Donald Trump and his Stubbornness about Releasing his Taxes

The article "What we can Learn from Donald Trump's Unreleased Tax Return" somewhat employs rigorous and empirical data, as the author did have to look through and analyze several released tax returns from this election, and previous elections. He also had to determine which candidates in the past released his/her tax return to the public, which candidates did not, the order in which the candidates released their respective tax returns, etc. The article has no real quantitative approaches utilized, but does use some qualitative approaches when discussing the candidates and their trustworthiness in releasing (or not releasing) their tax returns. The author discusses many qualities of candidates, and mentions how Hillary Clinton did not have the best tax return but still released it, so that she will not seem like she is hiding anything. The article was centered around this empirical, qualitative data that placed the focus on the qualities of the candidates and the observations made by the author.

The data is used by the author to predict the fact that Trump is hiding something. For years the norm has been that the presidential candidates release their tax returns to the public, and yet Trump refuses even after Hillary Clinton released her less than flattering tax return, and Mitt Romney did the same last year. The author is using the data to prove how Trump’s actions are very untrustworthy, and fairly unprecedented. He is also showing the way in which it would honestly benefit Trump to just release the tax return, as people would think he has far less to hide. But Trump is stubborn, and according to the author and his data, clearly has a secret hiding in his tax return.

The data could be reframed to show the way that not releasing his tax return might actually benefit Trump, as well as the voters, and might not indicate that he has a secret. Trump is a businessman and could potentially be protecting his many companies and assets. The author could also use the data to determine if there is any sort of connection between candidates refusing to disclose their tax returns and election support, and demonstrate why Trump may actually be making a smart decision. If the author flips the observations he is making and also lists the qualities of Trump that might validate his choice not to release his tax return, then the story would take on a whole new frame and a whole different meaning.

Link to article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/12/upshot/what-we-can-learn-from-donald-trumps-unreleased-tax-returns.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fupshot&action=click&contentCollection=upshot&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront