61 Comments - Cheryl44 - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 5:49 pm: What the hell? Hasn’t he been paying attention? - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 5:56 pm: Wasn’t it Casey Stengel of the hapless 1960 era Mets who said, “Doesn’t anyone here know how to play this game?”. Have we ever seen two simultaneous gubernatorial campaigns in IL go as wacky as these two? - of course - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:26 pm: well here comes the daddy jokes again. Maybe he can explain this in a complete sentence on Chicago tonight. Da uh hmm my tax hmm, can we start over? - Bubs - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:27 pm: So your job is to “tee off on him”? - Justice - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:30 pm: Hey, get off the guy’s back. He’s holding out for the tax amnesty. - TimB - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:41 pm: So, besides seeing that he made a ton of money in the family lumber business, what else would we hope to learn by looking at his tax returns? I guess I really don’t get the fascination with candidates tax returns. Do we really think that anything unethical or illegal will show up there?? Just sayin’ TimB - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:46 pm: “My Daddy says you ‘kan’t’ ‘no’ how much my allowance is…” - MrJM - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:48 pm: Is daddy’s still claiming him as a dependent? – MrJM - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:49 pm: Ok, now … His fear is that the voters will see that he HAD no positioon with that internet company that made money, and how much monies he is getting from Daddy, and if there are capital gains he may not want people to see, considering the economic climate. Jerry Clarke must not have know about this (timing), usually a Friday is best to run and hide, now Plummer has made more work for the Brady campaign. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:51 pm: Mr. JM, I remember making that joke a while back … maybe Daddy is still claiming Jason …(?) - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 6:52 pm: Bubs, that’s not my job. That’s a fringe benefit. Big dif. - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 7:03 pm: “Ok, do you have any income …” “Yes, Mr. Accountant-man, I got like money for cleaning my room … and taking out the garbage … Daddy gave me a title of like Vice-Thingy for Developing buildings, like in ‘Monopoly’ … oh, and my cool towers thing so you can surf the internet, but I owned it and everything, so that was really cool ….” “Ok, Mr. Plummer, any write-offs?” “Yeah, I had new tires put on my sweet Camaro Z, and I drove it to where Daddy told me to developing-thingy, so all those miles and the sweet whitewalls!… I gave away my dorm room furniture to Goodwill last year … I bought a book ‘Winning Elections for Dummies’ … but do I have to have read it to claim it? … and maps of Illinois… and another book … ‘Government Made Easy - A Primer’ … think that is it Mr. Accountant-man” - please... - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 7:05 pm: I hear Plumer’s dad has yet to sign his tax return! - 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 7:11 pm: I sure hope Jerry Clarke is getting combat pay for this tour of duty. They sure aren’t making his job any easier with dumb moves like this. My guess is that Plummer’s return probably shows little to no taxes paid either, due to some of the same perfectly legal tactics Brady’s accountant used to avoid tax liability. If that is the case here (and this is obviously only speculation) then Brady-Plummer is truly the No Taxes Ticket. - anno--mus - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 7:34 pm: Is Clarke even on or still around on the Brady campaign ?? Seems like a lot of bizarre stuff going on over in Bradyville. Man what a balancing act that will be Brady/ Plummer. - haverford - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 7:35 pm: I know there’s not a lot required of Jason Plummer as a candidate (or in a horrible future, as gov lite), which makes it all the more impressive how utterly he fails to measure up. I almost hope that SLC gets on the ballot so that there’s a lt gov debate. If Baxt is going, it won’t be so easy for Plummer to weasel out of going up against Sheila Simon. I bet he’ll do anything to avoid them otherwise. - CircularFiringSquad - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 7:44 pm: Shoot,Aim,Ready! Jason please come by the StateGOP office to get your Golden CFS Bullseye. Just when Blagoof lawyer scam, and early release was hogging the news you jump to Pg1 Atta boy! And we thought you were hiding out at NoTaxBill’s FL condo,driving the sports car - ShadyBillBrady - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 7:58 pm: I find it so funny to TimB and others with this constant “I don’t see what the big deal is with candidate tax returns …” For starters, if your guy had released his and the other guy refused, you’d be all over it. Now that that’s out of the way … Tax returns are important … they give us a window into the finances of a candidate … what they make, from what sources, what charities they support and how much. It tells us something about their priorities and their loyalties. And, in the case of Bill Brady, it gives us an idea of a candidate’s credibility … is what they do consistent with what they say? Campaign-wise, this is just plain foolish on Plummer’s part. He could sneak along softly in the shadows of Billy, but instead he’s just jumped out to the middle