Everyone wants to see Romney’s taxes

Jim Graham, Las Vegas

Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2012 | 2 a.m.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid calling for Mitt Romney to release his tax returns reminds one of the birther’s demands that President Barack Obama release his birth certificate. It appeared to most observers that the birthers came from the ultra-right wing of the Republican Party. Obama did comply with those requests, though, and did show his birth certificate.

The biggest difference between the birthers and the “taxers,” however, is that there is bipartisan support for Romney to show his returns. Democrats and some major Republican Party members are calling for Romney to release his tax returns.

Republican Gov. Robert Bentley of Alabama has called on Romney to release his tax returns to show voters that he has “nothing to hide.” By not releasing his returns, some folks may very well draw that conclusion.

Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, is pushing for release. The National Review, a conservative publication, has asked Mitt Romney to release his tax returns. Even George Will, a longtime conservative commentator, has floated the possibility that there must be something truly damaging in those pre-2010 tax returns for Romney to endure willingly the criticism and scrutiny that has accompanied his refusal to release them.

Obama releasing his birth certificate certainly did not appease the most rabid in the birther movement. At the same time, Romney releasing his tax returns might not assuage some of the taxers. But it will clear the air and allow the campaign, on both sides, to return to the real issues.