Sacramento joins the national movement to demand President Trump release his tax returns, with an April 15 march on the State Capitol.
(From Press Release) – Tens of thousands of residents, students, community organizers and advocates in Sacramento, 120 U.S. cities, UK, Germany, Australia and Japan are uniting in a movement known as Tax March to demand transparency in government – starting with a demand that President Trump release his tax returns. Twenty states have introduced legislation to require presidential candidates to release tax returns, including California’s SB 149.
Tax March Sacramento begins at Southside Park (7th and T St.) at 12:30 PM, Saturday, April 15. Marchers will rally on the west steps of the State Capitol at 1PM.
Although two pages of President Trump’s 2005 tax return were revealed on March 14th, the documents created more questions than answers. The Trump administration is under fire amid almost daily revelations of the president’s campaign ties to Russia and these revelations make it crucial that the president reveal his potential conflicts of interest.
“During the campaign, I doubted President Trump’s reasons for running,” began Melanie Herman, Chairperson of Tax March Sacramento, “but after he won, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, trusting him to keep his word and release his taxes.”
Herman flew to DC from Sacramento to stand on the sidewalk and watch the inauguration parade as she had for President Obama. Shortly thereafter, Kellyanne Conway made the public announcement that President Trump would never release his tax returns. Herman, shocked and outraged by the declaration, pulled the permit at the California State Capitol for the Tax March on April 15.
Tax March is a “movement” in the national interest of all Americans, regardless of party affiliation. Government officials, starting with the president, should be honest with the public about financial ties. Tax March Sacramento’s Facebook states, “Trust, conflicts of interest, and transparency are critical in government. Companies require disclosure of board memberships, stock purchases and patents – dissent is grounds for termination.”
Organizers ask, “Why is the highest office given this exemption?”
“When Nixon said that he was not a crook, he was talking about his taxes. When Al Capone went to prison, it was for his taxes,” said Scarlette Bustos, Vice-Chair of Tax March Sacramento. “Now, I’m not calling my president a criminal, but we demand to know what he’s hiding.”
“President Trump broke with forty years of tradition by every U.S. president – Republican and Democrat alike – by refusing to release his tax returns,” said Senator Mike McGuire, co-author of SB 149. “What we need is true transparency – the transparency that provides the basis for real accountability and protects our constitutional values. And to get that, we need Donald Trump’s tax returns. The free ride is over; accountability is on the way.”
“Releasing tax returns is a basic gesture of trust and transparency that anyone aspiring to be President of our nation should be happy to do,” added Senator Wiener, co-author of SB 149. “The continuing questions around ties between the Trump administration and Russia show why it’s imperative that we have basic disclosures like tax returns from our President. The American public deserves to know that they come first when decisions are made in the White House, not second to some business venture or investment fund. The bill I’m co-authoring with Senator McGuire will ensure that the American people get the transparency and respect from their President that they deserve.”
The Tax March is supported by the American Federation of Teachers, Americans for Tax Fairness, Center for Popular Democracy, Indivisible Project, Indivisible Sacramento, MoveOn.Org, Our Revolution, The Working Families Party, and Women’s March on Sacramento
For more information: www.taxmarchsacramento.org, www.taxmarch.org and www.facebook.com/taxmarchsacramento.
I see one good thing coming out of all this. With all these marches the Trump hating left will certainly be in much better physical shape even though their steps are in vain.
Another possible benefit, maybe the Antifa will show up and put some contractors to work fixing everything they break or deface.
Nice deflection, Keith. To borrow the President’s reasoning, effectively “taking the Fifth” on releasing one’s taxes is the only viable option for someone with much to hide.
Is it the law that he must show his taxes? The answer is NOooooo………..
Why would he want to show his taxes when he knows that whatever is in them will be spun negatively by his unhinged detractors?
No, but it should be. But at this point they’re likely to be subpoenaed by the Senate committee, since we need to know what business relationships Trump and Kushner have with Russian oligarchs and banks.
I agree – not the law but it should be and for good reason.
Then you all need to relax until it is the law, until then Trump is doing no wrong in not releasing his taxes.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2017/02/22/gop-senator-says-shes-open-to-demanding-trumps-tax-returns-as-part-of-russia-probe/?utm_term=.11401c2919f7
I disagree. The law doesn’t prevent him from releasing his taxes and people who believe he should, certainly are within their rights to clamor for it.
Even if they did they both are/were businessmen prior to the election. I’m sure they’re following all the laws in order to hold the positions they now have. They have lawyers, do you really think they’re that stupid to let them do something illegal?
I have absolutely no reason to believe “they’re following all the laws.” That is frankly a ridiculous assumption with this family. Stupid isn’t the term I would use. Donald Trump has never been accountable to anyone in his business life. He was not answerable to a board of directors or to shareholders. He has not been subjected to the transparency required of CEO’s of public corporations. He has been head of a privately owned family business. As such, he has never been exposed to the rigor of running a business ethically.
Your blind faith in his honesty is ridiculous, particularly given his track record both as as businessman and in his short stint as president.
Yes it is, and clamor for it they do along with a lot of other conspiracy theories.
LOL, maybe but not as rediculous as how much the Trump haters have become unhinged over him winning an election that they thought they had in the bag.
Strongly disagree with David and Don on this… diclosure of potential conflicts of interest, YES… details of one’s life (dependents, their SS #’s, healthcare costs, etc.? TMI… too invasive…
Even “redacted” tax returns would raise questions.
