Obama suggests Clinton show tax returns

NEW ORLEANS - Democrat Barack Obama suggested Thursday that Hillary Rodham Clinton follow his lead and release her and her husband's income tax returns so the public can see where the $5 million she loaned her presidential campaign came from.

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A day earlier, Clinton acknowledged that she had made the loan late last month. At the time, Obama was raising and spending more money than her heading into the round of presidential primaries and caucuses on Super Tuesday.

Asked whether he would call on the Clintons to release their tax returns, Obama stopped short of saying they should.

"I'll just say that I've released my tax returns. That's been a policy I've maintained consistently. I think the American people deserve to know where you get your income from. But I'll leave it up to you guys to chase it down," he told reporters on the flight to Omaha, Neb., for a rally.

"I've disclosed my income tax returns," he said. "I think we set the bar in terms of transparency and disclosure that has been a consistent theme of my campaign and my career in politics."

There was no immediate comment from Clinton's campaign.

Obama noted that Clinton is wealthier than he is. Asked whether he would rule out tapping his personal funds to pay for his presidential campaign, he said, "I don't have enough money to drop $5 million into a campaign."

Clinton's financial disclosures, which reveal only broad ranges of assets, place her and former President Clinton's wealth between $10 million to $50 million.

Obama released tax documents last year showing income of more than $991,000 for him and his wife, Michelle. The figure included his Senate salary as well as her income as an administrator of the University of Chicago Hospitals.