NYT Op-Ed: Cindy McCain Should Release Tax Returns

Senator John McCain's wife, Cindy McCain, has decided not to release her tax returns -- not now and not in the future. In the interest of transparency and to support her husband's frequent calls for clean and open government, she should rethink that decision.

Since their marriage in 1980, Mrs. McCain, the daughter of a multimillionaire Anheuser-Busch distributor, and her husband have filed separate tax returns. In April, Mr. McCain released his own returns, but just for the last two years -- a paltry nod to openness. Mrs. McCain, it was explained, would not release her tax returns in "the interest of protecting the privacy of her children."

Comments

[MizFlagPin]

Stepford wives are not required to release their tax returns and it is unfair to these type of wives when the public demands that they do so.

[rtnd22]

Is it me or does it appear as Cindy Mis just along for the ride...she could care less if she is first lady....She dosent have the passion Michelle has...She is just more or less looking at this as some extra curricular HOBBY as John McCain runs for President...

[Kaur]

CINDY McCAIN, IF YOU WANT TO HAVE THE HONOR OF BEING FIRST LADY, THEN YOU BETTER COME CLEAN! YOU SAY YOU' RE PATRIOTIC, THEN SHOW US HOW MUCH YOU LOVE US AND THIS COUNTRY....COME CLEAN!! DON'T HIDE BEHIND PRIVACY BULL.

[Titonwan]

Uh, you have got the wrong blog. You need REDSTATE for all your delusional needs. This is a democratic blog. For free thinking people. Go away now. Thank you.

[OpusIsUnderTheBed]

O.K. You're still undecided who to vote for, and who to believe. Try this:

Bill and Hillary are a nice family.

John and Cindy are a nice family.

Barrack and Michelle are a nice family.

Talk about a no brainer.

[OpusIsUnderTheBed]

Her husband is running for president, and she refuses to be frank, about her finances and taxes.

If my IQ were 12, I would still be able to smell something fishy.

[remedy]

Im sure with their nine houses the kids will be able to afford security.. like they dont already have it? We need to stay on the media about this. If he gets elected how do we know if decisions are being made that directly makes her stock portfolio overflow? Shes already dumping stocks with questionable ties, sounds more like a princess with something to hide. Like these people know anything about what real working people live with everyday..

[KarenKaren]

Turn the page.

[LoloZ]

Is she for real? She looks like a Stepford wife. Scary!

[sklfcats]

She is not the candidate
It's none of their nosey business

[Titonwan]

Your an idiot. Their lives become an open book when they run for office. Period.

[UsofA]

Can you imagine if any other candidates wife had been caught, and admitted to, stealing prescription drugs from her own charity? The Republicans would be reviving it and trumpeting it in commercials and in campaign attacks. It speaks to the moral and ethical difference between Democrats and Republicans that this issue has been allowed to lay dormant. Cindy McCain is as venal and corrupt a potential first lady as history, to this point, has likely seen. And yet, she, like McCain, gets a free pass.

[Tommygun264]

Last week it was revealed that Cindy McCain had dumped $2 million she had invested in an oil company tied to the genocidal regime in Sudan. Perhaps she is cleaning up her books in preparation of bowing to public pressure. Never say never, Cindy.

[dgscol]

just looking into Mrs. McCain's eyes will tell you she is the straight talk express - true blue.

[UsofA]

Can you imagine if any other candidates wife had been caught, and admitted to, stealing prescription drugs from her own charity? The Republicans would be reviving it and trumpeting it in commercials and in campaign attacks. It speaks to the moral and ethical difference between Democrats and Republicans that this issue has been allowed to lay dormant. Cindy McCain is as venal and corrupt a potential first lady as history, to this point, has likely seen. And yet, she, like McCain, gets a free pass.

[philosopherkingtomas]

Skeletor the trophy wife financed his campaign, divulge the tax records NOW !!!

[philosopherkingtomas]

aggressively courting a 25-year-old woman who was as beautiful as she was rich." McCain divorced his wife, who had raised their three children while he was imprisoned in Vietnam, then launched his political career with his new wife's family money

[helonias]

"the interest of protecting the privacy of her children."?

What embarrassing things in her tax records do her children need protection from

[DesertLight]

I for one, having experienced some decent success in business have now been offered overseas opportunities as well. Yet, I have not disclosed that information to my children or anyone else for that matter (IRS of course). It protects them. It protects me.

Further, I spent two years living a rather high profile life. UH, no more! I am so done with that. I started following in others footsteps and class envy runs rampant out there. I am happy to live life much more humbly.

[TRichards]

Unless you're running for office, there is no need for you to reveal anything. However, we've had enough bought-and-paid-for politicians to have a legitimate interest in where their bread is buttered. That has nothing to do with "class envy" and everything to do with the open government that a democracy needs to support an informed electorate.

IF you're such a fan of privacy (and why not?), I assume that you'll be supporting a return to open government -- a government that does not spy on you without first obtaining court approval. So, clearly, you WON'T be voting for yet another super hawk willing to trade in principles for a false sense of security -- right?