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This just in… Brady to reveal tax returns

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* 3:04 pm - Two days of heat is all it took. From a press release…

Governor candidate Bill Brady today said to avoid distracting from the failures of the Quinn/Blagojevich Administration, he will make available his income tax returns this week.

“Pat Quinn wants nothing more than to turn attention away the failures he has led us to,” Brady said. “I won’t let anything stand in the way of my determination to bring a clean break to Illinois.”

Brady noted that Quinn has earned his income from taxpayer money while he himself has worked in the private sector.

“Today just shows again that Pat Quinn is part of the public sector ruling class,” Brady said.

Um, Bill, what about that Senate salary? Isn’t that “taxpayer money” too?

Thoughts?

…Adding… Here’s the repost of the Pat Quinn Statehouse presser earlier today where he slammed Brady for refusing to release his returns…

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:05 pm

Comments

They just took something away from Pat. I suspect the returns will come out on a Friday.

Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:08 pm
It seems like Senator Brady has a severe case of foot-in-mouth disease! No wonder four out of five Republicans voted against him in February!

Comment by fedup dem Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:10 pm
Smart move. Take away Quinn’s biggest and only real issue. He will likely have to cancel the commercial I’m sure he already had in production.

Further, Quinn won’t be able to lay a hand on him for caving to public pressure as that is Quinn’s m/o.

Also, Brady can no beat him over the head with his support of Alexi and Alexi not releasing.

Brady took the two day hit and is now past it….smart move.

Comment by DuPage Moderate Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:11 pm
The Brady Family business is developing real estate and building homes. Other home builders have had to cancel planned subdivisions, sell real estate they planned to develop and lay off employees. I would think the economy in 2009 had the same effect on Brady Homes.
The revelation of some losses is probably why Brady didn’t want to release his returns. That would certainly be of interest to his competition.
There can still be a lot of issues raised even though Brady reveals his tax return. Wages, health insurance, 401 Ks, so this will not end the debate on this issue.

Comment by Tom Joad Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:24 pm
DPM: Surely you can’t beleive what you just posted…I’ll wager Brady made sure he was just inside the law on some aspect of his return and/or fudged the numbers so he doesn’t look like he’s hiding something…I’m sure his accountant earned his take on this potentially highly inflammatory issue…

Comment by Loop Lady Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:24 pm
== I’ll wager Brady made sure he was just inside the law on some aspect of his return ==

Ummm isn’t that what just about everyone does on their taxes?

How dare he use legal means to reduce the amount of taxes he has to pay….

Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:27 pm
“Brady took the two day hit and is now past it….smart move”

–there likely will be another two-day cycle if he’s lucky regarding whatever he was hoping to hide by not disclosing his tax returns.

Comment by Robert Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:29 pm
Not that easy, there is that interest from the federal campaign stuff…

It does appear that Pat does his own taxes however

Comment by OneMan Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:39 pm
hopefully we’ll see the full returns, not some bs release. but i wouldnt put that past brady…

Comment by chitown Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:39 pm
While Bill has been collecting a pay check from the State for a while his primary income has always been his business. Quinn, however, has been living off the government for his entire adult life. I think it is clear who truly understands the effect on business government can have.

Pat Quinn has been a part of the worst run administration in Illinois history and it is clear that he did not learn from it. Instead of actually being a reformer he has become a mouthpiece for political gamesmanship. Who cares about their tax returns!

Comment by annon Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:43 pm
“Public sector ruling class” has got to be one of the most overblown political statements I’ve ever heard. The statement don’t mean anything; it’s like Brady went through some economics textbook and strung together words he thought sounded important, or a sarcastic joke from the Colbert Report. Under Brady’s interpretation, he would also be a “public sector elite”, what with his probably large Senate salary and profits from business connections (good call, Rich!). If Brady made more than Quinn last year, this is a definite irony win.

Brady could have declared his tax returns from the start and avoided this absurdity, but instead he put us through another typical political circus of weak, sloppy excuses. Can’t wait to see what happens when he gets asked about his dog euthanasia stance.

Comment by jonbtuba Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:45 pm
Jeez Brady, what a turkey. He’ll take a hit for this, and rightfully so. He shouldn’t have adopted such a stupid position in the first place.

Comment by Chicago from the Lake Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:46 pm
===pay check from the State for a while===

He’s been in office since 1993, except for a couple years after he lost his congressional race.

15 years is a career, anyway you slice it.

Comment by Rich Miller Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:49 pm
It was a smart move by Brady. I can understand why he didn’t want to make his tax returns public but the average guy on the street will question his refusal to show them. Especially when Pat Quinn is standing there on a soapbox handing out flyers implying a possible Bill Brady conspiracy theory.

