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Question of the day

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Republican gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey acknowledged Wednesday that he’s a millionaire — but, like his big backer former President Donald Trump, the downstate farmer and state senator is refusing to release copies of his income tax returns.

“Right now, I see absolutely no reason in doing that. I don’t see that as a qualifier,” Bailey said in an interview with the Sun-Times on Wednesday. […]

The tradition of Illinois gubernatorial nominees releasing their tax returns before the November election dates back to Republican Gov. Jim Thompson in 1976, at least.It isn’t required of candidates or elected officials. But the voluntary practice provides accountability for a statewide officeholder who will ultimately collect and manage state tax dollars — and also sheds light on potential conflicts.

But Bailey — who has painted his candidacy as a fight for “working families, parents, taxpayers, law enforcement and everyday citizens” — said he’s not interested in disclosing his returns.

* The Question: Should Sen. Bailey release his tax returns? Take the poll and then explain your answer in comments, please.

online polls

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 10:54 am

Comments

Every candidate for major office should disclose their tax returns or be left at the starting gate.

Comment by Lt Guv Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 10:57 am
How many of those millions came from farm subsidies? Did we finally find the actual Welfare Queen?

Comment by Tungsten Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 10:58 am
Yes, Mr. Bailey should release his tax returns and the media should keep asking him about it until he does so. What does hw have to hide?

Comment by Hot Taeks Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 10:58 am
Voted yes because I believe in transparency, but at the end of the day, his refusal to do so probably plays as well for Dems as whatever hay they could make out of what’s in them.

Comment by /s Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 10:58 am
voted no - two reasons - It isn’t required of candidates/elected officials, and we have a newly expanded Statement of Economic Interest that candidates/elected official must complete.

Comment by Donnie Elgin Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 10:58 am
===Darren Bailey acknowledged Wednesday that he’s a millionaire===
In this day and age, almost all farmers are millionaires. Look at the price of land. It takes very few acres to take your net worth over a million dollars.
But to the post, yes he should release his returns.

Comment by Bruce( no not him) Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 10:59 am
Every candidate should do this, but considering he is representing the party that loves to tout fiscal responsibility he should be even more obligated release his returns.

Comment by StealYourFace Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:00 am
Yes, because it gives voters more information on a candidate.

Comment by Steve Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:01 am
Should he? Yes. Will he? No… because he doesn’t want the public to see how much subsidy income–from the ‘big government’ he supposedly detests– he receives.

Comment by Vote Quimby Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:01 am
Yes. it is a standard of good candidates.we learn things about them from the taxes filed.

Comment by Amalia Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:01 am
I voted no. I think he should, but if he wishes to run as the next best thing to Trump, he needs to act like Trump before the voters. In the previous question about the poll that shows Pritzker is currently favored, not mentioned is the fact that come September or October, Trump will be appearing in Illinois to support his candidate. That appearance will likely create enthusiasm among people who are likely to vote for a Republican.

I said no, purely for political reasons. His best strategy at this point is to emulate the Republican Kingmaker.

Comment by H-W Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:02 am
He has accepted many millions in federal aid through subsidies and COVID relief.

He should want us to see the last 10 years so we don’t accuse him of defrauding the federal government to line his pockets with COVID money or committing tax fraud.

Comment by Candy Dogood Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:02 am
I thought Bailey was just talking about how Pritzker has never had to balance his checkbook.

Anyway what’s with all these millionaires and billionaires that always want to run for public office. We would be in better shape if they stayed out of it.

Comment by Real Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:03 am
Yes because what’s he hiding?

Comment by Nick Name Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:04 am
I voted yes. Anyone running for public office should release them.

Comment by Real Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:04 am
Yes, denying such shows you have something to hide.

Comment by B Team Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:05 am
i am way more interested in knowing the business practices of the farm vs his individual income.

Comment by MaddyMoon Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:05 am
My favorite quote from the linked article: “But at the end of the day, it’s Darren Bailey who the people are going to vote to elect. … They’re voting for me and me only, and my policies, my beliefs. And I think that’s going to win the day.”

Let’s ask him that again on November 9.

Comment by Vote Quimby Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:06 am
The obvious answer is yes. But Beatle will never release his tax returns.

