Most want Romney to release more tax returns

An Obama campaign ad pressuring Romney to release more tax returns.

/ Youtube

A majority of Americans believe Mitt Romney should release more tax returns, according to a USA Today/Gallup poll released Thursday.

Fifty-four percent of adults nationwide say the presumptive Republican presidential nominee should provide further returns to the public. That includes three in four Democrats, more than half of independents, and 30 percent of Republicans.

Thirty-seven percent say Romney should not release additional returns. The remaining nine percent had no opinion.

Romney has released his 2010 returns and promised to release his 2011 return when it is completed. Democrats and some Republicans say that Romney should release further returns, noting that Romney's father George released 12 years of returns when he ran for president.

Romney and his surrogates have insisted that two years of returns conforms to standard practice, noting that Sen. John McCain only released two years of returns when he ran for president four years ago. But most recent nominees have released far more information: John Kerry released 20 years of returns, George W. Bush and Al Gore released nine years of returns, and President Obama released seven years of returns.

Romney has also suggested that releasing more returns will allow his political opponents to twist the truth.

"Their opposition people look for anything they can find to distort, to twist, and to try and make negative, and I want to make this a campaign about the economy and creating jobs," he said earlier this week in Pennsylvania.

The Obama campaign says Romney must release the returns so that Americans have a better sense of how the wealthy former businessman - who has estimated his net worth at up to $250 million - made his money.

Democrats have cast Romney as a potential "outsourcer-in-chief" over his time at private equity firm Bain Capital. Romney says that he had little to do with the company between 1999 and 2002, when he was paid a yearly salary and was the titular head of Bain, because he was running the Salt Lake City Olympics. Some have speculated that one reason Romney does not want to release the returns is that he did not pay any taxes in 2009; the Romney campaign says that is not the case.

Forty-four percent of Americans said in the Gallup/USA Today poll that releasing the returns would hurt Romney's campaign, including 15 percent who say they would reveal information that he is unfit to be president. Forty-two percent say they do not believe the tax returns would reveal harmful information.

Americans are split on whether voters need to see tax returns to make determinations about a presidential candidate. Forty-four percent say they provide legitimate information to voters, while 47 percent say they are largely irrelevant to voters.

Many of the members of Congress who have criticized Romney for not releasing his returns, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, have refused to release their own returns.

The survey of 539 adults, which was taken on Wednesday, has a margin of error of plus or minus five percentage points.

[Lindag20]

Seems like Romney can't have his cake and eat it too. Either he has to release more tax returns or people will continue to believe he's hiding something. He's only released one as he says his 2011 return is still being prepared. My bet is that 2011 won't be "ready" to be released until AFTER the election. He can always get another extension from the IRS to delay filing 2011 for a while longer.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

Brian Montopoli, you start out your article, saying "A majority of Americans believe" .......they called 500 people.....how by any stretch of statistics can you say "a majority of voters or Americans believe", when you've asked less people that fit in a movie theater ? but yet you have your pulse on the American voters, all 500 of them, out of the 300 million Americans......please refrain from lying next time.

[EmpireGeorge______--]

and if any of you libtards are going to claim to use "statistical inference" or tell me to study statistics, you can take a hike.....the 500 can never speak for the hundreds of millions.

[Lindag20]

You STILL don't understand the statistic behind polling? You should take a statistics class sometime, you'd learn how this works. The math behind it is quite simple and I'm sure you could work the problems in the class.

[WHAT-IS-HE-SMOKING]

Just because the common people would like to see this information and to decide what sort of president he may make, Mitty tells then to go eat cake.

[stupa5]

Sign of weakness Mitt..if your hiding something come clean oh that's right King Mitt..it's not the commoners business.

[stupa5]

give it up Mitt..holding back is not what a potential leadershould do!...makes you look like another snake oil sales weasel!.

[esq777]

Obviously Willard Romney is hiding his tax returns, 2009 in particular, because he took advantage of the government's tax amnesty program for Swiss bank account holdings -- to avoid felony tax evasion charges. Remember he had a Swiss account, now he doesn't. So, what happened? The answer is clear. 2009 tax amnesty. If and when this comes out his campaing is over.

[lillyhorton]

Romney Said he took all the tax breaks he could. It was filed honestly and until laws change he will continue to take those tax breaks. You know he won't change the laws nor will any other wealthy person. That is his attitude. If you don't like it vote Ron Paul who is for individual liberty through less government. Less government means less taxs because many organizations will close down or be reduced. Lemon aid stands will be back on the streets. If you don't trust the person running the stand go to another. It means "get a job" to those sucking up public aid. It means communities can teach their children rather than be forced into perchasing expensive books that the government demands we teach from. It means that the "no child left behind act", which doesn't work, can be eliminated. It means parents can take responsibility for their little darlings education rather than blaming the teacher or society. It means we can buy our milk raw from a local dairy. It means when we say no to Monsoto it means no and the government can't wiggle its way in to defend them. It means that when companies cause great disasters due to negligence we can hang them. Less government can mean many things but the big idea is to let adults take responsibility of their life rather than be caught up in laws and license fees. Electricians have to have a license to work which raises his hourly fee. It won't reduce his responsibility to quality just the red tape.

[sweetcakesmaria]

Mitt Romney, i'm convinced that you have something to hide by not releasing your past tax returns. I'm convinced that what ever it's that you're hiding, it's big enough and damaging enough to exclude you from ever becoming President if Americans were to find out about it.

[Souptwins]

If people want to see more than two years of tax returns, they should lobby for a law requiring more. Romney met the current requirements. As long as the IRS says he's done nothing illegal, why should the rest of need to see more? This an obvious distraction from the real issues impacting our country. Do we really want to choose a president based on sound bites and innuendo? I would hope not. Let's get to work at being the greatest country again because we've lost that status and should be anxious for it to return.

[robbyr2]

Funny, Yahoo News makes it sound like only a tiny plurality of voters want him to release his returns. Oh, that Faux News with a Y.