Mitt Romney's definition of "not very much" money: $360,000 a year

MITT ROMNEY still isn't eager to release his tax records  (last night he said he'd maybe let you look at them in April, but he's not ready to commit). And as everyone knows, it's not because anyone thinks he's breaking the law. It's just because Mitt Romney has an obscene amount of money.

That isn't supposed to matter, because Republicans aren't supposed to have an envy problem -- it's totally OK if some guy makes way, way, way more money than them. Even if it's at the expense of other people.

But it would, technically, be a problem if the candidate showed himself to be completely out of touch with the electorate, in such a way that it's clear he doesn't know the difference betwen a lot of money and a little.

That's haunted Mitt throughout his life in electoral politics, and it snuck up on him again in South Carolina yesterday. Romney found himself in a discussion of money -- specifically, his money -- and told reporters that while he gets most of his income from past investments, "I get speakers fees from time to time, but not very much.” Accoring to Politico, quoting Romney's latest financial disclosures, the "not very much" turns out to be at least $360,000 just between February 2010 and February 2011. 

We realize that $360,000 is a drop in the bucket to an industrial titan like Mitt. But does he realize how many New York janitors you could get for that kind of money?

Romney gives cash to jobless campaign volunteer [The Atlantic Wire]

Truth-O-Meter: Do New York Janitors Make Twice as Much as School Teachers? [PolitiFact]

Mitt says he pays a 15-percent tax rate [Politico]

"So Mitt, you have no problem releasing your tax returns, you just have a problem w/ SC & FL voters seeing them before they vote"? [@dbernstein]