GOP, hold on to your records!

The Democratic party is trying to create a stir by demanding Romney's tax records for the past decade. Harry Reid says Romney is not showing his taxes because of tax dodging; there's no evidence at all, but it plays well for the media. Madame Pelosi isn't releasing her financial information, either. Pelosi says she doesn't have to release her taxes because "she's not running for President." Which is fine, but there doesn't seem to be any legal requirement that candidates for President release tax returns.

Pelosi highlights an interesting, if perhaps psychotic, contradiction between the standards liberals hold themselves to, and those they hold conservatives to.

Remember the "birther" controversy? The entire reason that came about was Obama's claims that he was born in Kenya, and his intransigent refusal to release any records at all. Not even a certified birth certificate, until four (4) years of intense public pressure. And after four years of pressure, still nothing else; no school records, medical records, service records.

Candidate Obama simply will NOT be vetted. Given a chance, the mainstream media will continue to sit in the Obama campaign camp and point fingers at Republicans.

The GOP, and the Romney-Ryan team in particular, have a great opportunity to make "transparency" a campaign issue, and to go on the offensive if they have the guts to do so. Obama promised to have the most transparent administration. He didn't do it and never intended to: he didn't deliver anything but Chicago-style corruption and backroom cronyism.

For the GOP, it's simple. GOP, hold on to your records; release only what Obama, Biden, Pelosi, and Reid have released, and only when they do. They are the incumbents and they've had years to release important records. Let the incumbents lead by example.

And don't let the mainstream media off the hook, either. Many in the GOP worry that they will alienate the media, but they don't need to worry. The media folks are, for the most part, firmly planted in the Obama camp; they are no friend to the GOP, and some public accountability might do them some good. In fact, gently highlighting the left-wing bias in the news might open the eyes of some otherwise complacent voters, and cause them to become more aware of the subtle leftward push in news reporting. That would help level the playing field.

So, GOP, hold on to your records. Transparency should start with the Obama Administration. It's a promise they have broken for years. It's about information the public wants and needs, and information the media wants and needs to ignore.