In past 7 gubernatorial elections only two candidates have refused to share tax info – Blackwell & Kasich
As most of you know, I’m not feeling 100%, things have been complicated by the fact that my husband had to have an emergency appendectomy on Tuesday and is still in the hospital. While I’m getting releases that are sent to me up as soon as possible there are a great many things happening political news wise that I’ve not been able to focus on. This article in the Dispatch, “Strickland-Kasich tax flap is nothing new” (link) is one I recommend reading. One part:
The politicizing of income-tax returns has been a facet of Ohio gubernatorial races since at least 1974, when incumbent Democrat John J. Gilligan criticized GOP challenger James A. Rhodes for refusing to release his returns. Rhodes won anyway.
Kasich is only the second candidate in the past seven gubernatorial campaigns to refuse to release his tax returns. In 2006, Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell declined to make his public.
Do voters care? Joseph White, chairman of the political science department at Case Western Reserve University, believes they should.
“(Tax returns tell) you something about the candidates and what their priorities are,” he said. “Sometimes it shows good things about a person, like whether they are a generous person.”
Also being reported today by the Associated Press in several Ohio newspapers, Cincinnati Enquirer as one example, (link) is this rather short piece that provides troubling information but little specific detail:
A message obtained by The Associated Press was sent May 3 amid efforts by Democrats to tie the Lehman losses to Kasich. The GOP candidate for governor worked for a time at the now-defunct investment bank.
In the e-mail, Kasich spokesman Scott Milburn told an Ohio Public Employee Retirement System executive to explain that not all the money it lost was a result of the Lehman bankruptcy.
The fund had calculated its Lehman losses at $111 million, significantly lower than a separate figure released by the Democratic state treasurer.
There have been several different dollar amounts put out there as to the losses, just from the Dispatch, April 21 article link and May 21 article link.
Back to the issues of taxes, while it’s impossible to know how Blackwell’s refusal impacted the 2006 election results, it did create attention and discussion as well as calling his character into question.
Kasich’s refusal, like Blackwell’s refusal will keep this issue out there and will continue to fuel politically motivated speculation that Kasich has something to hide by not releasing them.
what does kasich have to hide….i have all my tax returns dating back to 1963…when i was in college and worked part time…i have nothing to hide. if i were running for office in november, i would tell all of you to go to my campaign headquarters and look them over , and even print them if you like but blacken out my ssan…but i am a democrat, with nothing to hide, so what do i know….
June 17th, 2010 at 12:49 amThis is a red herring. I don’t care if either of the candidates releases their income tax records. They have just as much right to privacy for those records as I do with mine.
Granted, I’m not running for office, but that act alone shouldn’t require someone to lay bare everything about their lives.
What I care about are the issues. What are their plans for the future of the State. How do they plan to handle the economic problems that we are facing, etc.
It’s no wonder that we have a hard time getting good people to run for office any more. So much scrutiny of evry last bit of their personal lives is keyed on by the media.
Today’s press seems very lazy when it comes to discussion or the real issues and trying to get the candidates to answer questions. It seems as though they rely much more on regurgitation of media releases by either of the campaigns than actual investigative reporting on the issues.
June 17th, 2010 at 6:10 amAgree 100% Stinger. The main thing should be jobs, jobs, jobs.
June 17th, 2010 at 8:02 amIf there were something wrong with his tax returns, I would expect the IRS to be on it. As long as he doesn’t peform tax fraud, I see nothing valuable in seeing and scrutinizing his records. What is the point, to see how much he gives? True charity goes un-heralded and time isn’t reported in tax returns so that wouldn’t really be an accurate portrayel. The only conclusion I can come up with is the other candidate wants to make a case telling people that Kasich makes too much and that should be a deciding factor. Not important to me but I guess it could be for some.
June 17th, 2010 at 10:38 amI hope your husband has a speedy recovery.
June 17th, 2010 at 12:01 pmMichael, if you have nothing to hide, I ask that you publish your tax returns and make them accessible for GCJ readers. After all you are an elected official yourself and reelected this past March.
June 17th, 2010 at 12:01 pmIs there a law that says you must release your tax returns when running for elected office? Next, you’ll be wanting his birth certificate or something like that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 17th, 2010 at 12:05 pmThis whole thing is stupid and I have no clue why it continues to be brought up, other than Strickland has no accomplishments to speak of, so he must attack. There has never been any issues raised over whether Kasich has done anything illegal. This is nothing more than class warfare
June 17th, 2010 at 12:29 pmI am of two minds on this one.
