JediKnight wrote:
Why would he himself say "I will release my returns if I win the nomination" and again during the voting - "I will release my returns if I win the presidency" then to refuse to do so - unless he is actually hiding something?
Because it gives Democrats something to scream and cry about while our President is out and about
Making
America
Great
Again.
JediKnight wrote:
Prior to Trump no progressives (or conservatives) HAD to request the returns because every candidate produced them voluntarily.
Did they? Are you sure about that? I'm willing to wager everything I have in this world that not only every candidate, but every President before Richard Nixon was caught bugging the Watergate offices of the Democrat party, President or otherwise, ever produced his tax returns, voluntarily or otherwise. That was a failed gambit on the part of a corrupt President to persuade the American people that "I am not a crook". Newsflash - He was.
JediKnight wrote:
The 'interest' in his returns are to determine if he received "foreign money" to campaign -which is illegal,
Since when did the source of a loan origination have any bearing on the taxes paid? Since when did any loan (mortgage excepted) impact the bottom line of a tax return? That information is simply not germane to the production of income and exemptions found on any given tax document.
JediKnight wrote:
or if he has loans with banks on our "do no business with" list,
Again, not germane. The IRS has no idea what banks the President, or anyone else, does business with either currently or in the past.
JediKnight wrote:
and his claimed charitable contributions.
Ah! Finally you find something that would be of interest to the IRS! Congratulations! You win a cookie. Oh, sorry, I already ate it, but you can have the crumbs if you like...
JediKnight wrote:
Democrats suspect that Trump has taken loans directly from Russian oligarchs (perhaps even Putin himself), which would make Trump a potential national security risk because those 'loans' could be used to blackmail him.
I see. 'Democrats suspect', do they. Well, I really hate to disappoint those Democrats who 'suspect', but that information would not be found on a tax filing document either. As for foreign powers using loan details to blackmail a businessman, any businessman, how would
that work?
JediKnight wrote:
Trump seems to have no problem bragging about "how rich" he is and how much he supports charity. So, once again, why would he have a problem proving that through releasing his returns? You could say, "inquiring minds want to know."
And he could say 'inquiring minds can go pound sand', too. That last little snippet does reveal one small inkling of the real reason behind this though. It all comes down to the assertion that he's 'bragging', doesn't it? Because he feels self-respect or pleasure in something by which he measures his self-worth or takes pride in. That's what burns your ass, isn't it? He has some personal pride and instills that in others and you can't
stand it, can you?