In For A Penny, In For A Pound(ing): Ryan To Release 2 Years Of Tax Records

It's almost as if the GOPers are trying to hand Democrats an issue with which to batter them into the ground. Mitt Rmoney claims he will (eventually) release two years of his tax returns; now Paul Ryan says the same. Ryan also says he provided Rmoney "several" years of his returns for vetting. I suppose the implication is that we should just trust Rmoney's judgment about Ryan's worthiness.

Think about what the well-scrubbed white male twins' refusal to release tax returns... they're the first prez/veep candidates in recent history to refuse... could mean:

• One man (or both) could have paid zero taxes in a recent year;
• One man (or both) could have substantial money hidden away in offshore tax havens;
• One man (or both) could have persuaded their doubtless well-paid accountants (I almost typed "accountaints") to claim some dubious or even outright illegal deductions in one or more years;
• One man (or both) could be perceived as wealthy enough to bail out a large percentage of the national debt out of his own pocket;
• One man (or both) could have participated in illegal political activities... e.g., illegal campaign contributions, in the days before Citizens United when such were possible... to influence Congress to create tax breaks for them;
• And on, and on, and on... the possibilities are not limitless, but neither are they negligible.

The very real possibility is that Mittens and Big Ears could have been getting filthy rich, not merely instead of, but at the expense of ordinary working Americans. Would that disqualify them from being prez and veep? The decision will be yours, but consider how much more they could steal, and how much easier it would be for them to do so, if they held the Biggest Chair and the Next Biggest Chair.

This nonsense has to stop. The American people must demand, and receive, those tax returns. If that inconveniences the well-scrubbed white male twins, that's just too bad.