Over the past 40 years, there are two things that presidential and vice presidential nominees are expected to do that are not required by law, but are recommended by the American people before we elect them to the highest office in the world. One of those things is releasing their medical records. HRC's team did this in, of course, thorough fashion. Her own health report was close to 100 pages, and if that wasn’t enough, she released even more after her pneumonia scare in September. Senator Tim Kaine released a full health report, so did Governor Mike Pence. Donald Trump released a one page document from his personal physician stating, "If elected, Mr. Trump…will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency. " You remember that right? It was when Trump introduced us to the shadiest doctor since Bill Cosby…allegedly.

Nominees are also expected to release their tax returns. It started withRichard Nixonwhen he decided not to release his taxes before his election.He eventually released five years worth while he was in office, after some of them were leaked to the press. These returns showed that he paid only about $800 when his salary was over $200,00. After this he was hit with a $471, 431 plus interest tax bill. Secretary Clinton released forty years worth of tax return information. Kaine and Pence also released their tax returns.Trump has released none. Although there have been two that were leaked to the press.

After both parties conventions, there was a 1995 tax return where Trump indicated he lost nearly $1 billion dollars. Tax experts say that Trump could have used legal tax policies to avoid paying taxes for up to 18 years. This came out before the first debate, so when Secretary Clinton mentioned this during the during that debate Trump responded with, “that makes me smart.”

Another tax return was recently mailed anonymously to journalist David Cay Johnson and was aired on “The Rachel Maddow Show.” This one was from 2005. In this return it showed him paying nearly $38 million on a $150 million-dollar salary, it did not specify where his income came from. It also included $103 million in deductions. This was a good return for Trump. It showed him paying his fair share of taxes, it showed him making a lot of money, which helps his ego.

Why do we need to see his tax returns? The number one reason we need to see his returns is to rule out any conflicts of interest he may have to other countries. How do we know for sure that he isn’t in debt to a Russian national bank? We also need to make sure he isn’t using the presidency to enrich himself or his family. For example, if the Trump business is looking to build hotels in Russia, couldn’t it possibly be easier if our government, which Trump oversees, were to left sanctions on Russia? We, including his voters, also can’t see whether his tax plan will benefit him or the working class.

Trump's tax returns have been a topic of conversation since he entered the presidential race in 2015. During the primaries and the general election, he insisted that his returns were under an IRS audit, and after the audit was completed he would release them. Even though the IRS has said that if he is under audit, there is no law forbidding him from releasing his returns. After the election that changed. His surrogates and Trump himself decided that the American people weren't interested in his tax returns, and that they didn't matter anymore because he won. In a recent poll done by ABC news, 74% of Americans want to see his tax returns. I’m not sure what Trump is afraid of. It’s not like we are asking for information on the church he attends every Sunday. It’s not like we are asking to see his birth certificate. All of which was asked of President Obama, and when we ask for something as simple as a tax return from the current president we are called sore losers?

At this point, there’s a good chance Trump is never going to release his taxes. If only we had some secret agency that could leak stolen documents out to the public…cough…WikiLeaks…cough. That doesn’t look like it’s going to work for us either. The only thing we can do is to reach out to our congressperson and senators and let them know how you feel about this issue. There is a political uprising just beginning in America against this administration. Trump may have been able to get away with anything when he was a millionaire real estate boss. We have to hold him accountable for the sake of our country.