On Bernie Promising To Release His Tax Filings And Why The Democratic Party Doesn't Need To Wait For The Next Election To Change Things

Bernie Sanders has announced that, at long last, he is going to release his tax returns for the past 10 years next Monday and good on him.  Even if it's a bit late. All of the Women in the race have done it, even some of the men have.  Now let's see the rest of the candidates do the same.

The elections reform package that the Democrats in the House voted for as their first bill after they regained control, I seem to recall, had release of a presidential candidates' tax records as a requirement.

But the Democratic Party doesn't have to wait for the far from certain situation in which a Democratic Congress and a Democratic President passes such a measure into law.  It could, NOW make the release of ten years of tax information six months or a year before the first primaries are held a requirement for being a Democratic candidate for President.   It should be a good thing to point to,  Democrats being open about that, Republicans not being open about it.

I have to wonder if Nader would have done what he did if such a rule had been in place, especially if it covered other aspects of financial activity.  I remember reading about a myriad of mysterious corporations he and his siblings were in the habit of forming.

And I'd throw in anyone who wants to be considered for Vice-President, the last thing a Democratic nominee would need would be for dodgy stuff in the tax filings of their VP pick to come out mere months before the election.

I would make that only one of a number of things that Democrats could do in re-branding us as the party of honesty as opposed to Republican corruption.  I'm sure there are other requirements that could be put on those who want the nomination of Democrats.

One of those is that those asking for the Democratic nomination actually having been Democrats for as long as those tax records they release go back.   There is no reason for someone who has not been a Democrat to be able to expect to waltz into it with little chance of getting the nomination and winning the election but splitting or otherwise damaging the party. 

Likewise, no state that allows non-Democrats to vote in caucuses (which should be abolished) or primaries should have their delegates should seated at the convention.  There is no reason for people who aren't members of the party to have a role in selecting the party's nominees.

The Democratic Party should conduct its own registered-Democrats ONLY by-mail primaries in states that insist on open primaries and the fraud of same-day party declaration, something I saw some Greens do in 2016 to screw with the Democratic Party, something Bernie Sanders bragged about doing in the 1980s.

If Bernie Sanders had stayed a member of the Democratic Party after his 2016 run, if he had not already taken out papers to run for the Senate in 2024 AS AN INDEPENDENT, I wouldn't even mention his name in regard to this.  But he's done that.

Democrats have every reason to get those who want their nomination to go on record promising their support to the candidate who has the support of the majority of the members of the Democratic Party. To honor the choice of the Voters in the party.   That's something we don't have to wait for the DNC to change, any Democrat can get a candidate on record with that promise so there will be no question of a real ratfucker to do what Nader did, what some members of Sanders' campaign did, what the Bernie bros, most of whom were never real members of the Democratic Party are still trying.