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Should ALL elected politicians be legally required to publish their tax returns?

Should ALL elected politicians be legally required to publish their tax returns?

  • Total voters
    43
radcen said:
Then we shouldn't even have elections. Just a committee of the 0.5% to appoint our leaders.
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As an example of what I'm talking about, I can't even begin to tell you how many times I've received phone calls from lenders who are looking over a client's information and ask me to send a copy of Schedule E, Page 1 because the return contains a Schedule E, Page 2. The assumption is that since I didn't include page 1 with the return I must be hiding something.

These are people who, presumably, review tax returns as part of their job. They, presumably, understand how tax returns work and would be part of that .5%....but they obviously don't understand.
 
Lutherf said:
If you're concerned that a politician is funneling money to themselves or their family you can call the state AG or the FBI and have them investigate.
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Or, more rationally, one can demand to see their complete finances with tax returns and determine whether that individual is appropriate for the office in advance.
It's simply not your business and the idea that simply because someone is a public figure they no longer have the protection of the 4th Amendment is absurd.
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Yes, it simply is my business as a voting citizen and if someone refuses to disclose it, there's a reason, quite apart from any imaginary 4th Amendment issues.

You might not mind being made a sucker. I do.
 
apdst said:
The law protects privacy of every citizen's tax return. It's unconstitutional to revoke that protection for a select few.
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Just as you CHOOSE to give up a certain amount of privacy when you leave your home, and just as you CHOOSE to give up privacy when applying for a truck driver job... both of which have been affirmed by the courts... you would be CHOOSING to run for office. If you want your privacy, don't run.
 
No, its none of anyone's business.
 
radcen said:
Just as you CHOOSE to give up a certain amount of privacy when you leave your home, and just as you CHOOSE to give up privacy when applying for a truck driver job... both of which have been affirmed by the courts... you would be CHOOSING to run for office. If you want your privacy, don't run.
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That's just dumb. The reason for that is because you're out in the public and you can't expect to keep those things private. Running for office has no effect on you're exception to keep your tax returns private.
 
radcen said:
Just as you CHOOSE to give up a certain amount of privacy when you leave your home, and just as you CHOOSE to give up privacy when applying for a truck driver job... both of which have been affirmed by the courts... you would be CHOOSING to run for office. If you want your privacy, don't run.
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Private by law, or private by right, whichever, laws are in place that make tax returns private. It's unconstitutional to apply that law to some while at the same time revoking that protection for others.

And, no, I don't give up my privacy as a truck driver. The implementation and result of drug screens is very private. Employers are even required to inform an employee that he has to submit to a drug screen, in private. No memos, mass emails, lists of names on the bulletin board, nor public addresses. No one outside a few authorized members of management know anything about it.
 
Tanngrisnir said:
By 'throwing in a tax return', since it seems to have escaped your notice, the public wouldn't have to wildly speculate any longer about conflicts of interest; they'd know

File under: duh.
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That's what the IRS is for. If the IRS finds anything shady, they can deal with it, or forward it to the appropriate agency.
 
apdst said:
Private by law, or private by right, whichever, laws are in place that make tax returns private. It's unconstitutional to apply that law to some while at the same time revoking that protection for others.

And, no, I don't give up my privacy as a truck driver. The implementation and result of drug screens is very private. Employers are even required to inform an employee that he has to submit to a drug screen, in private. No memos, mass emails, lists of names on the bulletin board, nor public addresses. No one outside a few authorized members of management know anything about it.
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Yes, you do. Somebody knows the information. It is no longer strictly private.
 
apdst said:
That's what the IRS is for. If the IRS finds anything shady, they can deal with it, or forward it to the appropriate agency.
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Wrong. An elected official could have serious conflicts of interest that weren't necessarily violating any tax code.
 
Tanngrisnir said:
Wrong. An elected official could have serious conflicts of interest that weren't necessarily violating any tax code.
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The tax return won't tell you that. But, again, the IRS can do a review and forward conflicts of interest to the necessary authorities.
 
Tanngrisnir said:
Or, more rationally, one can demand to see their complete finances with tax returns and determine whether that individual is appropriate for the office in advance.

Yes, it simply is my business as a voting citizen and if someone refuses to disclose it, there's a reason, quite apart from any imaginary 4th Amendment issues.

