Donald Trump still refuses to release his income taxes, unlike every presidential candidate going back several decades. What doesn’t he want us to see? It can’t be good. It must be something that he is ashamed of.
Writing in the Washington Post, Chris Cillizza offers several possibilities.
1. Maybe Trump has major investments in Russia. That would explain his admiration for Vladimir Putin and his willingness to let NATO fall by the wayside. No wonder Russia is hacking Democratic computers and doing what it can to help Trump win the election.
2. He is being audited. Evidently he is. That didn’t stop Richard Nixon from releasing his taxes during an audit.
3. Maybe he didn’t pay any taxes. During the 1970s he did not pay any taxes for two years in a row. I haven’t paid income taxes since I retired from teaching 11 years ago because I don’t make enough money to be taxed on my income. But I am not pretending to be a crackerjack businessman.
4. Maybe he has ties to the mob. Ted Cruz brought that up during the primary campaign (Nice guy!) I don’t really think that’s the reason Trump is hiding whatever his income taxes would reveal. But his secrecy makes you wonder.
5. He donates very little money to charity. That is certainly credible. He has shown himself to be a cheapskate on several occasions.
6. He’s not as rich as he says. That’s another credible charge. While he obviously has a lot of money, it might not be as much as he says. To reveal that his statements about the size of his fortune is another empty boast, would damage his ego.
Mark Cuban suggested that possibly Trumps income taxes would reveal that he paid more in taxes that Trump made. It could be.
Anyway it comes down to this: Donald Trump is applying for the job of President of the United States. Since he has no public service experience, his major qualification, according to him, is his experience as a highly successful businessman. His income tax should support his assertion. If he is unwilling to share that with the public, we should not vote for him.
If you or I apply for a job and have a blank spot on our resume, say from 2009-2010, the employer would naturally wonder what we were doing during those years. If we refused to tell, there is no way we would get the job. Donald Trump is refusing to let us know how his business has been doing in the last few years. We would have to be really stupid to take his word for his business success in those years. We would not hire anyone for a sensitive position if that person refused to reveal what he was doing for two years. We should not hire anyone who claims to be qualified by virtue of his successful business experience if that person refuses to show us evidence of that experience.
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