The Clintons have released their tax returns....

[Aviation Pro]

...let's see who on this forum has the guts to do the same. Redact what you want, but I guarantee it will be the most difficult thing you could possibly do. I am a firm believer in keeping one's personal finances private.

[Duke Newcombe]

1. When I run for the highest elected office in the land...

...I most certainly will. Thank you.

I'm Duke Newcombe, and I approve of this post.

Duke

[Aviation Pro]

3. Balderdash....

...running for elected office should carry the same level of privacy afforded to all citizens. No one should be under some fiat or obligation to provide their information. You will never understand what it's like to have every dime you've earned scrutinized by people who have no business scrutinizing it.

[Duke Newcombe]

5. Doesn't matter...

...in order to divine whether the person they're electing is involved in "dubious" or compromising financial dealings, these tax records provide a starting point. They're not _obligated_ to provide them, but the past precedent has been set.

Also, I think that a politician or a candidate for president is a very _public_ figure: public figures as a practical matter "lose" much of the privacy that you or I enjoy.

Not saying if it is right or wrong, just or fair...it merely is a reality.

Duke

[Aviation Pro]

8. What they give up is their anonymity....

....and that shouldn't include their privacy.

Let's face it, they found nothing in the Clintons returns except that they earned a ton of money. Most calls for release of financial records is based on jealousy and baseless curiosity.

[Duke Newcombe]

9. most calls are to find dirt...

let us be honest.

Duke

[Muttocracy]

2. don't have mine electronically but mine are simple

income; due to government support for the college where I work, may be public info already.

info about my retirement account

student loan interest deduction

:boring:

[Jane Austin]

4. I've never secured a loan, personal or business

that I wasn't required to turn over my most recent tax return.

[Aviation Pro]

7. That's between you and your loan provider....

....not between you and the entire world.

[Jane Austin]

14. One hopes so! n/t

[The_Casual_Observer]

6. And they didn't find anything.

[Rageneau]

10. Yes, they did -- they found that the Clintons are more generous than the Obamas.

For example, of the 6.9 million Bill earned on his book, he gave a million of it away. That's MUCH better than the ten percent usually expected of rich folks. The Clintons have ALWAYS given generously to charity. Even when they were as poor as the Obamas were, they still gave more.

[The_Casual_Observer]

11. It's been silent around here on the subject of those returns, considering

that it was snarked at in every post prior to the release.

[pompano]

12. I don't know if....

they are bound to release them anymore than we are bound to vote for them?

The Clinton's won't be paying my salary, the taxpayers that elect her/them to office and even the ones that didn't, will be paying hers if she were to win.

I don't think it is an un-fair request unless one candidate is asked and other candidates are not?

[Raejeanowl]

16. I Wouldn't Exactly Say "Silent"

But you're right that a number of naysayers have grown strangely quiet on the topic, upon having their predictions dashed. Like having the 500-pound canary force-fed to the hungry, yowling cat.

[rainbow4321]

19. Besides the names of companies that have been associated w/ tax havens

That's all, nothing much. One of which was investigated by Congress.
And how has HRC voted/spoken out about those kind of tax havens while IN Congress, BTW??? Did she do a disclaimer when she did speak out?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=5388832&mesg_id=5388832

[The_Casual_Observer]

28. Good luck on that.

[Thepricebreaker]

13. They say 18 mil still unaccounted for....

[MonkeyFunk]

15. "they" say

how would an income tax return have money "unaccounted" for? Is there a line item reading 18 million without saying where it came from?

Can you tell us exactly what the accusation is? And why haven't any big media jumped on it? Sounds like quite a scandal! But all I can find is a few passing references in blogs and discussion boards.

[Writer]

17. Here's my social security number:

XXX-XX-XXXX

My major credit card number:

XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX - security code XXX

My birthday:

XX/XX/XXXX


Let's see... what else am I obligated to reveal to the public if I run for office?:

My household income:

$XXXXXX

My license plate number (hey - I'll let you know that it's in COLORADO!)

XXX XXX

My address:

XXX XXXXXXXX LN.
XXXX XXXXXXX, CO XXXXX


Anything else you need? I might actually run for president one day, you know?

My husband's social security number:

XXX-XX-XXXX

His date of birth:

XX/XX/XXXX

My blood type:

AB+

Potential names for my first born children:

Ana
Sebastian
Slagathore
Noneofyourbusiness


And here would be my message to all of you, if you were to demand this of me:

FXXX YXX


~Writer~

[hfojvt]

18. this would be a big deal? Who could possibly care?

2007
wages - 10,640
interest - 395
IRA deduction - 1000
AGI - 10535
standard deduction - 5350
personal exemption - 3400
taxable income - 1285
tax - 129
retirement savings contribution credit - 129
income tax withheld - 119
earned income credit - 150
refund - 269

2006
wages - 21983
interest - 143
IRA - 4000
AGI - 18126
standard deduction - 5000
personal exemption - 3200
taxable income - 9926
tax - 1124
rscc - 200
tax withheld - 1581
refund - 657

exciting stuff I am sure
2002 would be more interesting, a little
wages - 10,198
interest - 45
pension - 708 (none taxable)
rental income (915)
unemployment - 3529
IRA - 2659
AGI - 10198
SD - 4700
PE - 3000
TI - 2498
tax - 249
RSCC - 249
tax withheld - 547
EIC - 68
refund - 615

Of course there are also Schedule E's and Form 8880s, but the latter does not tell you anything except the steps required to figure out the credit.

