Morning Joe opened with video of DT and BS giving their reasons for slow walking tax returns...

[lapucelle]

It looks like they were trying to underscore perceived similarities in the dissembling excuse-making.

Posted without further comment.

[Cha]

1. Ok.. no details then.

Bummer!

Good to know.. Mahalo, lapucelle

[PunkinPi]

3. Here ya go, Cha...

Link to tweet

The Trump/Bernie mind meld. Should the 2020 contenders release their tax returns?

[Cha]

32. Yes they Should! Thank You, Punkin!

[RVN VET71]

4. I'm still groggy from sleep: who is BS?

[WeekiWater]

5. Bernard Sanders. AKA Daddy.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/128748026

[Cha]

33. lol Mahalo, Weeki!

[louis c]

2. Could a BS supporter give me one good reason why BS doesn't show his taxes?

This is a big issue against DT, why is BS so stubborn on this?

[calimary]

6. Like donald, like Bernie.

I’m sorry. They’ve BOTH had plenty of time, from the LAST campaign. In 2016.

Why is Bernie fucking around with this? We KNOW and strongly suspect why The Asset hasn’t coughed ‘em up. What’s Bernie’s excuse? What is HE trying to hide?

I haven’t heard a single explanation or attempt at an answer from any Bernie supporters since 2015. And that’s not fair to Bernie supporters, to leave them holding the bag like that, either. Why is he leaving them hanging out to dry on this?

Where are the tax returns?

It’s a very reasonable and legitimate question. And it will remain a reasonable and growing and gnawing question as long as the deliberate concealment continues - by BOTH Putin’s pet and Bernie.

[monmouth4]

8. He should be on no ballot until his returns are in..n/t

[calimary]

16. It really does need to be a law.

This sets such a bad precedent.

It was actually TWO deliberate concealments of tax returns last time. It’s happening again now. Same two. But we haven’t seen all the other Democratic hopefuls’ tax returns yet either. Who among them might decide - “hey, donald got away with it. Bernie got away with it. Must be okay then.” Or “I guess it’s no big deal anymore.” Or “Aren’t I allowed ANY privacy?”

The problem now is - this has become “a thing.” This has been reduced in significance by at least one individual (The Asset). This is little more than yet another page in the bursting file of “meh, they’re always complaining about something. (yawn)”

This HAS TO be a law. We need a law. Simple and iron-clad, no excuses, no exceptions, no reach-arounds. You wanna run for president? Okay then. Your tax returns please. Consider it part of the background check any employer would and should do when considering a new hire.

We examine the professional backgrounds, resumes, experience, even the state of physical health of the candidate. Why shouldn’t that list of particulars include full financial health also? Make it mandatory.

[Honeycombe8]

20. +1. nt

[Lonestarblue]

9. My question, too.

I worry that Bernie wins the nomination and then refuses to release his tax returns, using Trump as a precedent. Trump’s minions are in charge of the government and if they think it would help Trump win, they will leak Bernie’s tax returns. It is illegal, but Republicans don’t care about the law. If there is something damaging there, Bernie would suffer and possibly lose.

All the candidates need to release their tax returns prior to the voters making a final choice of the candidate to run against Trump.

[calimary]

22. Yep. That is not an unreasonable fear.

Human nature being what it is, anybody with a bankruptcy or an ill-advised loan or dicey tax shelter might consider - “well, let’s just not release that. So much else going on, nobody’ll notice. No one will care. It’s no big deal anymore anyway. That stopped being an issue in 2016.”

Next time, if he runs again, will Mitt Romney balk, and stay with it instead of finally giving in on his tax returns like he did last time? He initially didn’t want to release his returns either. And dragged his heels until he finally caved.

After all - now, the offramp has been built and paved and lines painted for double lanes and all that. There’s even a “yield” sign governing incoming regular traffic giving the offramp-taker the right-of-way! So I expect there’ll be others in the future availing themselves of that offramp, maybe even as soon as 2020. The floodgates have been opened. So have the back doors and side doors.

We need a law. You can’t be a candidate if you won’t release your tax returns.

[njhoneybadger]

7. The dog ate it ?

[Tom Rinaldo]

11. Do you mean Bernie Sanders? I don't know any BS supporters...

Assuming you mean Sanders, though I'm not currently a "supporter", the answer is No.

This will either kill his candidacy, or it will be a non issue by the first debate. Trump will never voluntarily release his taxes, that's easy to figure out. At any moment, at any hour of any day, Bernie might release his. And then they will be available to the public well before the presidential race begins in earnest. And then no one will any longer care about what took him so long to release them. They may or may not care about what those releases show.

