Friday afternoons are a wonderful time. Expectations are high and plans are being made for the evening and weekend. Most of us, no matter what our age, are like school kids waiting for the bell to ring on Friday afternoons…

As I have mentioned in several columns, Fridays are also a great time for government agencies and officials to make announcements – announcements they don’t really want many folks to see. They hope by doing it on Friday the announcement can escape the normal scrutiny that it would if released on, say a Tuesday. They hope the information is mostly ignored.

If you are Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney then Friday was the perfect day to release your 2011 tax returns – and who better to release this information than someone named Trustee Brad Malt!

A note from Trustee Brad Malt was posted on the Romney for President Website stating, “This morning, Gov. and Mrs. Romney filed their 2011 tax return with the IRS. At 3:00pm today, the Romney for President campaign will be posting the 2011 return online.”

So I read Brad Malt’s note and waited for 3:00pm…with a glass of wine (it was Friday).

We should also be honored to know that, according to the note, “The Romneys’ generous charitable donations in 2011 would have significantly reduced their tax obligation for the year. The Romneys thus limited their deduction of charitable contributions to conform to the Governor’s statement in August, based upon the January estimate of income, that he paid at least 13% in income taxes in each of the last 10 years.”

It sounds to me that ol’ Mitt was thinking “campaign strategy” with his 2011 returns. It was not exactly a sacrifice.

Malt also added, “Also posted will be a notarized letter from the Romneys’ tax preparer, PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP (PWC), giving a summary of tax rates from the Romneys’ tax returns for the 20-year period of 1990-2009.”

Wow.  PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP.  And I thought I was doing well using H&R Block or TurboTax…

So, the summary of 1990-2009 should just about put an end to the Romney tax issue, yes?

Nope.  Not hardly.

You and I know that Ann and Mitt Romney are very wealthy people – it filters through when they speak and we see it in their actions. Plus, we understand just how wealthy they are when we read about one of their houses having an elevator for their cars. Do you have an elevator for your cars? I think not. Point made.

If elected, Romney would be the wealthiest President of the United States ever. Ev-ver.

What bothers me is his non-disclosure of his taxes for the past few years. What is in these documents that Romney and his advisors are so afraid for the general public to see that they have drawn a line in the sand saying they won’t release them? Romney has been vague on how he will lead the country (elect me first and then I’ll tell you the details), and he seems to be hiding something in his tax returns prior to 2011.

So that leads me and many Americans to believe there has to be something there – and it gives us pause when thinking about casting a vote for Romney/Ryan (some people in the 47% are also thinking twice before voting for Romney). We have to ask ourselves, “What if…?”

Being the leader of the greatest country on the face of the earth is a tough job and it’s not for everyone. But, to become that leader requires the person to be honest, open, and trustworthy – and Romney is currently lacking in these three areas.

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