Romney versus Reid, continued

It's not Harry Reid's fault that claims about Mitt Romney's taxes can't be substantiated Republicans say they are apoplectic about unsubstantiated claims about Mitt Romney's taxes. Well, about some unsubstantiated claims. Specifically, the ones being made by Harry Reid.

Republicans were downright furious. Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus lambasted Reid as a 'dirty liar' while Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell called the allegations 'reckless and slanderous.' Conservative columnist George Will likened Reid's attacks to Joseph McCarthy's witch hunt during the 1950s.

'As far as Harry Reid is concerned, listen, I know you might want to go down that road. I'm not going to respond to a dirty liar who hasn't filed a single page of tax returns himself, complains about people with money but lives in the Ritz Carlton here down the street, ' Priebus said during an appearance on ABC's 'This Week.'

The Republican outrage continues today, with Priebus saying he will "triple down" on his "dirty liar" insult. And it's not hard to see why they are so eager to get Reid to shut up: they are desperate to prevent Mitt Romney's tax return secrecy from becoming more of a liability than it already is.

But condemning Reid for making unsubstantiated claims about Mitt Romney's tax returns is a double-edged sword, because Mitt Romney has provided no more evidence than Harry Reid to back up his own tax return claims. And unlike Harry Reid, Mitt Romney is running for president.

The one absolute and indisputable fact here is that Mitt Romney has the power to make the speculation disappear. All he has to do is follow the lead of both his father and of President Obama and release his tax returns. And until and unless he does that, the questions about what Mitt Romney is hiding will continue to grow.