Kasich not disclosing tax returns — does public care?

COLUMBUS — As a state senator running for Congress, Republican John Kasich voluntarily released three years of income tax returns and challenged his opponent to do the same, according to newspaper articles published in 1982.

That was then, this is now.

This year Kasich, the Republican candidate for governor, is the one who refuses to release his income tax returns.

“This is pure hypocrisy,” said Lis Smith, spokesman for Gov. Ted Strickland’s re-election campaign. “After releasing his tax returns and touting his transparency in his 1982 campaign for Congress, Congressman Kasich is now saying that Ohioans don’t have a right to know how much money he made working at Lehman Brothers, sitting on corporate boards, and giving paid professional speeches across the country.”

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The back and forth obscures one of the issues the non-disclosure brings up: Does the public care what candidates make and how open they are about it?

“The danger for the Kasich people, is it will look like he is hiding something and that will force him maybe in the end to release them — unless of course he really is hiding something,’’ said Paul Beck, a professor of political science at Ohio State University...

At first, Kasich didn’t release any records of his years at Lehman Brothers. Then, in a compromise last month, he allowed reporters to look at — but not copy — his 2008 income return and a summary.

That year, he made $1.39 million on investment returns and earnings.

In contrast, Strickland has publicly released 10 years of federal tax returns. His 2009 joint return with wife, Frances, shows the couple made $166,321.

In 1982, the shoe was on the other foot.

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