The History: It started with Jake Tapper asking the question
Jake Tapper: “Let’s talk about taxes, specifically about your tax returns. I have to say, I’m kind of surprised that you haven’t gone further on transparency. You released the summary page of your 2014 tax returns. Hillary Clinton has posted on her website the last eight years of her personal returns, all of the returns. Before the New York primary, will you match her? Will you post your full returns for the last eight years?”
Bernie Sanders: “You know who does our tax returns? My wife does our tax returns. We’ve been a little bit busy lately. So we will get out as much information as we can. There ain’t going to be very much exciting in that. I get a salary from the United States Senate, you know, there’s not going to be anything new in it that people haven’t seen for the last many years, but we will get it out as soon as we can.”
Tapper: “But nobody has seen them at all, I guess, is the point, and whether or not there’s anything exciting in them –“
Sanders: “No, that is not true. That is not true. Of course, we have released them in the past. Our financial situation, to the best of my knowledge, has not changed very much, but we will get out all of that information as soon as we can.”
I have got to say. I don’t know why Bernie won’t release his taxes. It just seems really odd, especially when he is continually hitting Clinton on not releasing the transcripts of her speeches.
But on the subject of taxes, Hillary is actually pretty transparent. Even the WaPo gives her credit (which is saying a lot):
In the 2016 election, two candidates have been notably transparent compared to others: Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush. This appears to be the one area where Clinton may be immune to transparency criticism.
Yes, it is a little ding at her transparency. But it still is telling. She put her taxes out there for everyone to look at, why hasn’t Bernie done the same?
Sanders has filed annual financial disclosures required of members of Congress, and the publicly available records date to 2012. He also files financial disclosures to the Federal Election Commission as a presidential candidate. But such disclosures are not the same as tax returns. In fact, few senators release their federal tax returns.
That’s about all the details available of Sanders’s federal income tax records.
But this stonewalling has opened up the past history of Bernie. I was a little shocked, frankly, to learn this about the Senator.
The publication’s scathing article notes that Sanders had dismissed the idea of charities in his early days as mayor — and that view was confirmed in his 1995 tax return, which showed Sanders donated just 1 percent of his income ($1,369) to charity. During a United Way event in 1981, Sanders told the crowd: “I don’t believe in charities,” and questioned “the fundamental concepts on which charities are based.”
If Hillary had said that, people would rightly be outraged.
Bernie’s claim that he has released everything is quickly shot down.
While Sanders rejected Tapper’s assertion that the public has no access to all of Sanders’s tax returns, we have no evidence he has released any other federal income tax return than the Form 1040 from 2014. The campaign confirmed to The Washington Post that it did not release other tax returns prior to 2014.
The Form 1040 is a partial record and a summary, and devoid of details that tell the public more about how he manages his money. In particular, it doesn’t tell the public about his charitable giving or any other itemized deductions. Given that Sanders’ 1995 return indicated he was parsimonious about giving to charities, voters might want to know if his attitude has changed in the last two decades.
And yes, others have just released the Form 1040. But to say that the Republicans and especially Donald Trump is the standard to be measured against isn’t much of a defense. And really? An expert interviewed by the Post had this to say:
“It’s not a complete tax return,” said Joseph Thorndike, director of the Tax History Project. “The IRS doesn’t think it is, and I don’t think the voters should, either. … Ronald Reagan didn’t release just his 1040, and these guys shouldn’t, either. It’s just not an adequate answer.”
Especially since by not doing so but saying he has he is getting Fact-checked by various publications like the Washington Post.
The Pinocchio Test
Plainly put, Sanders has not released his full federal tax return. The little he has released was the Form 1040 in 2014, which is a summary of his tax filing that gives a snapshot of his finances — not what is considered a full tax return. The Sanders campaign confirmed to The Washington Post that it has not released other tax returns prior to 2014, which is a sharp contrast to Clinton’s voluminous release of her complete tax returns.
Sanders is not required to release his tax filings, and he clearly decided to keep them confidential. That’s his choice. But it doesn’t excuse him from misleading the public to believe otherwise with this false claim.
Four Pinocchios
Why would he take a hit like that? If there is nothing to hide then put it out there. Some people speculate that it would reveal he makes and that people would be turned off. I don’t buy that. He is not a rich man (certainly not by Trump or Clinton’s earnings). Everyone knows or can look up what a Senator makes. No, I don’t know why he won’t release his taxes. And neither do you. That is a problem.
I just know that by not doing so, it has become a story and not in a good way.
Final thing: If it had been the other way around. If Hillary had said, “Bill does out tax returns. We’ve been a bit busy lately. So we will get out as much information as we can.”
The internet and the REC list on Daily Kos would have gone crazy. Why should Bernie be treated differently?
Release your taxes Bernie — the full returns going back at least 10 years. Why is that so hard to do?
