Opinion | Politics

Native Sun News Today Editorial: Why won't Donald Trump release his tax returns?

Thursday, December 14, 2017

Why doesn’t Trump release his tax returns?

By Native Sun News Today Editorial Board
nativesunnews.today

There is something rotten in Denmark when a man or woman running for the office of President of the United States is not required to turn over their tax forms so that we, the people, can see their financial status.

For the past 40 years every presidential candidate has not had a problem releasing his or her tax forms. Why is it that Donald J. Trump is allowed to get away with it? What would his tax forms have told us about him?

For starters it would have let us know about any financial dealings he had with Russia. There were some Russian oligarchs who bought valuable real estate from Trump and his dealings with the Deutsche Bank of Germany, a bank that paid hefty fines for money laundering, particularly with Russia, have involved more than $300 million in loans. There are also many questions about Trumps association with several Russian government owned banks that are suspicious.

Every one of the other 16 Republican candidates that ran against Trump released their tax returns and Mr. Trump, lying through his teeth, used the excuse that his taxes were being audited by the IRS and just as soon as the audit was done he would gladly release them. How long has it been? How long does an audit by the Internal Revenue Service take?

So when he was repeatedly asked by the media about why he has not released his taxes yet he continues to say they are under audit. And finally, much to the shame of the national media, they stopped asking that vital question entirely. In other words Trump out waited them. He knows the media and the general American public have the memories of a gnat.

That was the first and biggest mistake made by the media and the U. S. Congress. The All-Republican Congress had the opportunity to nip this entire charade in the bud. Instead the set a precedent by letting Trump get away with it. How hard would it have been for Congress to call a special session ordering Trump to hand over his taxes?

South Dakota has three gutless representatives in Congress who wouldn’t comment on Trump even if his hair was on fire. Whatever happened to the independent minds that used to be a part of the South Dakota landscape? Thune, Rounds, Noem: Lock-step, lock-step and lock-step with the Republican Party.

The world would have come to an end for them if they had not got some kind of a vote favoring tax reform. What was the big hurry? It was Donald J. Trump standing behind them while cracking a whip that caused the Republican stampede to get it done. Where was the discussion? Where was the debate? Isn’t that how it has been done in Washington for the past 200 years?

Trump was intimidating them. “Hurry, hurry, hurry before anybody finds out what’s in the tax reform bill because when they do they will not like it.” And he topped it off with, “We’ve got to get it done by Christmas.” It was the same tactic they used when they tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act, soon to be known as “Trumpcare.” If you read the small print you will find clauses designed to gut the Affordable Care Act. Rounds ran for the Senate on the “Repeal and Replace Obamacare” theme and in nearly one year he still hasn’t got it done. Well maybe he will get it done under the guise of tax reform. And maybe he will have the guts to ask Trump to reveal his tax returns.

All in all the Republicans will pay dearly for their deception, perhaps not in this Red State that appears to be made up of diehard Trump supporters. In South Dakota the buffoon can do no wrong.

Native Americans and other minority races will rise up in great numbers in 2018 if they want to stop this madness that has taken over this country. We have the numbers; we just need the unity and determination.