Ridding candidates of a taxing matter
Lance on May 13 2007 at 9:10 am | Filed under: Domestic Politics, Lance's Page
In the spirit of “trout whacking” I am on board with Captain Ed on candidates having to release their tax returns:
Sphere: Related ContentBeyond that, though, no one has made a compelling case for these releases. Common Cause may claim that releasing the returns are “reasonable” for presidential candidates, but what do they really tell us? They may give some insight into charitable contributions and a voyeuristic look into the income streams of the rich and famous, but they tell us little about the policies favored by the candidates. Offhand, I cannot think of a single major revelation about a candidate that came from the released tax returns that had an impact on an election.
Personal income had been considered a private affair before Watergate. After that scandal, which had nothing to do with tax evasion, candidates seized on the release of their 1040s as some sort of honesty test. It might be time to recognize that private income should remain private, and that tax returns give us little germane data about the candidates.
Horse feathers. You can tell a lot from a candidates tax form. What are his outside income streams? Is he basing his votes on his financial interest? Does he talk green but invest in polluting industries? All candidates should be required to make public this information. The more we know about a person seeking to represent us, the better we can judge if they deserve our vote. It’s all about transparency.
I don’t want transparency on a candidates private lives. For one thing it is just as liklely to obscure and confuse as enlighten us.
Theoretically we can find out all that you say, but we know what the major streams of income for the candidates are already. I don’t need to know about their spending patterns, I don’t need to know exactly how much they make from each of those streams, I don’t need to know who they claim as dependents, etc. I know that Edwards worked for Fortress Capital. How does it change whether I will or will not vote for him if he made 2 million or 20 million. It would make no difference to me. The policy they support is either good or bad. If it is bad, I don’t care if their motives are pure. If it is good, I don’t care that much either.