NJ to pass law requiring tax return release

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. Those are the *minimum* requirements. I don't see any reason why Congress or states

couldn't impose additional ones, or why political parties couldn't require certain things - like releasing tax returns - as a condition of endorsement or support. The Constitution says only this: "No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States." This doesn't say there can't be other qualifications; it merely disqualifies those who don't meet these minimums. If they wanted those to be the only requirements they'd have phrased the clause something like this: "Any person who is a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, and who shall have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and been fourteen years a resident within the United States, shall be eligible to the office of President."

The Constitution also gives the states the power to decide how candidates can get on their ballots. The states impose registration requirements and time limits in order for candidates to be listed on their ballots, and the Constitution says nothing about that. Why not tax returns?