minute that better the devils i know than the ones i don't know. as of today, obama/biden 2012. and yes, was leaning toward romney but after the many months of tracking him, tracking lyin' ryan, and now the convention they lost my one tiny vote.

[stone611]

nohater... Its not just Romney. Romney has given his tax returns for the past 3years. and there is a law that people can donate to either party (Romney or Obama campaign) and not have to say who they are. Obama has many wealthy donators (most of them our probably celebrities) and their names aren't given. Also, Obama has refused to show any of his documentation. His birth certificate for one (something so simple) non of his Harvard law school records, his tax returns, etc. He is the first president to go to college with student foreign aid loan and claim not to be a foreigner. How does that work? Plus, Obama has many video taped interviews where he has changed his thoughts. Romney may not be the best choice for president but he sure a better fit then Obama. Obama has had almost 4years to make some kind of a change and unfortunately, it hasn't changed for the better. Romney has way more money then he will ever need, yes, but HE has worked for it and by himself, He has a good 25year record of creating jobs and balancing budgets. And I truly believe that he will help this country get back to the good old days. I am for going green and looking into the future of energy and Obama keeps saying that he has X amount of jobs that will be created from his green energy programs. But how many more billions of dollars are we going to invest and see the company go bankrupt? Not one company he has invested with OUR MONEY has been a success. Just yesterday A123, a battery making company that got $249million to help it succeed, went bankrupt. We can't keep wasting money and time. Something needs to change, and that would be the president.

[feminist50]

Romney's wife says he is very generous with his church - That alone is enough for us. We really don't have to see his taxes and wonder why he hid all his money in offshore accounts. His wife and church members word is all that matters.

[Bravadu]

BTW, the reason why he donates so much, and mostly to the Mormon church, is because it is REQUIRED:

"Unlike other churches the Mormon faith denies full status to anyone who fails to donate enough of his or her annual salary. Mormonism is, in this way, a pay-to-play religion. Without paying the tithe, a believer may not enter a Mormon temple or participate fully in the activities of the faith." - Michael D'antonio

So for example, if you don't donate, you can't attend any Mormon weddings (held in Mormon temples)

[Oh-Pin-Yun]

The Lost Book of Abraham is an award-winning* documentary film that investigates one of the books in the canon of Mormon scripture called the Book of Abraham. The Book of Abraham was first published in 1842 by Joseph Smith, founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. As with the more well known Book of Mormon, Joseph claimed that he received divine inspiration, not in writing a new book of scripture, but instead, in having discovered and translated an existing ancient work. In the case of the Book of Abraham, Smith said that a papyrus scroll which he purchased from a traveling antiquities dealer in Kirtland, Ohio in 1835, was, in actuality, an original text from the patriarchal father of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This scroll, according to Joseph's own words, contained lost writings of Abraham and Joseph claimed to be the "prophet, seer, and revelator" who could decipher it.

Joseph Smith did translate the scroll, and he included pictures from the papyrus! But, no one at the time could verify whether his translations of the text or the explanations he provided of the pictures, or "facsimiles" were accurate, since at the time no one in America could read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic and hieratic text.

Joseph's translations raised more than a few eyebrows among non-Mormons, but the Church has to this day steadfastly held to the authenticity of the document, and the accuracy of the translation done by Joseph Smith.

But what if modern Egyptologists could examine the same documents that Joseph used to make his translations in the 1830's? Would the scholars, who have long since cracked the Egyptian hieroglyphic and hieratic codes, concur with Joseph's translation? If so, it seems his reputation as a prophet of God would be incredibly enhanced and supported.

On the other hand, what if he was proved to have been inaccurate? What would the Mormon Church say, what would faithful Mormon's do?

Find out in this fascinating new documentary, The Lost Book of Abraham: Investigating a Remarkable Mormon Claim.

See re-creations of Kirtland as it appeared in 1835 when the traveling antiquities dealer rolled into town selling ancient Egyptian artifacts.

Learn about the amazing re-appearance of the papyri, 100 years after they were presumed destroyed in the great Chicago fire.

And listen as prominent scholars - both Mormon and non-Mormon - explain what these documents really were, and what all this means to the church today.

It's a fascinating story. It's bound to be a controversial story. But while this documentary succeeds in presenting the story and the facts in an interesting and accurate manner, it will be up to each viewer to draw his or her own conclusions.

[Oh-Pin-Yun]

Use this URL to view the video
http://www.irr.org/mit/lboa-video.html

[esq777]

So Willard might give up the presidental salary, because his offshore tax evasion accounts are overflowing with the money he looted from the US companies he destroyed. What a hero.

[johngalt_as]

And what a whiner, you are. Can you ever imagine Obama even considering giving up his salary - NEVER.

[retiredgustav]

johngalt_as President Obama is poor by presidential standards.

[smdonromney]

Mitt Romney in his own words:

"I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years we should sustain and support it."
"Roe v. Wade has gone too far."

"I don't line up with the NRA."
"I'm a member of the [NRA]."

"I like mandates. The mandates work."
"I think it's unconstitutional on the 10th Amendment front."

"I respect and will protect a woman's right to choose."
"I never really called myself pro-choice."

"I saw my father march with Martin Luther King."
"I did not see it with my own eyes."

"I supported the assault weapon ban."
"I don't support any gun control legislation."

"I think the minimum wage ought to keep pace with inflation."
"There's no question raising the minimum wage excessively causes a loss of jobs."

"I will work and fight for stem cell research."
"In the end, I became persuaded that the stem-cell debate was grounded in a false premise."

"I would like to have campaign spending limits."
"The American people should be free to advocate for their candidates and their positions without burdensome limitations."

"I'm a strong believer in stating your position and not wavering."
"I changed my position."

"Detroit needs a turnaround, not a check."
"I'll take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back."

"I'm not in favor of privatizing Social Security or making cuts."
"Social Security's the easiest and that's because you can give people a personal account."

"I'm not trying to return to Reagan-Bush."
"Ronald Reagan is... my hero."

"I've been a hunter pretty much all my life."
"Any description of my being a hunter is an overstatement of capability."

"If Massachusetts succeeds in implementing it, then that will be a model for the nation."
"What works in one state may not be the answer for another."

"It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam."
"I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there."

"It's a tax cut for fat cats."
"I believe the tax on capital gains should be zero."

"It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person."
"He's going to pay, and he will die."

"The TARP program... was nevertheless necessary to keep banks from collapsing in a cascade of failures."
"When government is... bailing out banks... we have every good reason to be alarmed."

"These carbon emission limits will provide real and immediate progress."
"Republicans should never abandon pro-growth conservative principles in an effort to embrace the ideas of Al Gore."

"Those... paying taxes and not taking government benefits should begin a process toward application for citizenship."
"Amnesty only led to more people coming into the country."

"When I first heard of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, I thought it sounded awfully silly."
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell has worked well."

- Mitt Romney

[retiredgustav]

I can't help but think of that theme song of a TV show in the 60's a dolphin "They call him Flipper,Flipper, faster than lighting". Way to go Mitten's