For all I know he intends to time the release of his taxes to coincide with April 15th in some way. Bottom line, Sanders has to release his taxes or he is toast. But as soon as he releases them, assuming he does, it becomes a non issue. So, we will all see which it turns out to be.

[watoos]

14. Well said,

and kudos to Liz for releasing her taxes even before she declared I think.

I find it amusing that Bernie is the only candidate to not release his taxes yet. Anyone else find it amusing?

I see that Kirsten released her 2018 taxes. is that enough to get her off the hook?

Beto says he doesn't know how many years he will release, he is waiting to see what other candidates do.

Comparing Bernie to Trump makes Republicans smile, keep up the bashing people it's the GOP game plan for 2020.

[BlueFlorida]

21. Asking for tax returns is not bashing nt

[calimary]

25. And Beto! WTF? He'll wait to see what the other candidates do?

WTF???

NO, Beto. Nobody else has anything to do with it. You wanna run for President? Then OUT with it. Cough ‘em up. EVERYTHING’S on the table. We need and deserve to see it all. Your tax returns in particular. Period. And never mind what the other candidates do. That’s for each of them to answer (preferably the right way - by releasing their own).

Btw - my husband pointed out something important regarding the excuse of “after we’ve dotted all the I’s and crosssed all the T’s”. Um - you presumably did that already, with the previous years’ returns, haven’t you? Hasn’t that part been finished a long time ago? We don’t just want to see the 2018 returns. We need to go back ten years. Or more. We NEED to know who owns our candidates or who has them on a leash or inside whose back pocket they live! Because that will tell us who that candidate will really be working for, if he or she becomes president. And whose interests will be first and foremost.

[Evergreen Emerald]

26. Inslee released his tax returns as well

[Bradshaw3]

30. He is not the only candidate who hasn't released returns

To date there are only four who have: Inslee, Gillibrand, Warren and Klobuchar.

[DURHAM D]

10. Does anyone know if Bernie and Jane file jointly? nt

[watoos]

15. Bernie said that Jane does their taxes,

so I am just guessing it is joint.

[PatSeg]

12. I don't understand

Bernie had three years to get his tax records in order and I assume he knew he'd would run for president again. I am sure there is nothing in his returns as compromising as what will be found in Trump's, so it is hard to understand why he still doesn't have them ready.

[mopinko]

13. i cant believe he kicked off his campaign w/o them in his back pocket.

that's just insane. why?
things that make you go hmmmm.

[watoos]

24. Did Kamala release her taxes yet?

When she ran for the Senate she released 1 year.

According to CREW not many have released their taxes. Now this is from 2 weeks ago.

CREW will begin to keep track of Democratic contenders’ disclosures in the hopes of encouraging them to release 10 years of taxes:


Some 2020 presidential candidates have released nothing about their tax returns, while some have released 10+ years in full. Several candidates fall somewhere in between, and have shown specific members of the press certain years of returns, or summaries of their returns during past campaign cycles, including Cory Booker, John Delaney, Kamala Harris, John Hickenlooper, and Jay Inslee. When Bernie Sanders was running for president in 2016, he released only his 2014 tax return. These types of limited disclosures do not go far enough to shed light on possible conflicts, or to show the public a full picture of presidential candidates’ finances.

[namahage]

28. Whataboutism.

I seem to recall someone telling us more than once that the only way we lose in 2020 is if we fight amongst ourselves.

Funnily enough, it only seems to happen when it’s one particular candidate being criticized.

Are we now jumping to the “I could come up with a whole column bashing your favorite” part now?

[mopinko]

31. she didnt run in 2016 promising to release them, then fail.

next.

[watoos]

17. I apologize to Kirsten,

I see that she released 10 years of taxes.

[BlueFlorida]

18. There is some massive secret buried there

that has to be hidden at all costs.

[Honeycombe8]

19. I had already perceived the similarities between the two re tax returns.

But I hope to catch this video when it's available on youtube or website.

[DownriverDem]

23. Won't matter what they think or say

The House did not ask trump, they asked the IRS based on an old law.

[calimary]

27. We've already seen what we get when we do ask trump.

A big fat nothingburger garnished with lies and smothered in phony excuses.

[MrsCoffee]

29. The Democratic Party actually has ethical standards.

We’ve been asking to see turd’s taxes for years now in the name of transparency. Now we have the power to demand it.

Why on earth would we run a candidate that undermines those standards?

[Tarheel_Dem]

34. K&R