In 2010 Governor Race, John Kasich Bucked Ohio Precedent by Refusing to Publicly Release His Own Tax Returns
COLUMBUS, OHIO – After skipping the last nine Mitt Romney or national surrogate public appearances in Ohio, today Governor John Kasich is welcomed back to the presidential campaign trail. Despite documents showing the Ohio Governor had no conflicts with recent campaign events, Kasich has not appeared in public with Romney since the disastrous April 27th event at Otterbein College when Kasich went rogue off the Republican’s doom and gloom economic message.
As these two peas in a pod catch up, there’s plenty to talk about. In fact, as the chorus of people demanding Romney stop hiding his tax returns grows, the Republican candidate would be well advised to take advice from Kasich on how he managed to avoid public release of his own full tax returns during the 2010 Ohio Governor’s race.
“When it comes to hiding tax returns and financial details, like information about off-shore bank accounts, John Kasich and Mitt Romney are two peas in a pod,” said Ohio Democratic Chairman Chris Redfern. “By bucking decades of precedent and refusing to publicly release his tax returns during the 2010 governor race, Kasich managed to hide how he may have financially benefitted from the economic collapse while working on Wall Street.”
During the 2010 campaign, a report by the Dayton Daily News noted Kasich took the unprecedented step of only permitting reporters to see, but not photocopy, a summary of Kasich’s 2008 income tax return and portions of the actual return. Mitt Romney recently came under fire for refusing to transparently share details about his own tax returns.
“By refusing to publicly release his tax returns, much like John Kasich refused in 2010, Mitt Romney is raising more questions every day about why he left his corporate buyout firm. Could Romney’s tax returns show there is more about his time at Bain that he wants to keep people in the dark about? Until Romney fully releases more years of his tax returns, we just won’t know whether he invested in offshore tax havens like Bermuda and the Cayman Islands to intentionally avoid his fair share of U.S. taxes.
“John Kasich fully released his own tax returns when it suited him during his first race for Congress, but hypocritically refused disclosure in 2010 when those same returns may have shown he profited off the demise of Lehman Brothers. We know Mitt Romney’s a hypocrite, too, since he gave John McCain’s campaign 23 years’ worth of returns when he auditioned to be his running mate in 2008, but now can’t seem to find more than one year’s return.
“Romney needs to come clean and release more years’ of tax returns so the American people can make their own judgments about his record, perspective and motivations.”
John Kasich was only the second gubernatorial candidate in Ohio in nearly the past 30 years to refuse to release his tax returns. Likewise, Romney would be the first nominee since Ronald Reagan ran for president more than 30 years ago to release only one full year of tax returns. Even Richard Nixon released more tax returns than Mitt Romney.
BACKGROUND
Like Romney, In 2010 Kasich Was Haunted By Questions About His Business Experience
- November 2009: Kasich considered releasing one year of tax returns to refute speculation that he profited from Lehman Brother’s Demise. The Columbus Dispatch wrote of Kasich’s reaction to their claim that Kasich may have made up to $4 million at Lehman Brothers, “Although Kasich refused to discuss his compensation, his campaign indicated that he was paid much less. The campaign also plans to release records to show that Kasich got no bonus or ‘golden parachute’ in the weeks before the firm failed. ‘I lost stock and options, just like all other Lehman Brothers employees,’ Kasich told The Dispatch last month.” [Columbus Dispatch, 11/1/09]
- Kasich’s Lehman Brothers bonus nine times median income in Ohio. The median household income in Ohio was $47,988 in 2008. Kasich’s $432,000 bonus from Lehman Brothers was over nine times that amount. [Columbus Dispatch, 4/2/10; U.S. Census Bureau, accessed 4/2/10]
- Kasich got $28,000 in “short stint” at Barclays While 20,000 other Lehman employees lost their jobs. The Columbus Dispatch reported that Kasich was paid $28,020 for his “short stint” at Barclays’, which purchased much of Lehman Brothers after the firm’s collapse. While Kasich was given a new job, Business Finance reported that “more than 20,000 Lehman workers packed their bags.” [Columbus Dispatch, 4/2/10; Business Finance, 10/1/08]
