Mrs. John McCain To Media: Drop Dead

What do the Kerrys, Clintons, and Obamas have in common? The Clintons, who file jointly, released to the public their tax returns for tax year 2007, as did the Obamas, who also file jointly. Teresa Heinz Kerry, who filed separately from husband John, released her returns for tax year 2003.

Cindy McCain is chairwoman of, and heir to, the family-owned Hensley & Co., the nation's third largest Anheuser-Busch distributor, and distributor of other brands of beer. She has not made her tax returns public and when asked in April if whe would release her returns if husband John becomes President, replied "no." On Thursday's "Today" on NBC, Mrs. McCain stated "You know, my husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate." (Senator McCain's federal tax return for 2007 indicated income of $405,409 and $84,460 in taxes paid.)

As heiress to her late father, Cindy is believed to own a majority of Hensley and therefore is worth at least $100 million. Further, as cbsnews.com has reported, Mrs. McCain: 1) may share with John possessions she didn't inherit; b) owns with her husband a condominium , assessed at $847,800 in Arlington, Virginia; c) alone or with her children, owns also Anheuser-Busch stock, two condominums along the California coast worth a total of at least $3 million and Arizona investments in rental medical offices and a parking lot; d)has property worth nearly $1.8 million near Sedona, Arizona, which includes a two-story cabin (where her husband rencently held a barbecue for reporters) and 15 acres owned by her family's trust; e) a real estate partnership in her name.

Campaign spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker assures us "Senator McCain very rarely, if ever, drinks alcohol," a personal rectitude that may conflict with his political interests:

Hensley executives are among the Arizona senator's top career givers. The Anheuser-Busch PAC has given McCain's campaigns at least $19,500 over the years. McCain's campaign fundraisers include Robert Delgado, Hensley's president and chief executive officer; Andrew McCain, the company's chief financial officer and John McCain's stepson from his first marriage, to Carol Shepp; and August Busch III, chairman of Anheuser-Busch's executive committee. Anheuser-Busch in 2006 gave $25,000to the International Republican Institute, a pro-democracy group chaired by McCain.

McCain's campaign still taps Hensley assets: His presidential campaign paid at least $227,000 last year to a limited liability company in which his wife and children are invested, King Aviation, for use of its private jet, according to campaign finance reports.

If we are lucky, the mainstream media will pursue this story to determine whether Cindy McCain (or her husband) has something to hide, or whether it is a simple matter of contempt for the American people, an elitist attitude by a member of the corporate elite married to an elitist Senator. Or instead the media will ignore the story in its self-anointed role as apologist for John McCain.