[Perry Logan]

20. There's nothing more futile than trying to get Clintophobes to lay off the Clintons.

Donthcya just love the CLINTOPHOBES?

Clintophobes live to badmouth the Clintons. Evidently, the Clintons did something terrible to them at some time in the past.

Clintophobes think it's their duty as citizens to say as much terrible stuff about the Clintons as possible.

Complete character assassination of the Clintons is the goal of every Clintophobe. This is only one of their many charming qualities.

The main Clintophobe technique is false accusation. The logic goes like this: because they're obviously so evil, it's OK to accuse them of doing all sorts of terrible things. Whatever it is, the Clintons did it.

Clintophobes instantly and automatically believe all accusations against the Clintons, including accusations they may have just made up. The Clintons are bad guys, so anything goes.

You will recognize this as classic winger thinking, which Clintophobes emulate in many ways.

I will not discuss the well-known and unhealthy symbiosis between Clintophobes and the right-wing smear machine.

Clintophobes perceive the Clintons as evil and will tell anyone who listens. It's a powerful feeling which they love to talk about and never question. They tend to think EVERYONE hates the Clintons and perceives them as the embodiment of pure evil, even though a quick look at the polls reveals this to be a whopping big delusion.

Clintophobes fill out the villainy of the Clintons with a galaxy of false accusations--i.e., smears--not one of them questioned, not one of them doubted for even a moment.

Most Clintophobes will smear anyone who defends the Clintons, so watch out. It's always personal, always ad hominem--a shining example of how not to practice politics.

Of course, Clintophobes know less about the Clintons' record of public service than anyone else in the world, preferring their ever-growing list of bizarre made-up accusations.

Like their right-wing cousins, all Clintophobes think they're brilliant. They even think they can read the Clintons' minds and will tell you what the Clintons are thinking at any given moment.

Of course, when they do this, the Clintons always sound like characters in a bad comic book. Clintophobia is a delusional, pathological condition.

Also like wingers, Clintophobes are inordinately proud of themselves. They think half their fellow Democrats are sleazebags or racists or something, because they have ignored the endless smears and still like Hillary.

Clintophobes tend to put everyone who disagrees with them on "ignore," the better to sustain their delusional reality. This prevents them from seeing all of their claims debunked, so they can go on repeating them. If you get a Clintophobe started, he/she will present incontrovertible proof that the Clintons caused the Fall of Man.

[MadAndy]

21. Leave it to a clinton supporter to object to a longtime practice when running

for high office. If you beleive that money influences politics than you need to know where candidates are getting their money. It also shows if people give lip service to charity or put their money where their mouth is. A president is not an average citizen and by necessity cannot expect to live their life in obscurity like Joe Average. If you dont want to open yourself up to scrutiny, don't run for the office.

[Aviation Pro]

22. Actually, I'm supporting Senator Obama....

...I just find the "long time tradition" of releasing tax returns stupid. President Insane and Shitstain Shoots-Guy-In-Face released their tax returns and they were still elected.

[MadAndy]

27. Isnt that an argument for more disclosure, not less? If the clintons have nothing to hide,

why do they make us drag everything out of them? BTW, we still haven't seen their 07 tax return. With over $100M you would think they could afford a team of acountants to get their taxes in order fairly quickly, rather than claim they havent had enough time.

[Alter Ego]

23. Huh?

[LiveLiberally]

24. In reply to your question....

Yes, I'd release our joint tax returns if I held a public position in which they were in any way relevant. As for releasing them as a private citizen, why not? Although I doubt they would be of interest to anyone. We own a home, we donate to Goodwill, public radio etc..., we pay a lot for daycare, and we don't save enough for retirement. Like the vast majority of Americans, our tax returns are terribly dull and the only thing in them worth keeping private are our social security numbers.

[BlooInBloo]

25. Teh stupid! It burns!

Like anybody here is running for public office.

[Vinca]

26. I have to admit - that would be embarrassing for me.

Compared to the Clintons I could be the food stamp poster girl. When wealth is the standard by which everything is judged in this country, those of us who don't make the grade sometimes feel like second class citizens.

[napi21]

29. I've always thought it was silly to demand a candidate's tax returns.

So now that they're out there, what really interesting dirt did you find out that you didn't know before? Bill makes a lot of $$ on speaking engagements? We all knew that already!Both of them made some mice bucks on their books...we already knew that too! They gave a lot of $$ to charities. OK, that's nice. There's just nothing of great interest there folks.

[crankychatter]

30. Public officials forfeit Confidentiality in the Public Interest

Conflict of Interest is a Felony

so we're allowed to look

live with it

BTW it was a redacted summary published by her campaign, and NOT the 2007 details that Clinton promised...

but then, we know what her word is worth, eh?