Name:   copperline - Subject:   Net Worth Date:   10/1/2016 11:55:21 AM

Those financial disclosure forms do reveal some facts about net worth, but tax returns illuminate sources of income and business interests that would not be included in short financial disclosures ... and those details matter a great deal when determining both true net worth as well as sources of potential conflicts of interest in a candidate.  Also, they reveal how someone has been using tax loopholes to conceal their income from taxation, and just how much tax-free income they have been receiving.   There may also be details relating to how much charitable deductions he took, and where that money came from.

There is no way that Donald Trump should be able to justify keeping his financial dealings & tax returns a secret.  No other candidate for POTUS does that, and we would not find it acceptable if they all refused to do so.   

Donald is getting a pass on many things... he is repeatedly NOT being held to standards of conduct that would instantly disqualify any other candidate.   And that's not because he is an exemplary example of statesmanship, its because his supporters want him to be "a disrupter of the status quo" without fully admitting what this means.

In the case of Trump, being a 'disrupter' means he has his supporter's permission to game the system and mock conventions of honesty & truthfulness when he sees personal advantage to this.   They aren't particularly interested in electing an honorable or devoted public servant... they appear to want an anarchist  who they magically believe will do no harm to the basic interests of the nation.

The belief that Trump will disrupt government, but then do no harm to the political system or national character, is just flat out wrong.