Are tax returns relevant?

The spokesman for the Ohio Republican Party criticized the news media today for wasting time over issues like why Ken Blackwell refuses to release his tax returns

State GOP spokesman John McClelland said Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ted Strickland "has yet to produce one single idea. . . I could care less what Ted Strickland or Ken Blackwell's tax return says. It's not relevant to how they can lead the state. Ken Blackwell has released everything that he's required to release.''

Tuesday, Strickland released income-tax returns for the past five years. Blackwell became the first gubernatorial nominee since 1982 to refuse to release his returns. He makes $105,185-a-year as secretary of state and his latest annual financial-disclosure statement shows he owned 126 stocks worth at least $1,000 apiece last year.

McClelland said the Nov. 7 election is going to be won or lost on who has the better ideas.

But Strickland's spokesman, Jess Goode, said Ohioans have a right to know how much money their next governor earns and "exactly how much he stands to gain if Mr. Blackwell's own misguided tax schemes are implemented. What is it that Ken Blackwell doesn't want Ohio voters to know?"

From 1999 to March 1, 2006, Strickland returned $44,423.21 of his personal income and health benefits to the U.S. Treasury. Strickland's returns show he and his wife, Frances, reported an adjusted gross income of $152,998 in 2005, mostly from Strickland's congressional salary of $150,488. Strickland paid $21,431 -- or 14 percent of his income -- in taxes.

Since his election to Congress in 1992, Strickland and wife have refused to accept the health insurance benefits provided to congressmen as part of their benefits package.

Wednesday night, Blackwell's campaign raised a reported $1.5 million at a Cleveland-area fund-raising party featuring President Bush. Bush routinely releases his tax returns to the public, by the way.