Both John Kasich and Mitt Romney Refused to Publicly Release Full Copies of their Tax Returns
- Similar to Mitt Romney, John Kasich failed to publicly release his full tax returns to the public during his 2010 race. Kasich’s campaign permitted reporters to see but not photocopy a summary of Kasich’s 2008 income tax return and portions of the actual return. [Dayton Daily News, 4/2/10; The Plain Dealer, 4/29/10]
- Mitt Romney followed John Kasich’s lead in refusing demands to release full copies of his tax returns. The Dispatch also requested that Kasich release his tax returns for the eight years he was employed by Lehman, but the campaign said the 2008 tax filing was generally reflective of his earnings for those years and declined to release more. [The Dispatch, 4/28/10]
- Rather than come clean and publicly release his taxes, John Kasich tried to distract voters with other information. The campaign also released copies of the 2009 state Financial Disclosure Statement that Kasich and other candidates are required to file on Monday, April 5. The form lists sources – but not amounts – of investments and income for 2009. [Dayton Daily News, 4/2/10]
- Like Mitt Romney’s decision to ignore 30 years of tradition in releasing tax returns, John Kasich also bucked Ohio precedent by refusing to publicly release any of his own returns. Kasich is only the second candidate in the past seven gubernatorial campaigns to refuse to release his tax returns. In 2006, Republican J. Kenneth Blackwell declined to make his public. [The Dispatch, 6/15/10]
But Neither Mitt Romney or John Kasich Had a Problem Sharing Their Tax Returns When It Benefited Them
- During John Kasich’s first bid for Congress, he released his full tax returns and made it a campaign issue. In his first bid for Congress in 1982 against incumbent Columbus Democrat Bob Shamansky, Kasich made public his tax returns and called on Shamansky to do the same. Shamansky complied about five months after Kasich released his returns. [The Dispatch, 6/15/10]
- Mitt Romney gave Sen. John McCain’s then-presidential campaign 23 years’ worth of tax returns going back to 1985. In 2008, when Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), the Republican nominee, was considering Romney for his running mate, Romney reportedly sent McCain’s vetting team tax returns dating to 1985. “I’m a bit of a pack rat, so I had them all,” the Arizona Republic quoted him as saying. [Washington Post, 7/13/12]
Governor Kasich has been absent from the last 9 public events in Ohio featuring Mitt Romney or his national surrogates
- John Kasich skipped a public event with Romney at Stamco Industries in Euclid, Ohio. [The Plain Dealer, 5/7/2012]
- John Kasich skipped a public event with Romney at Seilkop Industries in Cincinnati, Ohio. [Politico, 6/14/2012]
- John Kasich skipped a public event with Romney and Rob Portman at Mapleside Farms in Brunswick, Ohio. [CNN.com, 6/17/2012]
- John Kasich skipped a public event with Romney and Rob Portman in downtown Newark, Ohio approximately 30 minutes from Kasich’s home. Responding to an Ohio Democratic Party public records request, Governor Kasich’s office released his public schedule showing he skipped Romney’s appearance within minutes of his home despite no conflicts. [The Blade, 6/17/2012; Public Schedule from Ohio Governor’s Office, 6/17/12]
- John Kasich skipped a public event with Romney, Boehner, and Portman at K’s Hamburger Shop in Troy, Ohio. [Dayton Daily News, 6/17/2012]
- John Kasich skipped a public event with Bobby Jindal and Tim Pawlenty at the Courtyard Marriott in Maumee, Ohio. [The Blade, 7/5/2012]
- John Kasich skipped a public event with Bobby Jindal and Tim Pawlenty at the Kentown Shopping Center in Parma, Ohio. Despite release of the Governor’s schedule indicating he was within minutes of the Romney campaign event, he declined to attend. [The Plain Dealer, 7/5/2012; Public Schedule from Ohio Governor’s Office, 7/5/12]
- John Kasich skipped a public event with Bobby Jindal and Tim Pawlenty at a Mahoning Valley Scrappers Baseball Game in Niles, Ohio. [Akron Beacon Journal, 7/5/2012]
- John Kasich skipped a public event with Rob Portman at the Golden Lamb in Lebanon, Ohio. [Politics Extra, 7/16/2012]
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