Here's a good scam!

Heinz Kerry delays filing 2003 tax forms:

Teresa Heinz Kerry has filed for an extension on her 2003 US income tax forms, giving her husband John F. Kerry's presidential campaign until mid-August to decide whether to make her tax records public, as some Republicans and newspaper editorial boards have demanded.
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According to the Internal Revenue Service website, the automatic extension is for four months, which would mean that Heinz Kerry could file her returns anytime between now and mid-August. If she waits until then, it would be after the Democratic National Convention, in late July, and at a time when many Americans will be tuning into the televised 2004 Summer Olympic Games or are possibly on vacation.

I'm sure that Teresa is just burning the midnight oil with a calculator and a bunch of sharp pencils trying to get 'em done too! C'mon Teresa, the accountants are on retainer anyhow - tell' em to work faster!

And by the way, here is her latest excuse for not releasing the eventual returns:

Speaking to reporters in Beverly Hills, Calif., yesterday, Heinz Kerry said she did not want to make her tax returns public because it would violate the privacy of her three sons. "If some god of taxes would want to come in and look at all of my portfolio, I'd let them," she said. "But I don't think I have the right to put my children's privacy out into the open."

Somehow I don't think ole Teresa is just worried about the tykes finding out whether she correctly counted her dependents. Can you say "Trust Fund Babies"? I guess that wouldn't fit in with the "Man of the People" story line.

Also being the Boston Globe, they have to bring in an "expert" dismissal from a "pundit":

One political analyst, Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia, dismissed the matter as a silly distraction from key issues like national and economic security.

"Her tax returns are of interest to a very limited group of people -- almost entirely people backing Bush already," Sabato said. "Whether Teresa Heinz Kerry owns three-quarters of Japan, it just doesn't matter in this election."

Three-quarters of Japan would be unimportant? I wonder what Larry would consider to be important? How about campaign law violations by funneling money to her husband's campaign? How about illicit support of left wing political groups? How about a "rich and shameless" lifestyle replete with tax loopholes while her hubby is going for the wallets of regular people who work for a living? Naw, Larry probably wouldn't consider those important either.

UPDATE: Maybe this is why Teresa is so shy about her taxes - Teresa Heinz-Kerry Loses Fortune and Senatorial Sleeping Privileges:

Teresa Heinz-Kerry, wife of Democrat presidential frontrunner Senator John Kerry and the widow of the late Senator John Heinz, has lost her estimated $600 million fortune due to speculation in commodities futures, according to a report to be published tomorrow in The Wall Street Journal. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Minority Leader Tom Daschle have issued a joint communiqué in which they state that Ms. Heinz-Kerry will no longer be afforded sleeping privileges with senators from either party.
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Senator Kerry told reporters covering his campaign that, while it is regrettable about the $600 million loss, he took a vow to stand by his wife “for richer or poorer” and intends to do so. The Senator also announced that for the next several weeks he will be campaigning exclusively in Las Vegas.