Patton: Proposed Bill Would Force Trump To Reveal His Taxes

(Photo by Gage Skidmore)

Sen . Ron Wyden of Oregon has introduced a bill that would compel all presidential candidates to publicly disclose their three most recent tax returns within 15 days of being nominated at their party's convention. If nominees failed to comply, the Federal Election Commission would be authorized to obtain the tax returns from the Treasury Department and release them.

Donald Trump has defied a 40-year tradition of presidential candidates releasing their returns. "Trump's most likely Democratic opponent in the general election - Hillary Clinton- has already released eight years of tax returns for this election cycle, and more than 30 years' worth over the course of her public life." (Jeanne Sahadi, CNN Money, 5/25/2016)

Why should Trump release his returns? Of what value are they to the voting public? "Since the days of Watergate, the American people have had an expectation that nominees to be leader of the free world would not hide their finances and personal tax returns," Mr. Wyden said in a statement.

"Tax returns deliver honest answers to key questions from the American public," he said. "Do you even pay taxes? Do you give to charity? Are you abusing tax loopholes at the expense of middle-class families? Are you keeping your money offshore? People have a right to know." (New York Times, 5/25/2016).

Nevertheless, Trump has been reluctant to release his tax returns, offering a variety of improbable excuses. "At first, Trump argued that he would wait until the IRS was done auditing him (no doubt safely past the election); then, he said there was nothing to learn from his returns anyway; recently, he's even told people asking that the returns are 'none of your business.'" (Karoun Deminjian, Washington Post, 5/25/2016)

Within the last few days, Trump's chief campaign strategist, Paul Manafort, came up with a new, and even more unlikely excuse, if that's possible. "Manafort said that he does not think the presumptive Republican nominee will release his tax returns, in part because they would likely be too complicated for the public to understand." (Tom LoBianco, CNN, 5/26/2016.).

Too complicated for the public to understand? So we should just take Trump at his word, the man whose disregard for the truth makes Pinocchio look like an amateur. Believe me, an army of eagle-eyed accountants of all political persuasions is more than ready, willing, and able to explain Trump's returns to the rest of us.

Well, what does the public think of Trump's refusal to release his tax returns? Does it care at all?

"The public wants to hold Donald Trump accountable on his shadowy wealth - with a new poll showing two-thirds of voters think the boastful billionaire should finally release his federal tax returns.

"In a national survey of 2,001 registered voters, 67 percent - including 60 percent of Republicans - said Trump should release his returns, according to a survey published Tuesday by the polling group Morning Consult.

"The strong interest contradicts Trump's cagey claims that the average voter couldn't care less about his taxes. The presumptive Republican nominee said on CNN last month his taxes are not 'an issue that middle America is interested in.'" (Jason Silverstein, New York Daily News, 5/24/2016).

Trump skates on thin ice from one issue to another, rarely spelling out his proposals in detail, flip-flopping on issues, frequently contradicting himself, being extraordinarily careless with the truth, and defending himself by insulting and bullying his critics.

Will Trump's tax returns be the problem where at last the ice cracks, causing him to sink in the sea of public opinion?

Gary Patton is the author of two books, Selling Mt. Washington, a political satire, and Outtastatahs: Newcomers' Adventures in New Hampshire, a work of regional humor.