Cindy McCain targeted on the tax return issue

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."

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

Photo credit: Bloomberg News

Comments

[08vote]

also, any involvement of hiring undocumented workers in any of Cindy's brewer distribution/assembly factories?

[La La]

Teresa Heinz Kerry? Same story, different election.NYT 4 years ago...["One politician who does not release his own tax returns and does not think Ms. Heinz Kerry should is Ralph Nader, who revealed in the 2000 campaign that he had a net worth of about $4 million.

''Anything she does for his campaign, she should disclose voluntarily,'' Mr. Nader said. "If she has tax shelters, she should disclose them. But there's lots of information in tax returns that's nobody's business.'' ]

[Jorge]

I give no credibility to an anonymous editorial. Besides, all of the arguments it puts forth are uninformed. For example, all of the candidates fall into the higher tax brackets and thus all benefit from the Bush tax cuts. McCain is by no means the only one, as the editorial implies. What a cheap shot!

[Diana in California]

Mrs. Cindy McCain should be left alone. Senator McCain and his wife signed a pre-nuptial agreement, so whatever she's worth is her business. Before asking or demanding Mrs. McCain's tax returns, the media should go look into Barack Hussein Obama life, before we entrust him the most important job in the world! Media, do your job, and stay out of Mrs. McCain tax returns!

[irreverently]

Um, excuse, me Jorge, read more carefully. First of all the Wash Times is CONSERVATIVE, so how is it a cheap shot to target McCain for benefiting from vowing to make the tax cuts permanent when the other two Democratic millionaires are vowing to go AGAINST their self interest and tax themselves at a higher rate and have released their tax returns too?

[jc]

Is it true that this is the woman McCain dumped his terminally ill ex-wife for?

Go Obama!

[MsSwin]

Lemme get this straight.. Cindy doesn't need to release her tax returns, John McCain doesn't need to release all of his medical records, answer a straight question as to whether he called his wife horrible names, why he consistently votes against benefits for veterans or why his father in law immediately opened up a billion dollar beer industry as soon as John shut down all further inquiry into the MIA/POW left in Nam and why he escaped all charges of collaboration with the enemy when other POW who provided less were prosecuted? Got it. I suppose Cindy's past record of being busted for drug abuse and theft is off limits as well.

[John]

Cindy should have thought about that one before she entered the public life. Now everything is fair game! The American people want to see tax returns from the candidates and their spouses, and there should be no exception for good ol' Cindy. But then again, it really doesn't matter, McCain is unelectable!

[Godlumps]

Ms. McCain should release her tax returns. We should know where the McCain's are vested before we vote. If they won't tell us, they are hiding something. My guess is they are heavily vested in military contracting/war profiteering companies. Just a guess.

[Mark Hannon]

What's the big secret. Wise people already know that Repubs are about making the wealthy wealthier, and the hell with the rest. I don't need to see her tax return to know that she is nothing but a heartless rich bitch who made her fortune off the slave labor of others.

[Nico]

It is unfortunate that disclosure of tax returns comes with the benefit of being in the white house as president or first lady. She can not have it both ways. If she is ready to go to the white House, she should be ready to disclose that information.

After all her husband uses her "private" assets to campaign which she expects to bring her returns. A pity you can not go very public without being public.

[howie]

tax returns are a private matter. i am a democrate and i say leave the woman alone. it is nobodies buisness. why dont the media report something useful. how are the republicans going to right the wrongs and fix the economy? give me something i can use.

[Socrates]

America will get what it deserves. Bill Clinton was almost impeached for an irrelevant small sexual sidestep. Then we got GW Bush who blatantly lied (WDMs and Al Queada in Irak before the invasion, etc..) and yet he’s is still in the White House. Yet the LIE cost more than 4000 American lives, at least a Trillion $ , a new axis of evil the Shiite crescent going from Teheran to Damascus through Bagdad and egg on our face on the World scene. Now we’re going to have a smart (bit crooked like most politicians) but run down 72 years old guy who’s trying to buy a stay in the White House with his wife’s money among other things; running against a very young, smart but completely inexperienced junior senator, in all likelihood. If either gets to be President and screw in a major way, Americans will have only themselves to blame. There was Giuliani and Clinton, but neither was endorsed by the beer lobby or Oprah Winfrey.

