Originally published on Forbes.com.
Jill Stein is currently polling at 3% in the presidential race according to this story by Sam Frizell. That could be enough to upset the Democratic apple cart. I’d be a little cautious on that, because she lines up with Trump on trade policy to some extent, so you can’t rule out her pulling some votes that might have gone his way. If I remember rightly I voted for Nader in 2000, but it was Bush that was my second choice. Regardless, she could be more of a factor in 2016 than she was in 2012, when I lavished quite a bit of coverage on her.
My History With Jill Stein
2012 was my first Presidential election as a tax blogger and I had quite a bit of fun with candidate returns, particularly Mitt Romney’s. This time around has not been nearly as good. Hillary Clinton’s returns were pretty boring and we haven’t seen Trump’s. Regardless, back in 2012, I thought in the interest of completeness, I should look at Jill Stein’s returns. Only they were not available. She reportedly had released her 2009 return when she ran for governor of Massachusetts, but I could not find it on the web.
I started cooking up theories as to why the returns were not out there. Then my friend, Jonathan Schwartz, suggested that instead of speculating I should interview Dr. Stein. Son of a gun, but it turned out that Jonathan had the contacts to make it happen. Here is the whole interview if you want to invest an hour or so of lifespan.
The title “Not Your Average Jill Stein Interview” reflects the fact that I think I covered more than most other interviewers. I went through every part of the Green Party platform that I found interesting and went a good bit into her background. The interview must have been really good because the Fox loudmouth that I fear may be my cousin grabbed a clip from it without giving me credit. I was very pleased to learn that]Doctor Stein’s dog Bandita gets to ride inside the car unlike poor Seamus.
I did, of course, ask her when she would be releasing her income tax returns and she answered “Soon”.
Well, it has been nearly four years and I have not seen a sign of them. Frankly, I’m hoping some astute commenter will embarrass me by posting a link to those returns, that I somehow missed. I have inquired of the campaign a couple of times and have not gotten any response.
Good Enough For Trump
It appears that if a candidate neglects to release returns, it is fair game to speculate on why he or she hasn’t. Media Matters has a kind of catalog of all the possibilities when it comes to Donald Trump]. My favorite is the notion that the returns could show he is not as wealthy as he claims. The reality is that you can’t really judge net worth from an income tax return very well. One of the best wealth building devices going, the one practiced by]Warren Buffett is to avoid gain realization.
Doctor Stein was interviewed by Jon Keller in late June and he reported:
]Stein said she has always released her tax returns in past races , and will put them online in the event she becomes the Green Party’s 2016 nominee when the party convenes in August.
Besides the possibility that that sentence should be amended to read “released her tax returns in some past races”, I have to ask why she is not releasing her returns until after the Green Party convention. According to a campaign release, she has secured enough delegates to win the nomination already.
An Educated Guess
I call this an educated guess because much of my life was spent serving families like the one Dr. Stein grew up in. The first-generation immigrants are entrepreneurial in part because discrimination forecloses other opportunities. The second generation may or may not continue the family business. The third generation has the doors of opportunity wide open and can, if qualified, go to Harvard Medical School. This is a great country, America, and don’t you forget it.
Here is how that story indicates that Doctor Stein’s tax returns might look different than they did in 2009, when, as far as I can tell she last released them. Dr. Stein’s maternal grandfather, Israel Wool, was a real estate investor in Chicago. Dr. Stein’s mother passed away in 2010. So if anything is left from those real estate investments, it is likely now showing up on the tax returns of Dr. Stein, along with those of Nan Stein Ph.D, Beth Stein Ph.D and Dr. Robert Stein.
There is a good chance that there is nothing there that you or I would find very exciting. My covivant, who is a good influence, has discouraged me from spinning this theory any further. But remember Dr. Stein is accepting the nomination of the Green Party. My impression of the Green Party’s platform is that it is kind of a big tent for leftish concepts, not all of which are consistent with one another. If Dr. Stein inherited anything other than an interest in a socially responsible organic zero energy health food store, there will be somebody on the floor at the Green Party convention asking why she doesn’t give it up.
And, fun as it is for tax bloggers, maybe this is why it would be better if we just forgot about candidate tax returns.