1.) Elected officials should be put under scrutiny, and be able to proudly point to the lack of blemishes on their records.
2.) There are those ‘birthers’ out there claiming that since President Obama refuses to furnish a copy of his birth certificate, he must have not been born in the United States. I refuse to be lumped in with people that crazy.
Lisa, I join others in wishing for a speedy recovery, and peace for your household.
June 17th, 2010 at 12:43 pmLisaRenee
Good Lord lady what else can go wrong. Take care of yourself. We’ll survive.
June 17th, 2010 at 1:25 pmIt’s very easy for Strickland to make his tax returns public, because that’s all he’s ever done! He doesn’t have private sector income, so everyone knows what he makes already because he’s a public employee. This is a tactic to push the liberal class envy strategy to make us hate those evil rich republicans plain and simple.
June 17th, 2010 at 2:29 pmRasmussen poll released on June 3rd has Kasich leading 47-42. This seems to be a see-saw matchup.
June 17th, 2010 at 4:22 pmJoe, that’s the tactic Blackwell’s campaign took, it didn’t work out so well for them.
Marty has a point, to which I’d add some made a rather large deal about the Clintons not releasing their tax information.
It’s clear the issue of income tax returns don’t matter to some voters, to some it only matters if it is your candidate who’s not releasing them, and to others? It’s a consistent stance.
June 17th, 2010 at 5:24 pmReal Clear politics has several polls for those of you into that – (link).
Their average shows Strickland up by 2
June 17th, 2010 at 5:55 pmWell 2006 is a lot different from this year. But like i said this will be a see-saw battle.
I did see that Lisa. Rasmussen was the most accurate poll of 06 and 08, so I tend to look at that a little more then others. Although I would not entirely discount other polls, with the exception of Quinnipiac.
June 18th, 2010 at 2:28 pmMR JOHNSON, I WOULD LOVE TO GIVE LISA RENEE MY TAX RETURNS….MY 63 TO 85 RETURNS ARE ON MICRO-FIC, AND HELD IN MY SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX AND MY 86 TO 09 ARE ON HARD COPIES IN MY SAFE AT MY HOME…REMEMBER…I AM A DEMOCRAT AND HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE…WHAT DOES KASICH HAVE TO HIDE ONLY THE FACT THAT HE MADE MILLIONS ON THE BACK OF PENSION HOLDERS BEFORE LAHMAN BROTHERS FOLDED.
June 20th, 2010 at 10:27 pmLisa,
Will there be a ‘predictions page’ for the 2010 elections? Since everyone seems to have their pols and pundits together to share, can we weigh in ourselves?
I am looking forward to doing my ‘Trifecta of Close Calls’ on the Portman / Iott / Kasich races.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:50 amYes Marty there will be – I think it’s a bit early to make predictions, it’s still June, but if a few of you want to make predictions I’ll be happy to put up a page for you to do that.
June 21st, 2010 at 11:52 amThanks Lisa,
I don’t really see anything that is going to make a difference in the races between now and the elections themselves. Although it is only June, I am willing to lock mine in when the page goes up.
June 21st, 2010 at 12:03 pmJoe Birmingham Says:
It’s very easy for Strickland to make his tax returns public, because that’s all he’s ever done! He doesn’t have private sector income, so everyone knows what he makes already because he’s a public employee. This is a tactic to push the liberal class envy strategy to make us hate those evil rich republicans plain and simple.
YES…A VOICE OF INTELLIGENCE AND LOGIC!
June 21st, 2010 at 3:44 pmTHANK YOU TO SOMEONE WHO THINKS!!
….someone who thinks AND thinks for himself.
June 21st, 2010 at 3:47 pmJust saw this news as of today…speaking of Strickland….
http://www.thetruthaboutplas.com/2010/06/21/gov-strickland-official-investigated-for-pay-to-pla-contracting/
In part the column says: …The political pressure to find something wrong with nonunion contractors performing public contracts is common in state and localities rife with corruption. Laws are not enforced fairly and Big Labor advocates and Union Bosses within government turn a blind eye to mistakes made by their pals while aggressively attacking their nonunion competitors. That’s why politics is such an important part of the construction industry……
June 21st, 2010 at 4:50 pm