My guess is Bill Brady and his home development business is a sub-chapter S corporation. This means that his own personal tax return and his firm’s corporate tax returns all bleed into one return. This is going to give his business competitors an edge over Brady and his home building firm because they will know how well Bill’s business is doing. And, in this current economy, I will be surprised if Bill Brady has been making money “hand over fist”.
But, if you choose to be in the public political arena,then you have to be willing to hang out all of your dirty laundry and drag out the skeletons from your closet. Ask Scott Lee Cohen about that one.

Pat Quinn is going to have to have a mighty fancy shovel to dig up dirt on Bill Brady. Brady cones across as “squeeky clean” compared to many of the others out of Chicago and feeding out of the public trough down in Springfield. Smart move by Bill Brady on this one though. Take away Pat’s ammo by giving him what he wants.

Comment by Beowulf Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:50 pm
Bill Brady has now completed his turn in the “Do Something Politically Stupid And Then Back Off” game. Pat Quinn, it is now your turn.

Comment by Pot calling kettle Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:50 pm
Vice President Biden released his return and the only thing it led to was criticism of how much money he donated to charity–as if that’s information the nation needed to know. Does anyone really expect to see a politician file illegitimate income on a tax return? Do we expect to one day say “aha” and catch fraud from the President, VP or Governor solely by looking at the tax return they chose to release? For all politicians, the whole issue seems like more of a ploy to find something to gossip about.

Comment by Sewanee Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:54 pm
15 years is a while, like I said, but it is definitely not 40 years like Quinn. If there was ever a product of the political system this would be it. That’s my point.

Comment by annon Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:55 pm
I knew something was missing!

Where the heck are Jason Plummer’s tax returns? Are they coming out too? Quinn released Sheila Simon’s returns and called out both Brady AND Plummer for not releasing their respective returns.

Maybe poor Plummer has his own business interests that are too important for ordinary folks like me to know.

Comment by jonbtuba Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 3:59 pm
Possible QOTD: Should it be mandatory that all candidates for public office release their most recent tax returns?
Methinks the answer is yes.

Comment by Jake from Elwood Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:04 pm
=Quinn, however, has been living off the government for his entire adult life=

Actually, since 1980, Pat Quinn has been an attorney who has maintained a full-time law practice when he has not held elective office. He practiced law during 1987-90 and 1995-02. That’s 12 years in the private sector.

Comment by james Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:09 pm
Now that Brady has agreed to disclose his returns, it is comical that it took him this long to acquiesce, it is time for Jason Plummer to disclose his.

Comment by The Dude Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:10 pm
===
Does anyone really expect to see a politician file illegitimate income on a tax return? Do we expect to one day say “aha” and catch fraud from the President, VP or Governor solely by looking at the tax return they chose to release?
===

No. It shouldn’t be “required”. And it’s highly unlikely somebody would stupidly put some illicit activity on their returns.

In my view, the reason a candidate should release the returns is that it’s mostly symbolic. It basically shows the candidate’s willingness to submit him/herself to the voting masses and the feigned outrage/scrutiny of the other side.

It’s mostly Kabuki theatre, but everybody likes to see everybody else play along. Therefore, it’s good politics to just release the returns.

Comment by ABCBoy Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:12 pm
“Actually, since 1980, Pat Quinn has been an attorney who has maintained a full-time law practice when he has not held elective office. He practiced law during 1987-90 and 1995-02. That’s 12 years in the private sector.”

Come on! Doing tax appeal work in political crony infested waters of “the law” is not maintaining a law practice…it’s maintaining your political cronyism for personal financial gain.

Comment by DuPage Moderate Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:25 pm
And I don’t for a second think that someone should be forced to disclose their returns. The impediments to getting qualified leaders are strong enough - strong enough that we aren’t getting qualified leaders.

No need to implement more.

Comment by DuPage Moderate Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:27 pm
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:31 pm
While I think it’s a silly issue, I am glad that Brady didn’t let this sit out there and allow Quinn to make Brady seem disingenuous and as if Brady has something to hide. Maybe the Trib can get Quinn’s divorce documents out there b/c we all need to know that, right? ;^D

Comment by Peggy SO-IL Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:33 pm
A candidates taxes are between him and the appropriate taxing body. The only time a voter has the right to see them is when the candidate references them while running for office. This invasion of candidate privacy is one of the many reasons we keep getting stuck with the same old political hacks whose only core belief is the need to be re-elected.

Comment by Pelon Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:53 pm
Well, one of jonbtuba’s two campaign issues is gone. Now, on to the pet store.

ARF ARF!!!