Comment by Glengarry Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:06 am
Yes seekers for public office should be held to the highest scrutiny.

Comment by ChicagoVinny Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:06 am
Like others, I voted yes because everyone running for public office should release their tax returns so we know their sources of income.

Comment by Curious citizen Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:06 am
Yes, and like all millionaires who want my vote he should give me at least a thousand dollars.

Comment by vern Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:09 am
Yes, transparency should be expected.

Comment by Former Bartender Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:10 am
Yes

It’s all about transparency. We’ve seen how a certain former president used his office to enrich himself and that’s enough.

These so-called “for the working man” politicians with big bank accounts are tiresome. Find a new scam.

Comment by Sir Reel Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:11 am
Voted yes because it’s obvious he and his family have been on the farm subsidy (and PPP) teats for a long time down there. To the tune of millions. I would hope this would also include returns for his various non-profit spin-ups like armed religious schools and camps.

Comment by XonXoff Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:11 am
Yes. The ad writes itself for downstate markets…

“Darren Bailey says he’s like you, but he’s really a millionaire who won’t show you where his money comes from. He tells you he’s against government handouts, but he’s taken millions of dollars in government farm subsidies and COVID loans. Does that sound like Darren Bailey is like you?”

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:11 am
Should he. Yes.

Will he. No.

He’s afraid.

As he now perfectly tees up another response from Pritzker, who will happily release ’something’. It doesn’t even have to be much. It just has to be more than nothing.

Comment by TheInvisibleMan Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:11 am
Voted Yes.

They both should. They should.

Will both or either? Probably not.

Both should.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:12 am
Voted yes, every candidate for regional public office should release her/his returns. There should be a state law that candidates who don’t release their returns for the past 15 years cannot be on the ballot nor be voted into office.

Comment by froganon Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:13 am
From Bailey for Illinois website

As Governor, he will promote transparency and ensure safeguards against powerful government overreach.

Comment by Anonsense Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:14 am
Voted yes because every major candidate should.

But really, once Trump got away with it (and didn’t JB play some games with it, too?) I knew the days of doing so were numbered.

Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:15 am
“Will both or either? Probably not.”

Actually, JB released the return and a lot of supporting info. He just didn’t release the thousands of pages of schedules. But he released a lot of info. Bailey is apparently going to release nothing and I suspect it is because of the reason Tungsten mentioned above. He doesn’t want people to see how much he’s making off the government as a farm subsidy welfare queen.

Comment by New Day Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:16 am
I doubt Bailey has seen the play/movie Chicago but I now think of him as Mr Cellophane.

Comment by Anonsense Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:20 am
Yes. I really don’t care personally as I believe politicians have their accounting folks hide stuff anyway. I wish I had the same money issues.

Comment by BTO2 Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:21 am
Yes. Release them. I won’t vote for a candidate that isn’t at least attempting to avoid paying taxes.

Comment by Needs Deleted Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:21 am
As Anonsense pointed out at 11:14, “As Governor, he will promote transparency and ensure safeguards against powerful government overreach.”

Well, Darren, you can start by promoting transparency through showing the taxpayers exactly where your money is coming from. In my opinion, when you make a decision to run for an office that will have any control over tax dollars, you lose the right to hide the source(s) of your income.

Comment by Osborne Smith III Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:21 am
Yes, he should, but on this issue I think both answers are (for Bailey) politicians lovers, so I don’t think he will do it.

Comment by Concerned Observer Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:22 am
Wow. Take two.

“Political Losers”, not the garbage that autocorrect dropped in….

Comment by Concerned Observer Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:23 am
===…just didn’t release the thousands of pages of schedules. But he released a lot of info.===

If there’s always that “but”

Release or don’t. Will, or won’t.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:25 am
Yes, Bailey should release his returns for the sake of transparency. Will he? No. And the Pritzker campaign likely already has an ad locked and loaded asking “What is Bailey hiding?”

Comment by jackmac Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:27 am
Well, I guess I’m going to be the contrarian here because I voted no. I don’t understand this obsession people have with seeing a candidates tax returns. It’s just never mattered to me. I’m not voting for or against anyone because of what their tax return says.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:29 am
Why is no one who voted “no” explaining their vote… as the post stated?

