Many political issues are complex: Abortion; Guns; Taxes; Healthcare. Thinking people can disagree. Each of those issues -- and a host of others -- contain much to digest, can have nuanced positions, and offer much fodder for debate.
But I like to believe that thinking people of all stripes can agree that it is in our mutual best interest to know, beyond doubt, that our leaders are financially transparent. That means releasing past tax returns. All past presidents going back to Jimmy Carter, have done so -- until now.
Trump is fighting a congressional subpoena for his financial records. That is not the action of an innocent man. What is he so desperate for the public not to know?
What is he hiding?
Take partisanship out of it; is it too much to ask that the American people be assured their leader is not beholden to foreign countries? Is not beholden to foreign banks? That our leader is not personally profiting from diplomatic machinations?
No matter your political leaning, these questions are cut and dried. Virtually every member of congress has agreed -- until now. Going back forty-years, every presidential candidate has done so -- including the current crop -- except one.
What is he hiding?
Jimmy Carter sold his peanut farm to avoid the appearance of impropriety. He and every president since have voluntarily released their tax returns -- until now.
Why does it matter? Again, let’s take partisanship out of it. The taxpayers deserve poof that the person in charge of diplomatic relations around the world -- relations that can literally mean life and death for millions -- doesn’t have a personal stake in the outcome of that diplomacy. Imagine if Jimmy Carter had secretly kept his peanut farm when he was President. Imagine that he happened to owe billions of dollars to a bank in India. India is the world’s second largest producer of peanuts. Could we trust that Mr. Carter would do what was best for the country when entering into diplomatic negotiations with India -- a nuclear power?
Don’t the American people deserve -- need -- financial transparency in their leader? There doesn’t seem to be any nuance in that question. Maybe if you close one eye, tilt your head, and try and look at it from another angle… NO! No matter how one turns it over, the answer is a rousing YES! Yes, we need and deserve total financial disclosure from any of our leaders, regardless of party.
During the primary campaign, Trump promised to release his tax returns when he won his party’s nomination. That was a lie.
After the nomination, he promised to release his tax returns after the election. That was a lie.
After the election, he promised to release his tax returns after the inauguration. That was a lie.
He knew all along that he wasn’t obligated by law to release his returns, and had no intention of doing so. Which leads to the obvious question:
What is he hiding?
Can any thinking person make the case for our president to keep his finances secret? Can anyone defend his actions? Let’s hear it.
There was no legal obligation to release the returns -- but there is now. A congressional subpoena is about as legal as it gets. Still, he refuses. Our president would rather foment a constitutional crisis than let the American people know the truth.
The constitution is very clear about the separations of powers between the three branches of the federal government (Executive, Judicial, and Legislative). No branch holds sway over the other two. Checks and balances. It’s about the most important aspect of our government.
The Treasury Department (under the Executive branch) does not have the authority to declare that a congressional subpoena has no merit, that is solely the purview of our democratically-elected Congress. Yet, by Trump’s order, Treasury is defying Congress. That is the essence of a dictatorship.
Release the tax returns. Not doing so imperils our Democracy, our Republic and everything we stand for.
What is he hiding?