Comment by Joe from Joliet Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 4:59 pm
…political circus of weak, sloppy excuses…

Tuba is quite confused. The guy seems to have been hanging around Quinn too long.

Comment by Joe from Joliet Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 5:04 pm
You could see the issue coming once he said he wasn’t going to do it. Brady wasn’t prepared to see it through. It’s a flip flop after a little heat, just like Quinn.

Comment by wordslinger Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 5:05 pm
Where is Quinn asking Alexi to show his returns?

Comment by Logical Thinker Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 5:30 pm
Pat Quinn is not running against Alexi … he is running against Brady. So, Logical Thinker, apply some logic.

Brady just showed how weak he is. This guy has never been under this kind of scrutiny before. This was not the first time we’ve seen Brady back down from a politically stupid move (puppy gas chambers?) and I am confident it will not be the last.

For a career politician (and he is), he’s a little but amateurish.

Comment by ShadyBillBrady Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 6:04 pm
I never understood the reluctance to release the returns…heck, it’s not like he’s being considered for an Obama cabinet position.

Comment by Budget Watcher Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 6:18 pm
Shady, there is logic to Logical Thinker’s statement. The point being if Quinn thinks candidates should release tax returns, that means ALL candidates should release tax returns. If Quinn doesn’t think Alexi should release his tax returns then that shows Quinn as a partisan hypocrite with a double standard. That would negate any political points Quinn could score from this, which is lost anyway now that Brady is releasing them. Appearances matter in politics.

Comment by anonguy Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 6:36 pm
“Pat Quinn is not running against Alexi … he is running against Brady. So, Logical Thinker, apply some logic.”

It’s either ALL candidates should release returns or not. For Quinn to chastise his opponent for an issue and then turn blinds eye on Alexi is the very definition of hypocrisy.

Comment by Logical Thinker Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 8:07 pm
So then I assume we expect Bill Brady to get involved in calling our Mark Kirk for being a RINO?

Whether or not Quinn thinkgs Alexi should do something or not, his focus should be on HIS campaign. And the opponent in HIS campaign is Bill Brady.

Logic would tell you to focus on your opponent, especially in a close race.

Remind me if I ever run for an office not to hire either anonguy or logical thinker as my campaign manager.

Comment by ShadyBillBrady Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 8:35 pm
It will be interesting to see how complete a release it will be….

Comment by ourMagician Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 8:48 pm
Brady did the right thing. It’s not as easy a decision for him, being a businessman. Quinn probably still does the EZ form.

Comment by Old Milwaukee Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 8:50 pm
It’s funny, Old Milwaukee … it seemed like an easy decision for him in 2006. Pretty sure he was a businessman then too.

Comment by ShadyBillBrady Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 9:01 pm
As Jonbtuba said previously, we’re waiting for Jason Plummer to release HIS tax returns. C’mon, Jason, trust the people and let us see them!

Comment by Steve Downstate Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 9:01 pm
Good going Bill, now lots of people will be going over those returns with a fine tooth comb. Lots of people who wouldn’t have given a hoot if you hadn’t tried to stonewall in the first place.

The fact that Brady thought for even a minute that he could ride this out is just more evidence that he’s not ready for prime time. If he wasn’t running against Quinn, and if this was a normal year, I would give him no chance.

Comment by just sayin' Tuesday, Apr 20, 10 @ 10:05 pm
==“Today just shows again that Pat Quinn is part of the public sector ruling class,” Brady said.==

Public sector ruling class? That’s ridiculous.

==hopefully we’ll see the full returns, not some bs release.==

That’s an excellent point. Who’s to say that any of these voluntarily released returns are legitimate? Isn’t this the purpose of the Statement of Economic Interest? If these statements don’t require all the information that the public needs to know, perhaps they should be revised. Income tax returns are not documents “designed” for public release; and as a consequence, have all the fatal failings already mentioned (such as disclosing sensitive business information) as well as possible facilitation of identity theft in the worse cases.

==Quinn, however, has been living off the government for his entire adult life.==

There’s nothing wrong with working for the government or in the public sector. In fact, many people give up better compensation to go into public service; and they should be respected for that, not criticized.

==Um, Bill, what about that Senate salary? Isn’t that “taxpayer money” too? Thoughts?==

Yes. That’s taxpayer money too. This is the kettle calling the pot black.

Comment by Squideshi Wednesday, Apr 21, 10 @ 12:18 am
Who the heck cares what Brady makes ? We’re all entitle to make a living, if even part of it is from a legislative salary. Nose trouble by some to draw out personal information.

Comment by downstater II Wednesday, Apr 21, 10 @ 4:25 am