Romney’s Tax Returns Matter

Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan sat down with Bob Schieffer for their first interview as Republican candidates for President and Vice President on 60 Minutes last night. It was a pretty soft interview with Bob Schieffer doing little to press the two on details of their agenda. Of course the subject of taxes came up and Romney stayed on message that the rich will continue to pay the largest share of taxes under his plan. Schieffer pointed out that even if the wealthy pay the largest share (absolute dollars), they pay a lower rate (as a percent of their income), but Romney passed over this detail to repeat his soundbite.

Then Ryan jumped in to explain: “What we’re saying is take away the tax shelters that are uniquely enjoyed by people in the top tax brackets so they can’t shelter as much money from taxation…”

Really? Does Romney know that’s what they’re saying? Will there be a grandfather clause so those already enjoying the shelters don’t have to give up their existing perks?

This is where I wanted Schieffer to ask more pointed questions about why Romney is so hesitant to disclose his returns, but instead he asked how many years of tax returns Ryan had to hand over to Romney’s camp as part of the VP vetting process. The answer was vague but the returns went further back than the two years that Ryan and Romney are willing to make public.

Ryan followed up with a statement about how Americans aren’t asking about tax returns, but about jobs. Of course people are asking about jobs, but they are also asking about tax returns – specifically that of the Republican Presidential candidate. When voting for the future leader of this great country, it’s important to know if a candidate is putting his money where his mouth is, or if he’s stockpiling it in ways that do not benefit the country he wants to lead.

If Romney needed several years of returns to vet his VP, then shouldn’t the American public be entitled to the same in vetting our future leader?