Show me your papers

Mitt Romney has faced several hurdles during his presidential race. He has been pressed to release his personal tax information by multiple media sources, he has completely changed his position on women’s choice issues and he recently managed to screw up a visit to London.

Romney committed a series of gaffes in London, including but not limited to referring to the leader of the Labor Party as “Mr. Leader.” What most people don’t realize is that this is just how Mr. Romney refers to people—by their jobs. If he met with firefighters, he might refer to the chief as “Mr. Fire-Putter-Outer Guy,” or his banker as “Mr. Money-Taker-Carer” or his personal assistant as “Mr. Underling.”

The ongoing battle to get Mitt to man up and show us what’s in his wallet even extended to his visit to London, where media continued to dog him over the unreleased information.

Last election cycle, John McCain released previous tax returns seven months before Election Day, and President Obama’s information from 2001–11 is all available online. The other candidates have been transparent with their financial information, so Romney’s staunch refusal only leads to the assumption that he’s hiding something pretty big. Maybe even tax fraud big.

Romney only released an estimate of his 2011 returns, but the estimate documents are vague and only require a range to be reported instead of an exact figure. He hasn’t released any present tax information to the public.

What’s even more interesting is that when Romney’s father ran for the Republican nomination in 1968, he actually set the precedent of candidates releasing their tax information to the public. Given this, and other candidates opening their books to the public, Mitt has no justifiable reason not to release the his info.

Considering the other things that could impact Romney’s campaign, his comfortable financial situation is the least of his problems. Romney said he’s followed the law and produced what has been required of him, but he hasn’t taken the extra steps many other candidates have.

Ann Romney defended her husband’s decision: “We’ve given all you people need to know,” she said in an interview. (Mrs. Romney then told “you people” to eat cake and proceeded to kick a dusty orphan boy in the shins.)

Others have also defended politicians’ right to protect their financial earnings. House Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi challenged the journalists requesting the information to release their own tax documents.

Having worked in the field for two years, I have to say that besides a slightly worrisome appreciation for scotch, journalists usually have little to hide. Not many can afford to make rent, let alone set up mysterious Swiss bank accounts like those the Romneys own.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, and it’s best for Romney if he gives “you people” what they want, especially when transparency has become even a bigger issue with inquiries into Romney’s citizenship, paralleling the previous inquiry into Obama’s birth certificate. (Fun fact: Romney’s father was born in Mexico after his grandfather fled there in 1886 to live in a Mormon “plural marriage” colony.)

As a powerful public figure, he’s a prime target for scrutiny, and the lack of transparency is problematic for his campaign. Romney would certainly undergo more thorough investigation were he to become president. In four years, a lot of dirty secrets can come to the surface. This is only the beginning of the race.