If David and Don both publicly shared their tax returns, no redactions, might consider changing my opinion… until then, no…
Still like the equivalent of Form 700 approach… under penalty of perjury, disclosing nature, exent, approximate value/nature of income, property, and investments…
Every major party nominee for the past forty years, except Gerald Ford, has released tax returns. The public absolutely has a right to know, especially when the president’s financial interests could compromise national security.
Respectfully, Don, still disagree… what previous folk have done (which may or may not have been fully ‘truthful’) does not a moral/ethical perogative make…
Did you see what disclosures Form 700 requires?
Look at your own tax forms… what parts of the entries have nothing to do with your integrity, but are mainly personal?
I have great concerns about the prez, and what pies his fingers are in… a Form 700 approach would show where the pies are…
None.
A different approach… I’ve had to file a FPPC form 700 for about 30 years now… in CA all electeds/appointeds in government have to. Many employees do as well.
See: http://www.fppc.ca.gov/Form700.html for more information… note that it is signed by the “office holder” under penalty of perjury. If the prez would lie on such a form, that would fit under the “high crimes or misdeameanors” — could be an impeachable offense.
It is designed to disclose the nature of financial interests, made available to the public for disclosure… pretty complete, but far less invasive than tax returns.
All Federal employees in decision-making positions, particularly including the President, should be required to do the equivalent. That I strongly support. Full tax returns, not so much… too much personal information, too much chance for petty political nitpicking.
If the prez submitted a document substantially the same as Form 700, that would be good enough for me…
This is all just another witch hunt where the Trump haters hope to find something that they can use against him whether it’s legitimate or not.
When you have nothing to hide… By resisting to release the info, he is fueling the fire.
The fire is being fueled by the unhinged left. That’s what they do, it’s all about resistance, right David?
I think Trump needs to look past his detractors and do what he needs to do, push his agenda. He’s never going to satisfy his haters so to Hell with them. Forge on and muzzle out the noise coming from the left.
I think there are reasonable questions to be asked when he refuses to do what everyone else has done. Just like it made sense for Obama to release his birth certificate during his tenure.
This is not a witch hunt. These are legitimate lines of inquiry. Opponents are not “haters.” Opposition to the policies of this administration is not “unhinged.” And he won’t be able to govern just from his base.
Really? How many marches on state capitals where the protest is about the president releasing his taxes has this country ever had in its history?
I think if you looked up “unhinged” in the dictionary that would be one of the definitions.
How many Presidents in recent history have failed to release their taxes? Oh yeah, inconvenient facts.
Come on David, haters marching on the state capital over tax returns? Really?
Talk about unhinged.
It reminds me of Allen Iverson’s famous rant about practice, except this is about tax returns.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frsId3goYYE
Come on Birthers? After the lunacy of the last eight years, I don’t think you have a leg to stand on.
“We aint marchin’ about real issues, we marchin’ about tax returns”
And birthers had a real issue?
Keith
Sen. Susan Collins could hardly be called a “Trump hater” and yet she apparently sees value in review of his tax returns.
Howard,
Again, respectfully I disagree with your comparison of the tax returns of a candidate for President to those of Don and David. Public service at the national level is not obligatory. It is something that is entered into voluntarily and has the possibility of strongly affecting, for better or worse, the lives of all residents of this country. I believe that anyone who is willing to take on this much responsibility should be also willing to undergo complete inspection of their taxes. While you feel that this is too intrusive, I feel that the greater risk is the possibility of being able to “game the system”, an area in which the current POTUS has proven to be a master.
You always do this, point out a Republican or two who are on the same page as you and think that somehow justifies an action. Susan Collins is a GOP Senator in a blue state and she’s considering running for Governor in 2018. It’s all politics.
On the other side there’s 3 or 4 Democrat Senators now saying they’re going to vote for Grouch. So in turn does that mean that Gorsuch should be given the Supreme Court position because of these votes and the rest of the Democrats must be wrong?
In this case it matters because she is the swing vote on the Senate Intelligence Committee.
Spell check got me….Gorsuch
But that’s kind of funny.
My point is that still doesn’t necessarily make your position correct just because she might vote for it.
Tia… how does prez differ from City Manager, Governor of CA, ?
All have to submit something substantially the same as Form 700… that’s all I ask… you appear to have a different agenda…
I say, three times, full disclosure of possible conflicts of interest is one thing… every dollar, every cent of one’s personal tax return is quite another… and, the prez would (to meet some folk’s criteria) would have to disclose every tax return of any entity that he is involved with, that is required to file… and share details of his personal life… why is there any public interest in divulging how much he donated to charities? Which ones? Sounds pretty damn political to me…
Again I say, the prez needs to be forthcoming in divulging possible conflict of interest things, under penalty of perjury… ABSOLUTELY!!! But personal tax returns? No…
So, using the criteria,
guess you advocate full tax return disclosure, publicly, for President, VP, every Senator, every House Rep, every cabinet member, etc. And “inspection” by who, other than the IRS?
I’d bet the Democrats would like to bring back Lois Lerner to inspect Trump’s taxes.
For those who want to understand Keith’s snotty comment…
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=lois+lerner&*
Had to look it up, as I didn’t know the referent…
Snotty? I prefer to call it canny.
Trash your computer and take the 5th anyone?
Indivisible Yolo will have a bus picking up people from several locations in Davis for those who would like to attend this event but don’t want to drive into Sac. Details are on the Indivisible Yolo web page.
Can I go? Will my “Make America Great Again” sign fit in the bus?
Y’all are worried about Trump’s taxes when this is what you should be marching and protesting about:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/04/03/susan-rice-requested-to-unmask-names-trump-transition-officials-sources-say.html