It's not just Democrats calling on Mitt Romney to release more of his tax returns. Republicans have joined the chant, too. As Lean Forward noted Sunday, the editor of conservative publication The Weekly Standard Bill Kristol emphatically called on Romney to release more of his returns, adding to this Republican chorus.
The Daily Rundown put together a clip of the three latest Republicans who called on Romney to release more returns. It doesn't include those in the GOP who had already suggested the Republican candidate for president should be more transparent on his returns, including former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour and strategist Ana Navarro.
“The best thing to do is to just get everything out in the open and just say, ‘I have nothing to hide and I’m going to release my tax returns.’” – Gov. Robert Bentley (R-AL)
"If something’s going to come out, get it out in a hurry. I do not know why—given Mr. Romney knew the day [John] McCain lost in 2008 that he was going to run for president again—but he didn’t get all of this out. – George Will, conservative columnist for The Washington Post
"He should release the tax returns tomorrow. It’s crazy. You’ve got to release six, eight, 10 years of back tax returns.” -Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard
Rundown guest host Luke Russert grilled the Romney campaign's communications director, Gail Gitcho, on why the campaign continues to refuse these requests.
"Considering all the grief you've gone through over not releasing these tax returns, does that not suggest that you're holding on to something more damaging that you'd rather endure this?" Russert asked.
"Nope. Luke, it doesn't suggest that," Gitcho returned. "What it suggests is the Obama campaign wants to talk about tax returns. The American people are not worried about Mitt Romney’s tax returns; they’re worried about their own tax returns."
On Friday, Romney said he will not release any further tax returns other than the 2010 one his campaign put out earlier this year, and his 2011 return once it's complete.
Not all Republicans disagree with his decision. Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell defended Romney on Monday's Andrea Mitchell Reports. "Americans aren't concerned about Mitt Romney's tax returns," he said. "they're concerned about their tax returns and the new taxes that Obama is putting on the American people."
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The secret that Mitt Moron wants to hide from the American people must be HUGE and devastating for him to resist that hard to releasing 10 to 20 years of tax return, as almost all presidential candidates have done in the past 35 years.
But since Mitt always has two opposing positions on any issue, I bet he will disclose these tax retursn some timw in the future.
Let's wait and see!
That he is taking so much grief for holding onto his tax returns strongly suggests that releasing them would cause a lot more grief. His official position may be that the American people don't care, but he knows full well that if they actually saw them, they would be VERY interested.
Hiding behind the subterfuge that there is no proof that he's done anything wrong is bogus. Finding a trout in a can full of milk suggests someone watered the milk, but it doesn't prove it. Taking this heat when he could make it go away suggests that there is something even hotter being hidden, like he claimed some deductions that people would look askance at, or was able to pony some paper losses into serious deductions on his taxes.
The thought occurs that if there is actually nothing there that he wants to hide and is only waiting til the last minute in an attempt to make Democrats look foolish about obsessing over nothing, by that time, the damage will be done. And if he only releases a select few that don't show anything, it just makes the ones not released look that much worse.