Romney demanded more tax returns from potential running mates than he's willing to give public

Former VP hopeful Tim Pawlenty gave Romney "several years" of tax returns Mitt Romney thinks he's got more of a right to know what's in his vice president's tax returns than the public does to know what's in his.

So far, Romney has publicly released just one year's worth of tax returns (though it was missing a document about his Swiss bank account). He's also promised to release his 2011 tax returns when they are ready, whenever that might be.

But last night on CBS's 60 Minutes, Paul Ryan told Bob Schieffer that he'd given several years worth of returns to the Romney campaign during the vetting process. (As you can see in the video at the top of the post, Tim Pawlenty told ABC the same thing.)

Ryan's answer gave Schieffer an obvious follow-up question to ask of Romney, who was sitting by Ryan's side. If Mitt Romney wouldn't hire a running mate without checking multiple years of tax returns, why does he think the public should hire a president without doing the same?

Of course, Schieffer didn't ask the follow-up. He's the softest interviewer on broadcast television and Romney's campaign knows it. That's why they gave Schieffer the Romney-Ryan interview. Because there are some questions Mitt Romney just doesn't want to answer.