Rick Perry latest to call for more transparency from Romney on tax returns

Updated at 6:23 p.m. ET

(CBS News) Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday called on Mitt Romney to be as transparent as possible when it comes to his tax returns, joining about a dozen other high-profile Republicans and the Obama campaign in pressuring the presumptive GOP candidate on the issue.

"No matter who you are or what office you are running for, you should be as transparent as you can be with your tax returns and other aspects of your life so that people have the appropriate ability to judge your background," Perry said to CBS News Austin affiliate KEYE-TV.

To date, Romney has released his 2010 return and an estimate of his 2011 return. He's resisted calls to release more, even as the Obama campaign ratcheted up the pressure Tuesday with an ad that asked, "What is Mitt Romney hiding?"

Perry, who ran against Romney in the Republican presidential primary, has released his tax returns dating to 1992.

After calling for more transparency on the issue of tax returns, Perry quickly pivoted, turning his remarks against President Obama.

"I certainly think it is inappropriate for the president of the United States to not keep his college transcript and his law school transcripts public. He should make those available," he said. "I'm all about transparency."

Perry press secretary Catherine Frazier later told CBS News that the governor wasn't specifically calling on Romney to release any more returns. "The Governor was making a call for broader transparency in general," she said.

That said, Frazier added that "what he said stands."

When asked specifically if Perry believed Romney needed to release more than two years of tax returns, she said, "That is a decision that is going to be up to Mitt Romney."

Also on Tuesday, the prominent conservative magazine the National Review published an editorial calling for Romney to release more returns.

"By drawing out the argument over the returns, Romney is playing into the president's hands," the editorial staff wrote. "He should release them, respond to any attacks they bring, and move on."

While some conservatives say Romney should be more transparent, others have defended his decision to release just two years worth of returns. Earlier Tuesday, for instance, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich told CBS News that Mr. Obama's request for Romney to release more returns "comes across as hollow."

If anything, it's Mr. Obama who isn't being transparent, Gingrich contended. "This is a president who hasn't even released his undergraduate stuff at Columbia... used executive privilege in Fast and Furious... They're like a lawyer with a bad case," he said.

CBS News political producer Caroline Horn contributed to the report.

[RollotheNorman]

Poor Willard! Standing defiant, his fiends are bailing, first Rick, then National Review. Whatca hiding Willard? And while transparency is in season, how about letting the IRS have a peek at those Swiss and Cayman Island accounts? Hmmmmm? Or are you just the weasel everyone thinks you are?

[sam_osborne]

THE SETUP:

Expect that tax return Romney has accountants shaping around for this year to show a man paying more than his share---you can't go to jail for paying too much, you know. It will be designed to buy him the presidency and make those calling him a tax dodger look like fools. Supposed critics in his own party will say Mitt is a giant of a man; even they did not know how big.

A for seeing returns from back when he was pocketing money from melting down companies and leaving people without a means of making a living, he can expect everyone to now trust him.

Trusting Mitt Romney in the dark is a bit like a neighborhood association giving the job of night fire-watch to an arsonist---doing that would not be the kind of decision you would want to sleep on soundly.

[CaptainSmollett]

This is all an attempt by the Obama campaign to continually divert voter attention away from the central issue: Obama's mismanagement of the economy. What Romney did with his own money is irrelevant to me.

[RollotheNorman]

Actually the reverse, all the Romney campaign and his lemmings want to talk about is last cycles mud. A real, honest, clear examination of the economy of the last 4 years would demonstrate to the satisfaction of almost everyone except RepubliCONs that Obama stepped in and saved the day. It's been the RepubliCON spin since the primary cycle that Obama can't bear talking about the economy, and unfortunately a number of normally friendlies echo that smoke and mirror junk.

[dman6015]

I just love how those on the right continually equate the release of college transcripts with tax returns. How many of you have ever used your college transcripts to secure a job AFTER your first one out of college? Are the Republicans secretly hoping to find that Obama took a course called "Democracy is the Road to Socialism" (a quote from Karl Marx)???

[lg144]

Republicans have done more damage to America than any terrorist ever could.

The Republican game plan is to destroy the economy blame the Democrats and President Obama. This is their strategy to obtain the White House and the Senate in the 2012 elections. If you think the Republicans are death on average Americans, working-class and middle-class people now. Just think of how much more damage they would do to this country if they had the house,the Senate and the presidency to consolidate power to do whatever they want. They would then have free reign to turn America into the Third World country that they want for their corporate overlords.

They've already shown their hand by not approving extended unemployment benefits for people and anything else that would help the average American. Then they took America to the brink of default with the debt ceiling crisis. A crisis in which they created. Republicans on the supreme court ruling corporations are people and therefore can give unlimited funding to politicians. Republicans fighting for tax cuts for corporations, big oil and the wealthy while advocating cutting social security, medicare and medicaid. For those reasons and more I can't imagine any thinking working-class poor or middle-class person voting to support Republicans after all the damage they've done to this country. Americans must reject republicans at town hall meetings and the polls for their anti American unpatriotic strategy and tactics. The only difference between terrorist and the republicans is they used planes & explosives and they used their congressional positions.

The phony debt ceiling debate and agreement is another part of the republican game plan to take back the senate and white house. They create artificial crisis to stall (run out the clock on President Obama's term) to cripple him and the economy to prevent JOBS from being discussed or created. They are counting on voters blaming the president for the bad economy even though they the republicans are sabotaging every step of the way. Even a blind man can see republicans couldn't care less for average Americans. Just imagine what they would do if they controlled the house, senate and presidency. Americans cannot let that happen. Because it is crystal clear by the behavior of republicans they do not want America to progress and will hold it hostage to prevent it.

[smirk5]

Romney probably believes that Putin wouldn't have to divulge his finances so why should he have to.

[nearl451]

I don't think Ol'Rick is above a little revenge for getting bloodied in the primaries.

[Eriverq]

Wow even Perry knows what the right thing to do is Mitt is up shot creek if this guy is making more sense then him.

[Lindag20]

So old Preacher Perry thinks Romney needs to release more tax returns. Looks like Romney is caught in a REAL bind when his OWN party is giving him a hard time.

[lg144]

Mr Romney seeks to benefit from living in the United States while he shelters his money offshore. He's duplicitous and wants to have it both ways. He's the worst sort of swine.