Let’s talk about money for a few

minutes.

Earlier this week, Mitt Romney

released his tax return, showing to the world he brought in an

astounding $21.6 million in 2010 and paid an astoundingly low 13.9

percent of that back in taxes.

Now, the conversation about Romney’s

seemingly low tax rate is a conversation for another editorial — as

is Newt Gingrich only giving 2.6 percent of his income to

charitable donations. The real reason we bring it up is simply to

illustrate the fact that Romney has a lot of money to keep track

of.

In movies new and old, the wildly

rich are known to keep their money in off-shore accounts. Romney,

of course, brings the movie reels to life. Per the advice of a

campaign adviser, he closed one such account — a Swiss account —

back in 2010 in anticipation of his White House bid in

2011.

Romney’s advisers, reports say, told

the former Massachusetts governor that having the account “just

wasn’t worth it” and that it may appear to be inconsistent with

some of his political stances.

While that makes sense in theory, we

have one big question that remains after hearing this

news:

Why close the Swiss account and not

his other off-shore accounts? Accounts that now hold, by the way,

most if not all of his offshore money, a total that could be as

high as $32 million.

Maybe it’s just us, but when the

words “Cayman Islands” and “banking” are used in conjunction, we

don’t think straight-laced, presidential types.

“Swiss bank account” says

sophistication and class. Switzerland is one of the finest

countries on Earth. Decadent chocolates, superb watchmaking, Swiss

Army Knives, the Alps. You name it, the Swiss have perfected it. To

us, if you have large sums of money stashed away in the Alps,

you’re doing pretty well.

But we picture your classic Bond

villain whenever the Cayman Islands are mentioned. It’s not a

stretch to imagine Romney sitting in a big, red swivel chair,

stroking his prized feline as Gingrich or any other adversary comes

to vanquish his plans to rule the world. 

It doesn’t seem a great campaign

strategy to be portrayed as a Bond villain.

If nothing else, the news about

Swiss and other offshore accounts has done nothing to legitimize

the already murky waters Romney was swimming in once those tax

returns were released.

Sure, he’s a savvy business man who

has no interest in paying excess taxes, but in a year in which the

99 percent has become more vocal than ever, all that money speaks

pretty loudly, too.