Advertisement

Opinion: Cindy McCain targeted on the tax return issue

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The media blitz that Cindy McCain recently conducted -- co-hosting ‘The View,’ appearing on ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,’ sitting down for a ‘Today’ show interview -- did nothing to lessen the lambasting she took Wednesday from a source that might surprise some: an editorial in the Washington Times.

The missive in the conservative-oriented newspaper sternly took her to task for steadfastly refusing, in the face of increasing requests, to release her income tax returns (she files separately from her husband, John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee).

The editorial notes that ‘Mrs. McCain is an heiress whose income and assets will directly benefit from the tax policies espoused by her husband. ... Taxpayers and voters are entitled to know how much these benefits will be.’

Advertisement

Also criticized is her spouse. Noting that McCain ‘rightly fancies himself the king of transparency on Capitol Hill,’ the piece terms it ‘unimaginable’ that he and his staff ‘can permit this open sore to fester.’

The entire editorial -- headlined ‘Cindy McCain’s ‘privacy’ charade’ and complete with an accompanying, and caustic, cartoon -- can be read here.

With the McCains giving no sign of yielding on this point, it no doubt will continue to provide fodder for editorialists. What will be worth watching is whether this noise grows into the type of public clamor that causes political headaches.

-- Don Frederick

Advertisement