According to the Associated Press (AP) President Obama’s keeping the pressure on Republican Tea Party (GOTP) rival Willard Mitt Romney on two fronts, launching a new TV ad defending his record on Medicare while continuing to challenge Willard to release at least five years of his tax returns.

Jim Messina, the President’s campaign manager, made the tax-disclosure offer to Willard’s top dog, Matt Rhoades saying he was taking the step because Romney “apparently fears the more he offers, the more our campaign will demand that he provide.”Romney’s wife, Ann, has repeatedly stated that concern in interviews, arguing that the more the couple releases, the more questions are asked, and so from her point of view the logical thing is to hide everything and let everyone’s imaginations run wild?

Willard has released part of his 2010 taxes – they’re incomplete – he’s pledged to release his 2011 returns, sometime later, and Messina’s offer said the President wants Romney to provide three more years of returns, and that’s all; so in total they’re asking for five years of returns.

While Democratic Senate Majority Leader, and fellow Latter-day Saint, Harry Reid has raised the question of whether there are years when Willard paid no taxes. Willard continues to mew he’s has paid at least 13 percent of his income in federal taxes every year for the past decade; that’s right folks a whole 13%, but of course we’ll have to trust him on this and simply take his word.

“I did go back and look at my taxes and over the past 10 years I never paid less than 13 percent,” Willard’s told reporters. “I think the most recent year is 13.6 or something like that. So I paid taxes every single year.”

And we have to believe him because there’s no proof being offered except what Mitt claims; as has always been the case, Willard can stop this story by simply releasing his taxes. To not do so implies there’s something to hide, something so potentially disastrous to his campaign he’d rather spend weeks if not the entire campaign dealing with this one issue, which in the long run will hurt him amongst the moderate voters, the ones he has to swing his way in order to win.