Is Full Disclosure Possible? Stephen Green looks at the minor flapdoodle over Theresa Heinz's refusal to make public her tax return. He asks, "what business is her tax returns of ours?"

Typically, I'd agree. In this case, though, Kerry's life is subsidized by his wife to such an extent that his own tax return is essentially meaningless gibberish without the Rosetta Stone of Heinz's return. Take, for example, the current story of the capital gain Kerry earned by selling his half interest in a million dollar painting (Theresa owns the other half). His flak, Mike Meehan, refused to say whether Kerry purchased his half. For argumentary purposes, this pretty much means he didn't pay for it. I'm not enough of an expert to know the legal requirements for establishing basis on art as an investment, nor do I know how Kerry and Heinz keep their records to establish how he might have paid for his half. But if you had to shift a half-million bucks in assets, simply declaring that your spouse (who conveniently makes a comparatively tiny salary) owns half of a million dollar painting is a great way to be able to do it.

She should show her hand.