DESPERATE? New Report Says 20 States Looking To Require Tax Returns In Effort To Block Trump From 2020 Ballot

With the prevailing narrative of “no collusion, no obstruction” appearing to sink in with American voters, the Democrat Party is looking to other possibilities for disqualifying President Trump from 2020 contention.

WJST: A new poll has some rough news for Democrats in favor of impeachment. CTST: Will the Democrats be smart enough to listen to the will of the American public? Don’t count on it. https://t.co/jU4TBOVAlO

— Conservative Tribune (@conserv_tribune) April 28, 2019

What is the new Democrat strategy? Require a tax return “litmus test” just to make it on state ballots.

Nearly 20 states have pending bills that would block President Trump’s name from the 2020 ballot unless he releases his tax returns. State Senator Dale Righter (R-IL), who represents a state with one of these bills, says this violates voters’ rights. https://t.co/ZHOWRmHsJF

— Fox & Friends First (@FoxFriendsFirst) April 30, 2019

Americans, frequently underestimated and castigated as idiots by the Democrats, will see right through this blatant attempt at voter-suppression.

“I’ve read through the US Constitution a number of times and there is no place in our founding document nor any of the 27 Amendments requires the release of tax returns and financial records.” https://t.co/QUOlQatClL

— Randy Bell (@RandyMBell) May 1, 2019

Democrat-leaning states are going to do whatever they can, underhanded or unprecedented, to thwart the opportunity for President Trump to serve for another eight years. Salon reported on the finer details of the move being made by blue states:

“Nearly [sic] twenty states across the county have introduced legislation that would require all presidential and vice presidential candidates to release their individual tax returns in order to appear on the ballot during the presidential or general election, according to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL).

Bills requiring prospective presidential candidates to disclose recent tax returns as a condition to appear on the ballot are currently pending in the following fourteen states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Similar legislation, introduced this year, failed in Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia.

Despite a few exceptions, nearly all of the state bills that have been introduced would require candidates to post at least five years of their individual tax returns. In addition, virtually every state bill has been introduced by a Democratic lawmaker, an apparent reaction to Trump’s decision to buck decades of tradition during the 2016 election cycle when he refused to release his tax returns.”

More importantly than the effort certain states are putting forth to block President Trump from the 2020 ballot is the dangerous precedent such a move would set during already hyper-politicized times. Outside the Beltway’s James Joyner has an excellent piece explaining exactly that:

“If it’s okay to demand release of tax returns to qualify for the ballot, why not a pledge to not raise taxes if elected? Or signing to a right-to-life pledge?

We really don’t want to leave it up to the whims of state legislatures to decide who gets to run for President.

Even the defensible exclusions, such as only granting access to nominees of parties who got X percent of the vote in the previous election or candidates who get Y number of signatures, are ripe for abuse and, indeed, abused. But allowing literally everyone who would like their name to appear on the ballot access would be absurdly expensive and make it much harder for people to vote.

But this particular trend is indeed a Pandora’s box. The courts should strike it down at the earliest opportunity.”

The Democrats are playing with fire, attempting to establish a mandate in order to be eligible for major candidates just to have their name on the ballot. As James Joyner pointed out, this could open up the possibility of more ridiculous and unconstitutional state-established requirements for candidates.

This precedent is anti-democratic and only seeks to weaponize President Trump’s tax returns. Presidential candidates are not required to produce their tax returns for the public.

Forcing private citizens to have to publicly display their tax information is an attack on privacy and freedom and should be stopped.

The following is a video explaining the process such states might go through to block President Trump from appearing on their 2020 ballot and how this is already being pursued in New Jersey.