#35) Sharing is Caring

March 9, 2017

Dear Mr. President,

Tuesday was town meeting day here in Vermont.  A beloved and long held tradition where the whole town comes together, usually in a school gymnasium or cafeteria to decide on policies and budgets for the town for the upcoming year. It's a wonderful day.  There are bake sales and sometimes the boy scouts put on a nice lunch for everyone and all the community groups set out info tables; like the library (our town has two!), the Conservation Commission, the fire department, and the Summer Rec program.  We talk about what roads are going to get paved, how much road salt we should buy for next winter, and just what the heck is going on with the Raceway Rd. culvert!!  Yeah, that was a big one this year.  So imagine my surprise when the following motion was set before the group:

Motion in support of presidential financial transparency

The citizens of Jericho, Vermont support the efforts of our state and federal legislators regarding proposed laws that require the disclosure of federal tax returns before a presidential candidate's name can be placed on the primary and general election ballots and, upon passage, we request that our local town officials or employees convey our support to the appropriate persons in our state and federal legislatures.

Wow.  You could have knocked me over with a feather.  First off, I'll spare you the suspense and tell you that this motion passed by a LARGE majority.  It's done by voice vote (yeas and nays) so I can't give you an exact tally.  But pretty much everyone thought that you should have to show your tax returns before you can run for president. 

So when you said on January 11, 2017, "You know, the only ones that cares about my tax returns are the reporters, okay?  They're the only ones.  I won; I mean I became president.  No, I don't think they care at all.  I don't think they care at all. I think you care." You were really, really wrong. 

Just so you know, EVERYONE cares about your tax returns.  I care about your tax returns, my 13 year old son cares about your tax returns, Vladimir Putin cares about your tax returns, the Ethics Office cares about your tax returns, the entire Republican party cares about your tax returns.  Like, seriously, everyone cares about your tax returns.  You can keep saying that we don't.  But we do.  And now even the Selectboard of the town of Jericho, Vermont cares.  A Quinnipiac University poll released Aug. 25, 2016 showed that 74% of all voters said you should release your tax returns publicly.  And August 2016 was way before your Russia scandal even broke!  Just imagine what the numbers would be if that poll were repeated today!  Man would I like to see that. 

Don't worry, I'll keep checking with the Pew Research Center and Quinnipiac and NBC and the Wall Street Journal and all those other legitimate news agencies. I'm sure we will have some new data soon.  I know you've got a lot to think about right now, but think a little harder about releasing those tax returns.  Not releasing them just makes you look really shady.  And haven't you got enough PR problems already?  Just give the people what they want.  After all, you said you've got nothing to hide.

Sincerely,

Amy Beaton