Interesting how McCain's wife tax returns is now no big deal?

[Anti GWB]

Will Post and Journal Call for Release of Cindy McCain's Taxes as They Did with Teresa Heinz Kerry?

Media Matters Calls on Publications to Explain Lack of Consistency
Washington, D.C. - During coverage of the 2004 election cycle, both The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal published editorials calling on Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry, to release her tax returns. To date, neither publication has called on Cindy McCain, wife of presumptive 2008 Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, to do the same. Today, Media Matters for America released letters sent to the editorial boards of both papers calling on the publications to explain their lack of consistency.


Excerpts from the letter to The Washington Post:

"On May 4, 2004, The Washington Post printed an editorial headlined 'Teresa Heinz Kerry's Taxes.' In this editorial, the Post called for Sen. John Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, to 'make her tax returns public' in the interest of transparency. From the beginning of this year to the date of this letter, the Post editorial board has not made the same request for the release of Cindy McCain's tax returns or even noted that Sen. John McCain's campaign has refused to release such documents."
[...]
"Given the significantly limited information released by the McCain campaign, why has the Post failed to call for Cindy McCain to make her full returns public, as it did with Heinz Kerry? In 2004, the Post lamented that the information released by Heinz Kerry was "short of what ought to be done." But when it comes to Cindy McCain -- who has released even less information than Heinz Kerry -- the Post has chosen to remain silent."

"We call on you today to explain your lack of consistency on this important issue or risk tarnishing your journalistic credibility and integrity not just with your readers but with the broader American public as well."

Excerpts from the letter to The Wall Street Journal:

On July 1, 2004, The Wall Street Journal printed an editorial headlined "'Kerry and Disclosure,' which called for Sen. John Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, to 'release her full filings with the IRS' in order to be 'as transparent as possible with the American public.' From the beginning of this year to the date of this letter, the Journal editorial board has not made the same request for the release of Cindy McCain's tax returns or even noted that Sen. John McCain's campaign has refused to release such documents."
[...]
"Given the significantly limited information released by the McCain campaign, why has the Journal failed to call for Cindy McCain to make her full returns public, as it did with Heinz Kerry? As the Journal stated in 2004, 'Choosing to lead a public life means accepting the need for financial transparency.' Are we to assume by the Journal's omission that the McCains are excused from that same obligation?"


"We call on you today to explain your lack of consistency on this important issue or risk tarnishing your journalistic credibility and integrity not just with your readers but with the broader American public as well."

Full text of letter to The Washington Post:
May 7, 2008
Fred Hiatt, Editorial Page Editor
The Washington Post
1150 15th St. NW
Washington, DC 20071


Dear Mr. Hiatt,


On May 4, 2004, The Washington Post printed an editorial headlined "Teresa Heinz Kerry's Taxes." In this editorial, the Post called for Sen. John Kerry and his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, to "make her tax returns public" in the interest of transparency. From the beginning of this year to the date of this letter, the Post editorial board has not made the same request for the release of Cindy McCain's tax returns or even noted that Sen. John McCain's campaign has refused to release such documents. The Post's silence on this issue is notable, since Cindy McCain's personal fortune has reportedly played a role in her husband's political career and current campaign for president.

This is a particularly relevant question, given that it was Cindy McCain's wealth and connections in Arizona politics that made her husband's entry into politics possible in the first place. Moreover, an April 27 New York Times article by Barry Meier and Margot Williams reported on the McCain campaign's repeated use of a corporate jet owned by Hensley & Co., the beer distributorship started by Cindy McCain's late father that she now controls. The Times reported that "several" campaign finance experts stated that these actions, "while keeping with the letter of law, did not reflect its spirit."


Although some have echoed the McCain campaign's justification for refusing to release Cindy McCain's tax returns by citing Heinz Kerry as "precedent," this ignores a key distinction in the information released by the McCain and Kerry campaigns. The documents released by Heinz Kerry revealed her total income, while those released by Cindy McCain do not.


While Heinz Kerry did not provide her full tax returns, she did release what an October 16, 2004, New York Times article described as a "small part of her 2003 income tax return": a "two-page document" showing "total income of $5,073,554 last year." The Post welcomed the disclosure but stated that "we hope she'll see the wisdom, and the benefit, of doing more."


In contrast to the Kerry campaign, the McCain campaign has released only the "Wages and Salaries" that Cindy McCain received in 2006 and 2007 as chair of Hensley & Co., Cindy and John McCain's share of interest income from a bank account, and their shares of income from John McCain's book royalties; it did not reveal any capital gains income from that period. Unlike Cindy McCain, the information Heinz Kerry released enabled the Times to determine how much she had benefited from the Bush tax cuts, which John McCain supports extending permanently. An analysis of how the McCains have benefited from the tax cuts is not possible based on the information his campaign has released on Cindy McCain's income.

Given the significantly limited information released by the McCain campaign, why has the Post failed to call for Cindy McCain to make her full returns public, as it did with Heinz Kerry? In 2004, the Post lamented that the information released by Heinz Kerry was "short of what ought to be done."


But when it comes to Cindy McCain -- who has released even less information than Heinz Kerry -- the Post has chosen to remain silent.
We call on you today to explain your lack of consistency on this important issue or risk tarnishing your journalistic credibility and integrity not just with your readers but with the broader American public as well.


We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Eric Burns
Chief of Staff
Media Matters for America

[Pay the Snucka]

So much for the "liberal media".

[Anti GWB]

In spinning his side of the Keating story, McCain adopted the blanket defense that Keating was a constituent and that he had every right to ask his senators for help. In attending the meetings, McCain said, he simply wanted to make sure that Keating was treated like any other constituent.

Keating was far more than a constituent to McCain, however.

On Oct. 8, 1989, The Republic revealed that McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators.

...When the story broke, McCain did nothing to help himself. When reporters first called him, he was furious. Caught out in the open, the former fighter pilot let go with a barrage of cover fire. Sen. Hothead came out in all his glory.

''You're a liar,''' McCain snapped Sept. 29 when a Republic reporter asked him about business ties between his wife and Keating.

[Anti GWB]

Her hands have been in the pies of some of the biggest political scandals in this state--names like Keating, Symington, the Ruske land deal--her own theft of painkillers from her own charity...