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Jewish World Review August 1, 2005 / 25 Tammuz, 5765 Release Roberts' returns By Dick Morris
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
All seems to be smooth sailing with Judge Roberts in the Senate as he skates through the confirmation process.
President Bush seems to have aced the Democrats by nominating someone who they confirmed — with only three dissenters — only two years before for a seat on the second-most powerful court in the land — the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
How can the Democrats object to someone who they just approved, particularly when they filibuster the Bush nominees of whom they do not Approve? (Not talking the earlier Roberts nomination to death is an odd seal of approval from the left.)
But now the White House may be making its first mistake in refusing to release Roberts' full tax returns. The administration says it will only release a summary of his returns and will not provide the full documents to the Senate or to the Judiciary Committee.
Big mistake. In the world of Washington witch hunts, that's a lot like putting blood in the water off the beaches of Florida — the legislative sharks start coming around.
In Washington, no document is important except for the one the White House won't release. Fervid imaginations conjure every sort of nightmare about what they might or might not contain, giving the Democrats a publicly acceptable excuse to delay the hearings and the vote until the documents are provided.
Whatever is in those returns — and one would hope Bush vetted them before making the nomination — it's not worth the hell that will be raised about forcing their release. Bush can resist letting the Democrats have every scrap of paper Roberts may have doodled on while at the Justice Department.
The public will have no patience for Democratic obstructionism on that score. But everybody files tax returns and everyone wants to see the returns of any powerful government official. After all, presidential candidates release their tax returns so why shouldn't Supreme Court nominees?
The American public will demand that Roberts release his returns and will back up the Democrats over the issue. Roberts' ratings will fall and the White House will be in the soup.
And, as the German Nazi camp commandant always warns prisoners who he is about to torture: "Zey all talk in ze end." This battle can have only one outcome: Roberts will have to release his returns, but possibly only after the damage has been done and it is too late.
Possibly the administration's victory in not releasing the notes from its consultations with the energy industry has gone to its head and it is arrogant about releasing documents. Possibly the highly positive reception Roberts has received so far has gone to its head and is leading to this stonewall decision. But either way, the Bush administration should release the relevant tax returns.
But the administration must release at lease some of his income-tax returns. Letting out the summary information only stirs the pot and catalyzes demands for the full returns.
Of course Roberts' tax returns have nothing to do with the real reasons the Democrats want to find a way to oppose him. They suspect that he is a closet vote against Roe but can't find anything to pin on him.
If Bush lets them have the tax return issue to use in beating up Roberts, he will be opening a wedge that could end up killing the nomination.
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© 2005, Dick Morris
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