With Mitt Romney's claims about his professional record falling apart, a new poll shows that, like many of his political allies, the American public -- including a strong majority of Independents -- thinks he should release his tax returns.
WHAT ROMNEY SAYS ABOUT HIS TAX RETURNS IN 2012: Despite all the discrepancies about his years in the private sector, Romney insists that releasing just two years of tax returns -- 2010 and 2011 -- is enough and refuses to stop stonewalling on the others.
THE FACTS:
- 1968: Romney's father, George Romney, released 12 years of tax returns when he ran for president. "One year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show," he warned at the time.
- 1994: Romney demanded that Senator Ted Kennedy, his opponent in a Senate race, release his tax returns.
- 2002: Romney demanded that his opponent in the Massachusetts governor's race release her husband's tax returns. His campaign asserted "She can't claim to be disclosing anything until she discloses the returns," demanding to know "what is she hiding?"
- 2004: Contrary to Romney's claims, Sen. John Kerry put out a total of 20 years of tax returns by the time he ran for president. In fact, throughout his political career Sen. Kerry never withheld his tax returns from the public.
- 2008: Romney gave Sen. John McCain's then-presidential campaign 23 years' worth of tax returns going back to 1985. If just one of Romney's tax return is more than 500 pages, two decades is more than 10,000 pages withheld from the public.
- The Post-Watergate Era: Presidents and Vice Presidents have routinely released many years of their tax returns, including President Obama and Vice President Biden (more than 10 years' worth each).