of the stage and screamed “hey everybody, look at me! look at me!” … And after all the issues with “NoTaxBill”’s returns, this just doesn’t make any sense at all. Either both stick to the “not gonna show it” routine or both “release” them at the same time and be done with it. This not only creates problems for Plummer, but also runs the risk of dragging out Billy’s issues for even longer. - anno--mus - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 8:11 pm: Well Shady, I think you are right. Just doesn’t seem as if there’s any organization or plan over in Bradyville. It’s strange to say the least. You would think somebody would be keeping track of Plummer’s activity , keep him in line now that they’re joined at the hip politically. - WesternSky - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 8:14 pm: ==He says questions about releasing tax information are a distraction from real issues.== It’s only a distraction if you have something to hide. If you have nothing to hide, you release them, everyone sees there’s no there there and life goes on. The more you resist, the more people will wonder. - anno--mus - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 8:28 pm: It might also punch more holes in old Jas’s resume’ too. He’s a kid. How much could he have done. The allowance thing might be closer to correct than you might think. - ShadyBillBrady - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 8:31 pm: I guess we all may be overlooking the obvious here. [sarcasm]It’s possible that Jason Plummer fills out his tax forms with the same accuracy as he fills out his resume. [/sarcasm] But you’re right WesternSky … the more you resist, the more people wonder. He’s trying the same argument Brady tried … “it’s a distraction”. Interestingly, Billy had to turn around and say he was going to reveal his returns so that it would no longer be a distraction. Wonder if JP will do the same? Funny thing is, all this “I’m not releasing them because it’s a distraction” actually creates a bigger distraction and puts all the focus and attention on the supposed distraction. And he created his distraction diversion on a Tuesday? Rookie. - RJW - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 8:33 pm: Do you remember the movie with Richard Pryor - Brewster’s Millions - where he spent a bunch of money “None of the Above” voting campaign? I’m thinking of opening a political fund for such a campaign. I think donations would pour in . . . - RJW - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 8:34 pm: Sorry for the grammar . . . - anno--mus - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 8:35 pm: As I said before no apparent organization or plan over in Bradyville. Rookie is an understatement. Who’s directing these guys ? - Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 8:35 pm: “Plummer Tax Returns Found - Crayon Difficult to Read” - Park Shasta - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 9:01 pm: DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE JP. He lent himself $350,000. OMG he must be brilliant. - Park - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 9:22 pm: I wouldn’t do it either. But then again, I wouldn’t run for office. I went to a Republican township meeting before the primary…Andrew A(sp?) was there running for governor, and all he talked about was how he disclosed his tax returns and demanded that all him competitors disclose theirs. All I could think was (apologies to bugs bunny)…’what a maroon’! - anno--mus - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 9:26 pm: Was it his $350,000 or “pops” $350,000 ? That a lot of 2 x4’s caulk. - Park - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 9:30 pm: I thought MJM was going to eliminate the office. Did he forget? Getting senile? - Vote Quimby! - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 10:16 pm: Wow Jason….nice way to keep your name in the news! As noted above, the more you make a big deal out of it the bigger the story becomes…especially when your running mate made a big deal out of it, too. What are you afraid of? People speculating where the $350,000 “loan” came from? They already are speculating, so you might as well release the returns now so we can forget about it over the summer… - Keeptrying - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 10:20 pm: Why should Plummer release his tax returns you will just run a story saying he was dumb for releasing them? Hey has Quinn ever released his Tax returns from last year for more then a few hours oh I forgot we are still playing get Brady/Plummer. - jonbtuba - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 10:27 pm: Hey, up until today no one in Illinois knew Plummer had a pulse (I thought he was invisible). I guess Brady got sick of Cohen hogging the crazy train and told Plummer to go do something more absurd. I know Brady wanted a like-minded guy, but who thought it would be the only other guy in Illinois who thinks Brady’s tax returns weren’t a controversial issue? - downstate conservative - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 10:29 pm: Who cares about the LG? Meaningless position. This is just a ploy for a bored media to try and dig something up. If he made $50k, the clowns on here would say: “daddy didn’t pay him very much”. If he made $500k, the clowns would say, “daddy really gave him a raise!”