Release every income tax return for the past 12 years? Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney won't do it. But his dad did:
In 1967, George Romney released his previous 12 tax returns (h/t:
Jake Tapper)
Not only was George Romney the first candidate ever to make such a sweeping commitment to transparency, he explicitly rejected the idea of releasing just one year of returns—as Mitt Romney plans to do. From the article:
George Harris, Look senior editor, said he had "badgered" the governor for his latest income tax form but Romney balked because "one year could be a flue, perhaps done for show..."
"Stumped by this argument, I was not prepared for the move that it eventually led him to make: He ordered up all the Form 1040s that he and Mrs. Romney had filed over the past 12 years—including those profitable ones when he saved the American Motors Corporation from bankruptcy and became a millionaire on the company's stock options."
Harris said the Romneys had given away 23 per cent of their income since 1955—$560,608.17 to the church and $115,205.90 in other tax-deductible contributions.
Mitt Romney says he has nothing to hide. Instead of asking us to take his word, he should prove it, and follow the example not just of President Obama (who has released every return since 2000), but also his father.