Comment by Vote Quimby Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:29 am
I voted no, not because I don’t believe in transparency, but more so because I know he won’t, it isn’t required, and sefishly I don’t want one more avenue of attack to have to hear about for the next few months. The other issue is that I’m sure like any farmer of his size, he is incorporated and so his individual return won’t offer much anyway. This isn’t that different from Pritzker whose individual return didn’t really offer that much because the good stuff was on other forms.

I think someone needs to look into PPP loans they received (if they did), which is a better avenue. Part of the forms required applicants to say that their business was in danger of going under because of COVID. Commodity prices were high and COVID had little to no negative impact on grain farms.

Comment by Wonky Kong Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:30 am
Now more than ever we need to understand the finances of those who seek power through elected office. What is he hiding.

Comment by Tood Aloo Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:30 am
Yes, he won’t because he can’t risk exposing the truth. Land rich, cash poor. Most spend money that don’t really need to spent (John Deere Gators and etc, depreciation schedules ) in order not to pay taxes.

Comment by Gus Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:31 am
Go ahead and keep your finances a secret. It will help him lose by a bigger margin.

Comment by illinoyed Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:35 am
Statewide candidates should be required to show their tax returns. It’s time we got some transparency for conflict of interest and accountability reasons as stated above. How about making that law?

Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:35 am
https://farm.ewg.org/persondetail.php?custnumber=A03059044

Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:37 am
Darren Bailey

https://farm.ewg.org/persondetail.php?custnumber=A03059044

Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:40 am
There are ways, easy ways, to find out some of his income. The EWG database for example- https://farm.ewg.org/persondetail.php?custnumber=A03129520

Or the Trib story on his farm’s PPA loan- https://www.fox32chicago
.com/news/illinois-republican-darren-bailey-pushes-back-against
-criticism-regarding-federal-loan-he-received

He won’t release them, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t still disclosure forms he will to required to fill out and data searches that can be done. Can’t hide everything.

Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:40 am
Bailey often bashed his opponent as the “elites.” Guess Darren is one of the “elites” as he’s a millionaire.

Huge hypocrite.

Comment by Rudy’s teeth Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:40 am
Voted No only because JB will not. If they were BOTH making them public then yes. And I don’t mean a two page summary. Disclose it ALL or don’t bother. That means subsidiaries, off shore interests, Cayman Island accounts. The whole boat.

Comment by Galway Bay Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:41 am
He should, to provide insight into potential conflicts of interest, but can’t because it would be political malpractice to tell the voters that he’s on the dole.

Comment by SAP Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:41 am
Everyone should be required to release his or her tax returns if running for a major statewide office. Voters need to know the financial responsibility level of candidates and if there are conflicts because of money source issues.

Comment by Downstdate Dem Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:42 am
Of course he should. “Transparency for me but not for thee” shouldn’t be allowed to pass. I think there should be legislation requiring this for candidates for statewide office.

Comment by someonehastosayit Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:43 am
Yes, and though Bailey will not understand this, it would be to his benefit. He can put it out himself now and control the narrative, or he can watch it all come out piecemeal, one article or campaign ad at a time. 4-1/2 months is a long time for a faucet to drip.

Comment by Roadrager Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:44 am
Or better said, “Transparency for thee but not for me”

Comment by someonehastosayit Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:44 am
Yes. Anyone that has a role in spending public money needs to show they aren’t self dealing.

Also, if you’re going to bring up JB’s toilets, you should probably prove you’re shenanigan free yourself.

Comment by Excitable Boy Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:44 am
Income taxes are private, they should stay that way. Just because they have become fodder for candidates and their opponents does not constitute making them public. Besides, there is not enough detail to truly exam someone financial dealings.

Comment by Chillimon Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:45 am
Voted “Yes”.

Mr. Transparency, Mr. Bash the “Elites”, Mr. “Ah’m just a farmer like you”, should be transparent.

Comment by JoanP Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:49 am
The citizens of Illinois have a right to know

Comment by jmj Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:51 am
Darren Bailey received payments totaling $2,102,983 from 1995 through 2020.

Is Darren Bailey a socialist?

Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:52 am
I have never been a fan of demanding that candidates release their personal income tax returns. The tax returns are supposed to be private between the government and us filers. In addition, the tax returns really do not show the total financial worth of the individual. Although I am not a fan of Pritzker, his past failure to completely disclose his tax records and use of summaries is not a failure in my eyes. He too does not have to disclose.

Plenty of other gotcha ways available to jump on a candidate. Tax returns in my opinion should remain private as originally intended.

Comment by Louis G Atsaves Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 11:52 am
Voted No.

Voted No for the same reason you or your neighbor wouldn’t make photo copies of your returns and hand them out to your neighbors. Their private. Would you give your tax returns to your employer?

For the record, I am not supporter of Trump or Bailey. But other than satisfying my curiosity, what would we learn that would really be that helpful? A candidate makes good investments or bad investments. A candidate’s business is profitable or not. A candidate has investments in some business we don’t approve of. I don’t need to see Trump’s or Pritzker’s or Bailey’s returns to determine if I want to vote for them.

Comment by Groucho Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:01 pm
// 4-1/2 months is a long time for a faucet to drip. //

Unfortunately, supporters of his I know not only envy but reward the ability to profit from taxpayer money, avoid paying taxes, and avoid legal fallout — ultimately at their own expense. And they love the chestbeating. That apparently brings it all together nicely.

Comment by XonXoff Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:04 pm
Simple to do if you have nothing to hide but there is likely something to hide

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:08 pm
Yes, it goes to integrity. Just because Trump dragged the standard through the mud doesn’t mean that should become the new baseline.

Comment by Scurvy Dog Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:08 pm
Bailey Family Farms and Bailey Farm Freight LLC got a combined $514,845 in PPP loans.

Comment by OurMagician Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:09 pm
Voted yes.
Transparency is important and candidates like Trump and Pritzker should also release their complete returns.
For example, Pritkzer has people on his payroll that he also placed in high positions on the state payroll. It would be nice to know if he was deducting the salaries of these employees from his personal or corporate Illinois and Federal taxes.

Comment by Back to the Future Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:10 pm
Anyone who is campaigning on solidarity with the working class (Bailey says he is for the workers, but is against unions, progressive tax, and safety net programs that all benefit the working class) and against elites should prove it. Especially if that person is an admitted millionaire.

Bailey won’t though. Bailey is the elite that he and his followers rally against. I hope he gets called out on that every day. He’s received millions of dollars of taxpayer money for his farm and recently received government covid money. Taxpayer money for him, to enrich himself and his family, but nothing for you, your business, or your family. That’s Bailey.

Comment by Nick Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:11 pm
Also, if you want some idea of how much money the Bailey family has to burn, their religious school is registered through Virtue House Ministries in Louisville, IL. I’m surprised no one has looked through or reported on Virtue House Ministries.

Comment by Nick Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:17 pm
Farm income and land value would easily make him worth well over a million. Oh and that PPP dough as well.

Comment by NorthsideNoMore Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:19 pm
Yes. It gives voters and media an information path as to what the money source is/or comes from and if there’s a possible conflict of interest.

Comment by Moi Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:20 pm
==It isn’t required of candidates/elected officials, and we have a newly expanded Statement of Economic Interest that candidates/elected official must complete. ==

I’m really surprised to see that your argument is “the current safeguards for transparency and ethics are sufficient.”

Comment by Arsenal Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:20 pm
Probably better optically for JB if Bailey does not. Bailey can then be hit from the right for hiding millions in “taxpayer subsidies”. May not move any actual votes from Bailey to JB but it’ll tie Bailey in knots, wasting his time convincing republicans that he isn’t hiding his finances because he is secretly a corporate welfare queen.

Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:20 pm
I say yes. If he doesn’t then the peoples Attorney Tom DeVore should look at him first to see what he’s hiding. Sniff out the corruption Tom.

Comment by Club J Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:25 pm
Voted yes. Even if it isn’t required, it’s a show of good faith to the voters.

If he wants to limit the scope of his disclosures to what Pritzker has released, then fine. But he’d have a genuine attack line if he did even more.

Comment by Benjamin Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:25 pm
Yes, strictly to determine if there’ll be conflicting interests between his private life as a “millionaire” farmer v. public life as Gov. (Oy vevery.