. Nothing to gain by releasing them. I’m not interested in tax returns, I’m interested in which gubernatorial candidate is going to work towards cutting our unemployment rate in half, balance our budget, root out corruption, solve the pension mess and pay off the massive pile of debt. At the end of the day, the media getting an erection off of a few details in someone’s tax return doesn’t help the guy who lost his job, is getting his home foreclosed on, etc. - what are they thinking? - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 10:40 pm: why didn’t brady and plummer coordinate on this? either stonewall together or release together; for one to release somewhat and the other to stonewall just makes this a story that will continue for multiple news cycles - The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 10:45 pm: IMHO, this is one of the “oddest” threads we’ve had here on CapFax in a loooooong time. - The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 10:50 pm: ===Crayon Difficult to Read=== Purple crayon, or Red? - zatoichi - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 11:05 pm: Well I guess I will not release my tax forms either. Or is that turn them in? Never sure which it is since I also got people who do that for me. - just sayin' - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 11:16 pm: The IL GOP still ain’t ready to get back in prime time. - The REAL Anonymous fka Anonymous - Tuesday, May 18, 10 @ 11:21 pm: I think you’re wrong, just sayin’. - Quizzical - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 12:11 am: Funny that there was a bad story for Quinn earlier today, now overshadowed by easy to understand, ’secret wealth’ meme - Ramsin - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 1:27 am: But Rich, if it doesn’t matter, why bother with it? I mean for the Governor I understand it kind of. But for the LG? I guess it depends on whether you feel the voters have a critical interest in seeing candidate’s tax filings. - Observing - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 6:50 am: There oughtabealaw that candidates and elected officials release copies of their federal tax returns each year when they file their financial interest statements. That way, taxpayers can see how much increase (or decrease) in income an office holder makes while in office. Isn’t it amazing the number of officals who leave their public careers very enriched compared to their income when they come into office? - wordslinger - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 7:00 am: If he was going to stonewall, he shouldn’t have released a statement. He should have just ignored it. - SangamoGOP - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 8:37 am: What none of these guys understand is that the voters have been fed the line about accountability and transparency from candidates and incumbents forever with no actual transparency and accountability. And, the voters have finally figured out that they can do something about it. Unfortunately, in Illinois, all of the current candidates, that have a shot at winning (sorry Greens), are sticking by the non-transparency playbook. Plummer might be a new guy in the game but his tactics are pure Illinois politician. If he didn’t want to reveal his taxes or anything else, he shouldn’t have run. Pretty simple. Somebody else would’ve done a passable job keeping the LTG seat warm. - Vote Quimby! - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 8:38 am: == leave their public careers very enriched == I’m sure that’s only because of shrewd investment planning /s - BehindTheScenes - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 8:42 am: Rich– Your comment pretty well sums up what news coverage, particularly of state government, is really all about these days. Most days I miss being in the media. This isn’t one of them. - Cincinnatus - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 8:51 am: If you want politicians to disclose a certain set of information, change the campaign laws to so state. If you want to hold politicians to a different and higher standard than any other citizen, that’s fine, but be honest enough to realize that YOU are asking for private information that YOU would not voluntarily disclose. I challenge all of you calling for Plummer to disclose his tax forms, or making fun of him for not doing so, to do so your self. We can start with Rich, and then the rest of you can follow suit. I would love to pick through each and every one of your tax forms to see what embarrassing information I can find and publicize. wordslinger has it right, if he wasn’t going to disclose he should have said nothing, and if he was specifically asked to do so, he should have told the questioner to pound sand. - Cousin Ralph - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 8:53 am: On Election Day no one will have changed their vote for Brady to a vote for Quinn (or Cohen) because Jason Plummer did’nt release his tax return. Brady by 5. - Confused - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 8:56 am: I figured out how the politicians can get around this… File an original 1040 but accidentally omit certain items that make the return more presentable to the public. Then release the returns, including allowing copies, pictures, whatever. Then file an amended return with the real numbers long after folks have lost interest. This is no different than what they do with “vehicle bills” to get around their rules of reading the bill on 3 separate days (File one bill, get it to 3rd, then months later amend it with a completely different text and pass it in two hours, like they do the budget). - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 8:57 am: Remember; If you question a candidate, and the candidate doesn’t like what you are asking, prepare for the, “Oh yeah, well … then YOU should ‘X’ too … even though you are not running for office, or claiming to be transparent …. you wouldn’t to do ‘X’ so they don’t have to! ….” Really? - dave - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 9:00 am: I challenge all of you calling for Plummer to disclose his tax forms, or making fun of him for not doing so, to do so your self. This is absurd. The rest of us are not running for public office. When you run for public office, you ARE held to a higher standard, whether you like it or now. - Lester Holt's Mustache - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 9:01 am: Keeptrying - Rich will only run an article if he a)refuses to release them like now; or b) like Bill Brady, releases them and it shows he paid NO taxes. The latter would justify an article because if your only talking point is repeated complaining about how high taxes are, you should at least have a reason. If it is and you pay NO taxes, you’re a hypocrite. I keep hearing from conservatives on fox news how 47% of people don’t pay any taxes at all. I thought they were alluding to poor people, but I’m beginning to think they mean republican business owners. Also, he’s a Lt. Gov candidate, for god’s sake. What should we ask him about, his position on Supreme Court nominee Kagan? Whether he supports current Federal Reserve policy, perhaps? - Cincinnatus - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 9:10 am: Oswego Willy, My point is that there is no law to disclose, so a candidate should not be asked to do so, and reasonable people should not read anything into it one way or the other. There are several people here making fun of Plummer, and how he gets his money. I encourage these people to drive into downtown Chicago and take a hard look at the Merchandise Mart. Ted Kennedy never worked a day in his life that wasn’t at the government teat, and received his initial riches from his father Joe who owned the Merc. The people making fun of Jason probably would not make fun of Teddy. Sometime in the past, some politician decided he could score points by releasing his own tax form and calling on his opponent to release his. I am pretty sure this didn’t happen for good-govrnance reasons, but for pure bare knuckle political reasons. Since that day, we have been forced to witness the tax-form-tango every election cycle. I say, enough is enough. Either change the campaign disclosure laws, or move on. - VanillaMan - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 9:14 am: Also, what else do we have to ask an LG candidate about anyway? How quickly can you pack up the Office so we can shut it down in order to save millions? - Oswego Willy - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 9:15 am: VM - too funny! - Cincinnatus - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 9:18 am: dave, you said: “This is absurd. The rest of us are not running for public office. When you run for public office, you ARE held to a higher standard, whether you like it or now.” Politicians should be held to the SAME standards as the rest of us, when you come to think of it, they are standards because they apply to all of us. The problem is when politicians think they can hold themselves to a different standard. I will stand by my statement that if you want a higher standard for politicians, change the law, a path about which I am actually agnostic. Do not insinuate anything from a politician for following the law to the letter, and do not ascribe any ulterior motive to one doing so. Does anyone remember if Blogo disclosed? Probably did… - Confused - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 9:20 am: Blago never had any money did he? Isn’t that why he was happy to finally have something golden? - Obamas' Puppy - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 9:23 am: Its like a tennis match where both sides do nothing but lob the ball over the net. - John Galt - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 9:49 am: It isn’t a double standard. Folks are running for public office and are offering themselves to public scrutiny. Other people aren’t. But Cincy does have a point: make it uniform. Either require disclosure by law or drop the standard altogether. What surprises me is why wanna-be’s don’t anticipate this in advance. If you yearn for the public spotlight, why not start cleaning up your act a year or two ahead of time? All that being said, just because a guy’s honest on his taxes, it doesn’t mean he’s a good guy. Similarly, if a dude has old DUI’s, a tax lein he’s paid fully years ago, etc. it doesn’t make him unfit for office. Much depends on context. But back to parlor games: *Brady & Plummer should have coordinated their tax releases or non-releases. *Plummer either has the same issue of Brady & agressive tax strategies or they will show he basically has a “ghost job” at Dad’s lumber company and is still on the parental teat. - Cincinnatus - Wednesday, May 19, 10 @ 10:03 am: John Galt said, “Plummer either has the same issue of Brady & agressive tax strategies or they will show he basically has a “ghost job” at Dad’s lumber company and is still on the parental teat.” Now we’re “going” somewhere. Yup, he either followed the law, or is following in Kennedy’s footsteps. Neither is a disqualifying event. I am a firm believer in transparency in government, as part of comprehensive campaign reform, disclosure of tax records is definitely on the table. I would also like to see the elimination of campaign contribution limits, substituting instant on-line disclosure instead. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.