What do the Romney tax returns show?

Frankly, not much, other than the fact that he's a super-rich guy. From the NYT:

According to the Internal Revenue Service's most recent available statistics of income, for 2009, there were 8,274 taxpayers with an adjusted gross income of $10 million or more, out of more than 140 million total returns filed. So anyone who makes more than $10 million would be in the top 0.006 percent of taxpayers. With an adjusted income of more than twice that - $21 million - in 2010, Mr. Romney would be even higher in the income strata.

That said, the returns themselves appear to be routine. Well, as routine as they can be for someone making more than $20 million. From Forbes contributor Kelly Phillips Erb:

I don't think anyone really believes that Romney is cheating on his taxes. That's never been what this has been about, despite Gingrich's statements that he wanted Romney to release the returns to ensure that there's nothing on them that will come back to hurt the GOP. Let's call a spade a spade. This whole exercise has been about making Romney unlikeable. Here's what some politicians want you to know:

* Romney is not just rich, he's über rich.
* Romney invests offshore.
* Romney pays a 14-15% tax rate, lower than many taxpayers.
* Romney gives lots of money to the Mormon Church.

The Washington Post's Ezra Klein goes even further:

The rich are job creators. They make money, they invest that money productively, and their investments create jobs. Democrats might prefer that the rich hand their fortunes over to the government, but that's not, most Republicans would argue, how economies grow. During Romney's career, he has made an enormous amount of money by taking over weak companies and, in many cases helping to turn them around, and he has used that money to finance further productive investments in the economy. That Democrats see something wrong with them is simply further proof of how little they understand about job creation.