Releasing tax returns, that is:
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) has released five years of federal and state income tax returns on her website — the first senator to release returns from her entire public career, according to her office. Spokesman Glen Caplin said that Gillibrand wanted to contribute to the “ongoing national debate” about releasing returns. Democrats have been pressuring GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney to release ten years of his tax returns, including his time in private life. But Democratic leaders like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) have refused to release their own returns.
Public life has been pretty good for Senator Gillibrand mostly because she pays less in taxes! In 2008, before she was a senator, she paid over $103k in taxes with an effective tax rate of 26%; in 2011, she paid only $28k and had an effective tax rate of 17%.
As for Tricky Mitt, he's still doing his best Clark Griswold impression, but it's likely that the call for his returns will re-emerge when he gets back to the States. At least this will give his staff some time to recognize what a painless experience posting some PDFs on a website can be. One thing is for sure – George Romney would have appreciated the simplicity.