You might not mind being made a sucker. I do.
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It's the investigative arm of the government to investigate. It's the common citizen's job to vote.
 
radcen said:
Yes, you do. Somebody knows the information. It is no longer strictly private.
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Don't hurt your back moving the goal posts.

Post your checking account number. Somebody knows it, besides you and your spouse, anyway...right?

Don't be like this. When I say, "private", you know damn well what I'm talking about.
 
radcen said:
Yes, you do. Somebody knows the information. It is no longer strictly private.
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The Constitutional aspect has already been debunked. People are treated unequally for purposes of employment all the time, and it has been affirmed by the courts.

There is no right to privacy in the federal Constitution, though some states have it in varying forms.

As far as privacy laws, you act as if laws are sacrosanct and carved in stone once enacted. They're not. Laws are routinely repealed and/or superseded by new laws all the time.
 
Trump is the first presidential candidate in 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns. The first Republican candidate since Gerald Ford to refuse.

Candidate Trump said he would release his tax information once an IRS audit was complete. The IRS audit is complete, and the now President Trump has reneged on his campaign commitment.

A clean politician has nothing to fear from transparency and would be proud as a peacock to showcase their business acumen, generosity, and paying their fair share.

I can only conclude that Trump is engaging in purposeful concealment ... and the likelihood is high that Trumps tax returns contain potentially toxic [political] information such as gambling losses, loans from unsavory individuals, offshore accounts/tax havens, payments from a foreign government, overseas sweatshop ownership etc. etc.
 
apdst said:
Don't hurt your back moving the goal posts.

Post your checking account number. Somebody knows it, besides you and your spouse, anyway...right?

Don't be like this. When I say, "private", you know damn well what I'm talking about.
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Yes, I know what you're talking about, and I pointed out how you're wrong. It is a fact that you CHOOSE give up a level of privacy when you apply for a truck driving job and submit to a drug test.
 
radcen said:
The Constitutional aspect has already been debunked. People are treated unequally for purposes of employment all the time, and it has been affirmed by the courts.

There is no right to privacy in the federal Constitution, though some states have it in varying forms.

As far as privacy laws, you act as if laws are sacrosanct and carved in stone once enacted. They're not. Laws are routinely repealed and/or superseded by new laws all the time.
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_Act_of_1974
 
radcen said:
Yes, I know what you're talking about, and I pointed out how you're wrong. It is a fact that you give up a level of privacy when you apply for a truck driving job and submit to a drug test.
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You're moving the goal posts, bad. You're better than that.
 
Rogue Valley said:
Trump is the first presidential candidate in 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns. The first Republican candidate since Gerald Ford to refuse.

Candidate Trump said he would release his tax information once an IRS audit was complete. The IRS audit is complete, and the now President Trump has reneged on his campaign commitment.

A clean politician has nothing to fear from transparency and would be proud as a peacock to showcase their business acumen, generosity, and paying their fair share.

I can only conclude that Trump is engaging in purposeful concealment ... and the likelihood is high that Trumps tax returns contain potentially toxic [political] information such as gambling losses, loans from unsavory individuals, offshore accounts/tax havens, payments from a foreign government, overseas sweatshop ownership etc. etc.
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If there was any dirt on President Trump's tax returns, the IRS would have leaked it already.
 
radcen said:
Ok. So? It can't be changed or modified?

(Chances are it already has at some time or another.)



I take note that you are no longer claiming that the information is strictly private.
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It can't be changed, nor modified so that it violates the equal protection clause. That would be unconstitutional.
 
apdst said:
The tax return won't tell you that. But, again, the IRS can do a review and forward conflicts of interest to the necessary authorities.
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The tax return isn't meant to necessarily expose tax fraud and the IRS is irrelevant to what I'm talking about. It shows where his financial interests lie, it shows how much he pays in taxes, if he uses tax havens and where, what he's deducting, etc...

Please pay better attention.
 
Lutherf said:
It's the investigative arm of the government to investigate. It's the common citizen's job to vote.
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And the common citizen should know where the conflicts of interest lie in candidates to be public servants, whether those candidates are using tax havens, what they're offshoring, etc...

This isn't rocket science.
 
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