Based on an information release Monday, Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential candidate is the richest of the all the presidential hopefuls. With as much as $250 million in assets, Romney simply dwarfs the other candidates in terms of wealth.
The former Massachusetts governor earlier this year refused to release his income tax returns and had filed only state financial disclosure forms giving general descriptions of his assets. However, after Federal Election Commission and the U.S. Office of Government Ethics pressured Romney to disclose his assets, giving him a 45 day extension to make a detailed value of his and his wife's blind trusts, Romney complied with the requirements of the Commission. The 47-page report of Romney's assets was a far cry compared to the 10 page report he filed last May. Contained in the 47-page report is the detained description of all the investments that Romney has in various industries.
Romney, who had just won the Ames straw poll last Saturday, had been one of the most controversial candidates not only because of his vast wealth but also because of his religion. Being the only candidate who is a Mormon, Romney is now facing a formidable challenge as to how to deal with the issues of his religion. It must be noted that several poll results said that people in the country are not comfortable with the idea of having a Mormon as president. Since Romney obviously has no plans of denouncing his faith or even just keeping distance from his church, his bid for the presidency may be in serious jeopardy.
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