[Tom]

This is the story that makes, to me, the issue about Obama being an "elitist" a completely phony issue. Who is more elite, someone who was in debt just 5-10 years ago due to education loans, or the husband of an heiress worth around $100 million?

[Dave]

Think of it this way. There could be conflict of interest involved if Cindy McCain ended up to be the first lady. It's small but it would be nice to know how she will handle the transfer from private citizen to public figure. If you want to ignore the fact that she is a chair of a corporation tied in with Anheuser Busch then you might miss out on something that might be important to the campaign. I like Cindy, she's always had a good image. I liked her during the 2000 campaign. Regardless of how I feel, it shouldn't interfere with an open debate on what is right or wrong for America.

[Casey Charles]

This will be a major issue in the coming election. Presidents, post Jimmy Carter, count their wives as important advisors. What kind of advisor will McCain's wife be with her secret interest and investments? McCain's honesty has been questioned in the past and now we are asked to trust his wife, a multimillionaire, and unvested as a public person in the political arena. Give me a break; this will not work - NOT for me.

[Beaver]

Both McCain and his wife are hypocrites. If you study McCain you see he is playing a shell game in most of what he does. He lives by political manipulation. The Keating Five is no small matter and will eventually come back to haunt him. He was censured... but he was also guilty. This weasel will continue to work the system and play the "hero" card. This country doesn't need another whacko for president.

[Nick Tesler]

Seems like the straight talk express is neither straight nor express. McCain is a hypocrite.

[Linda]

Oh, please. Let her retain her privacy. She's not running for anything.

[Kenny]

Well my family and all my kin are die hard Republicians, This is a disgrace that he is running for office and cant control his wife. Just as Hillary cant control Bill, when you put yourself into the public offices or out there in the view of the public then everything is open to the public. Ask the stars who you read about everyday being hounded by the press. John McCain and his wife new when he and her made the decision to enter politics and seeking the top office of the land that she will be under a microscope, So if you dont have anything to hide then you open your books and let the public see them. What we have here is another politician who is going to say one thing and do the other. Speaking from a big family of republician voters i want to see everything about a person before i vote for them. She is hiding stuff that will hurt him and this is why she is not allowing this to be seen. The American people deserve to be able to see and make a decision one who they are voting for so they can decide if its legit or not. As for me i will not vote for another politician who will not disclose their tax secrets with us. She is allowing him to use her private corp jet to campaign in so this means she is paying his way. Isn't this the same thing as loaning your campaign money like Hillary is doing. But with McCain you dont no how much he will owe her back cause he will slip it under the tables out of his campaign funds. Maybe this is what she is trying to hide so he want get exposed. Yes McCain was a POW but he got special treatment that the other POW'S never got. Cindy McCain you are now in the public life so fess up and show your tax returns, We do not want John to pass laws that will help you get richer off the American tax payers, Its time to stop giving the rich tax breaks. The poor is who should be given the tax breaks. People working and making less than 10.00 a hour should not have to pay taxes. John McCain if you want my vote i want to see what your wife is hiding.

[Bob Erle]

Cindy McCain has done more to improve the lot of many in the world than wither Hillery or Obama...
http://www.snopes.com/politics/mccain/cindy.asp

Read, Learn, Grow
Bob

[Mr. T]

I pity a fool who makes an irrelevant argument. I support Obama, but this attack on Mrs. McCain can be applied against the majority of politicians, plus the last time I looked the law does not state personal income taxes are public documents. If you want a legitimate career in journalism, please find a real issue before you send it to print.

[Kent]

If McCain weren't flying around in her private jet ... while paying for a coach airline ticket, I would be more inclined to cut her some slack (that's like a $10K campaign contribution every time he crosses the country). It is especially worrisome because McCain is the one who wrote the loophole that lets him do this.

The truth is that she is using her money to get him elected so I think we deserve to know at least a little more about their financial arrangements.

I don't know if she NEEDS to release her tax returns, but there is nothing wrong with asking for it ... Obama's family has complete financial transparency, so this IS a difference between the candidates.

All I'll say is, I know who seems more trustworthy based on the information that is available: OBAMA!