And, to another poster, the newly-revised statement of economic interests, while a bit improved, is still pretty much a joke. One must want to be transparent when completing the form. And the supplemental statement isn’t any better. Rauner mainly wanted to know what state employees were/are affiliated with or an officer of organized labor.

Comment by Yiddishcowboy Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:26 pm
This article says Bailey’s farm covers 12,000 acres. It looks like farmland in that area goes for roughly $4,000/acre. (Feel free to check my math.) so doesn’t that come to something like $48 mm in land value alone?

Comment by Soccermom Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:26 pm
oops - here’s the link
https://www.agupdate.com/news/state-and-re
gional/family-farm-plans-expansion-to-include-three-sons-new-skills/article_29e42e4e-e559-55dc-9cd3-5e2817459725.html#:~:text=Darren%
20Bailey%20(center)%20has%20found,has%20
grown%20to%2012%2C000%20acres.&te
xt=IOLA%2C%20Ill.

Comment by Soccermom Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:27 pm
Yes. How much government money is beetle being paid? What benefits does he get from the Illinois Department of Agriculture? Would there be a conflict of interest if beetle were elected governor?

100 years ago, income tax returns were public information. The wealth fat cats put the arm on Calvin Coolidge to make tax returns private.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/04/15/taxes-public-calvin-coolidge/

Comment by Huh? Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:27 pm
==Income taxes are private, they should stay that way.==

But his beloved SCOTUS doesn’t recognize a right to privacy.

Comment by Big Dipper Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:28 pm
Voted yes. Two reasons: Transparency and veracity.

I think disclosure is a wise choice for any candidate claiming his campaign is a fight for “working families, parents, taxpayers, law enforcement and everyday citizens.” Especially if that candidate also rails against big government while presenting themselves as an Everyman sort of character. There are times when hypocrisy shades into duplicity.

Disclosure should not be mandatory, however. There is plenty of information to be obtained from the required conflict of interest statement and the choice to disclose or not is an interesting test of character.

Comment by Flapdoodle Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:30 pm
I voted yes. I think any public servant should be willing to share their income and tax information with the public.

Comment by Siualum Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:31 pm
I voted yes. If you want to retain your privacy, don’t run for public office.

Comment by Proud Sucker Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 12:46 pm
Of course Bailey is a millionaire. He farms around 13,000 acres, most if not all of which he owns. His farm equipment alone I’m sure is worth multi-millions. But so what?

Comment by Rachel Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:00 pm
Voted yes because, according to the link provided by Soccermom, Bailey believes in transparency. Or at least he did in 2017.

Comment by West Side the Best Side Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:06 pm
Yes. There’s a reason we call it “public” office. And the public has every right to know whether or not your statements and governing are consistent with your daily life.

Comment by Pundent Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:19 pm
Yes. Not just state, local, and federal politicos of all kinds, but I’m also starting to think that all state and other public employees may need to have their tax info public too.

Comment by Just Sayin Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:21 pm
Sunshine remains the best disinfectant against corruption…let it shine.

Comment by Dotnonymous Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:25 pm
So the political argument to do so…

I am releasing my returns and I call upon every member of the legislature to do the same. Let the people see how much you make away from this body and how you make it.

Make it a bit about Madigan without making it about Madigan.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:31 pm
I voted yes… I’m tired of candidates pretending to be something they’re not. SCOTUS wanted us to believe he was worth $10B+; Bailey doesn’t want us to know he’s worth a few million after presenting himself as an average Joe scraping by… Neither wants us to know the truth as they pretend to be something they’re not. It’s gotten old.

Comment by Lincoln Lad Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:32 pm
If I were Bailey I would keep them hidden. Remember the hit Bill Brady took when he said he wouldn’t release his and then he did? I’m sure Bailey accepted an absolute ton of COVID money, and he probably hires illegal immigrants as well and that may show in his taxes somehow.

Comment by Just Me 2 Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:34 pm
You people clearly have no clue what’s on a tax return, nor how business people file taxes. There’s no reason for him or JB to release their personal tax returns, because it shows absolutely nothing. It will show their personal AGI and that’s it. These guys run everything through LLCs and their Trusts so that it doesn’t come back on them. Just like JB a few years ago, he can release the two pages and then people can say, hey we didn’t learn anything and not be satisfied. The real story is in the LLC and Trust/Business returns, which will never get released to the public.

