January 24, 2012 08:20 PM UTC

Coloradans Demand Romney Disclose Full Financial History

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• by: Alan

Colorado progressives demand real accountability from Romney, shades of Scott McInnis

DENVER: Responding to the limited release of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s tax returns for 2010 and 2011, ProgressNow Colorado, the state’s largest online progressive advocacy organization, demanded that Romney immediately disclose years of tax returns and financial history–going back to his time as CEO of the Bain Capital private equity firm. Reports today that Romney has released only the last two years of tax returns are nowhere near satisfactory.

“Watching Romney evade accountability over his financial records is enough to give any Coloradan a sense of deja vu,” said ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Joanne Kron. “In 2010, this organization led the campaign to force then-gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis to release his tax returns and other financial records. McInnis’ foot-dragging on financial disclosure did serious damage to his credibility and public trust, and now Romney seems determined to repeat McInnis’ same mistakes.”

“It was reported widely yesterday that Romney turned over more than two decades of his tax returns to the McCain campaign when he was being considered for vice-president in 2008–a position he didn’t get after they saw the records,” said Kron. “Why did the McCain campaign get more than two decades of tax returns, while the American people get just the last two years? What does Mitt Romney have to hide?”

An April, 2010 editorial from The Denver Post stated that “with concerns about government spending occupying marquee territory…voters deserve as much information as possible about how candidates make and manage their own money.” Then-member of The Denver Post editorial board Chuck Plunkett went further in a separate opinion column, saying “voters have to wonder whether the forms McInnis is hiding conceal something. Did the lawmaker make his millions from sweetheart deals and political payback?”

“Every unanswered question stemming from Scott McInnis’ reluctance to disclose his tax returns and more detailed financial records applies at least equally to Mitt Romney,” said Kron. “Like Scott McInnis, Mitt Romney doesn’t seem to understand that the voters expect transparency–and in the case of a man who has made untold millions while laying off thousands of working American citizens, full disclosure going back to that time is even more important.”

“You don’t get many better examples of what not to do in politics than Scott McInnis,” said Kron. “Mitt Romney will either learn these lessons the easy way, or the way McInnis learned less than two years ago.”

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