Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders acted as though it was a big show of transparency when he released a decade’s worth of tax returns last year, an event of such magnitude that no one reading this probably even realized that it ever happened.
I couldn’t tell you one detail from memory about what was in them.
Even though the public doesn’t seem to care about the tax history of presidential candidates, Democrats have continued to demand that President Trump release his own, or that they be legally seized and released due to a friendly court ruling.
But if there were ever a case to be made for the required disclosure of personal information as a presidential candidate, it would most certainly be for medical records. And Sanders, who is 78 years old and recently suffered a heart attack, doesn’t think those are things the public needs to worry about.
Healthcare for all? How about we just start with Sanders first?
He’s refusing to release his medical records, saying Tuesday on CNN, “If you think I’m not in good health, come on out with me on the campaign trail, and I’ll let you introduce me to the three or four rallies a day that we do, how’s that?”
That’s not how heart health works. It’s now a real possibility that, if elected, Sanders would die in office from a physical illness. Depending on what’s in his health records, his choice of a running mate might be the only important one he makes.
Voters deserve to know. They can only truly evaluate his candidacy and the ramifications of the status of his health if they know what serious medical issues he has.
California passed a law (since struck down by a court) that required tax disclosures for anyone wanting to appear on the ballot. Democrats in other states have tried doing the same. Maybe they should do it for medical histories instead, given that they actually matter.