Comment by Uniformed Posters Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:35 pm
I voted “Yes”. Bailey is the one throwing around a lot of names and criticizing his opponent as elite and out of touch. Show me the money.

From the article Soccermom provided the link to (Thank you) Darren does not own much if any land. Which is more typical than indicated by a previous commenter. Most farmers rent all or part of their land.

If Bailey owned all 12,000 acres he farmed 6 years ago he would have somewhere around $180,000,000 in land wealth. Give or take $30,000,000. That is pretty elite.

Most equipment is leased as well.

So if he is a millionaire ($3 plus million in subsidies and gubmint stimulus helps) then he has it in cash and investments.

Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:39 pm
Voted yes. Our politicians should be abla to explain sources of income to help ensure there is no conflict of interest.

Comment by illinifan Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:43 pm
Yes. See above yes answers, they cover it for me.

Comment by Norseman Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:49 pm
===You people===

* Crazy in-law uncle enters the chat *

It’s more of an ethical issue to openness.

The politics to it really isn’t concerned about the “what” but the “ah ha” to it.

Comment by Oswego Willy Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 1:59 pm
Yes.

I want to see if he got a tax break for taking all the toilets out of his machine sheds. s/

Comment by Streator Curmudgeon Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 2:21 pm
Soccermom -

———This article says Bailey’s farm covers 12,000 acres. ———

Not all the land Bailey farms is owned by him. He farms a lot of land in the area that’s owned by other families, but leased to him to farm. Not sure how much they actually own outright. Would have to check actual property records to get an idea.

Comment by Nick Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 2:22 pm
=There’s no reason for him or JB to release their personal tax returns, because it shows absolutely nothing.=

If a return shows absolutely nothing, then why resist releasing it? Seems a bit counterintuitive to take an extreme position on something that wouldn’t harm you in any way.

Comment by Pundent Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 2:30 pm
What’s ~90 million among friends. Maybe farming just isn’t for them?

Xenia, IL:
“EWG Farm Subsidy Database
Subsidy Recipients 1 to 30 of 398 in zipcode 62899
Recipients in this zipcode received $34,001,179 from 1995-2019″

Louisville, IL:
“EWG Farm Subsidy Database
Subsidy Recipients 1 to 30 of 772 in zipcode 62858
Recipients in this zipcode received $54,190,835 from 1995-2019″

Comment by XonXoff Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 2:41 pm
Voted yes, but lots of “angles” on this one.

Is Bailey “mousetrapping” Pritzker (”I’ll release mine when you release all your tax forms like Mitt Romney did.” 2010, 203 pages; 2011, 379 pages.)

Does Bailey have a large loss(es) like Bill Brady did in 2010? (Who remembers that kerfluffle?)

Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 2:54 pm
I would be curious to find out what kind of public subsidies contributed to his millionaire status

Comment by Elijah Snow Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 3:08 pm
Of course it is yes. There is no better way for the citizens to know if public officials have a conflict of interest. Those who refuse are immediately suspect. What a stupid move for a “transparency “ candidate.

Comment by Tired Teacher Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 3:25 pm
Yes, for the transparency reasons stated by others, and to show that intent, even if there isn’t much to learn. Also, with the rampant conflicts that Trump apparently has, whatever can be learned of that nature from tax returns is worth knowing.

Comment by Lets play 2 Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 3:57 pm
-What’s ~90 million among friends. Maybe farming just isn’t for them?-

Imagine how rich they’d be if Chicago didn’t take all their money? /s

Comment by Ron Burgundy Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 4:56 pm
Voted no. We presume innocence until proven guilty yet so many assume he is guilty unless he proves otherwise. If he follows the legal reporting requirements then that is what he should do. If you want more then change the law. I am far more interested in where his campaign funding comes from.

Comment by NeverPoliticallyCorrect Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 5:07 pm
Voted no. It’s a no win situation and doesn’t really have any bearing on someone’s ability to govern.

Comment by Peter Griffin Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 7:00 pm
By seeing his taxes, one learns where his money is coming from - - and who controls his decisions.

Comment by Mama Thursday, Jun 30, 22 @ 9:49 pm