Target: Gavin Newsom, Governor of California
Goal: Support a mandate for political candidates to disclose tax returns.
Taxes tell the story of our financial lives. California’s leadership just helped ensure that every politician’s story gets told. The issue of tax returns came into stark focus when then-candidate and now-President Donald Trump bucked decades of tradition and refused to release his tax returns ahead of the 2016 elections. Loud calls–such as the voices represented in this ForceChange petition—have put ever-increasing pressure on Trump to respect this long-standing practice. A new initiative signed into law by California governor Gavin Newsom has helped transform these calls for action into a powerful instrument for change.
The new law, the Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act, requires all candidates running for political office to release five years’ worth of recent tax returns at least three months before an election. If the candidate refuses, he or she will be barred from California’s key primary ballot. The governor said of this bill: “states have a legal and moral duty to do everything in their power to ensure leaders seeking the highest offices meet minimal standards, and to restore public confidence,” Several other leaders apparently agree, as similar efforts are underway in different states.
The importance of this measure cannot be understated. Tax returns can shed needed light on conflicts of interest, questionable business dealings, and potentially compromising financial data. This president alone has been accused of being beholden to foreign powers, of campaign finance crimes, and of receiving financial gifts from foreign entities in exchange for political favors. Despite his claims to the contrary, any supposed tax audits the president is undergoing do not in any way hinder him from releasing his tax returns. This is a deliberate choice, and the people need to know this choice is not in service of a self-interested cover-up.
Sign this petition to applaud at least one state’s efforts to fully vet every individual who seeks the regarded role of leader of the people.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Governor Newsom,
Leadership is not a right but a privilege granted by the people. Thank you for respecting the right of the people to truly know their leaders. The Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act holds those who run for political office accountable in a fundamentally important way. More so, it allows voters, armed with more facts and data, to cast their ballots and make a fully informed choice.
Democracy can only survive in the light of truth and transparency. Lies and secrecy erode and could very well one day kill the values this country has cherished for centuries. Keep up the good fight for democracy and for the trusted leadership that guides it through the darkness.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Voice of America
The asshole in chief says he can’t release his tax reports because he has been audited for apparently the last 50 years. I want the name and phone number of the office doing the audit. This is a public office so this information should be available. Who is doing this bullshit audit?