Beto O'Rourke releases 10 years of his tax returns


Beto O'Rourke did not earn more than $1 million a year selling a book on launching a democratic socialist "revolution," but like fellow 2020 presidential hopeful Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), O'Rourke did just fine over the past 10 years, according to a decade's worth of tax returns he released Monday night.
O'Rourke and his wife, Amy, earned more than $360,000 in 2017, the latest year in the filings. Their income included O'Rourke's $162,011 congressional salary, $53,000 Amy O'Rourke earned as an education consultant, and more than $11,000 from Stanton Street Technology, an internet company O'Rourke started in 1999. They paid an effective tax rate of 22 percent.
O'Rourke furnished the hundreds of pages of tax returns just after aforementioned millionaire author Sanders released 10 years of his tax returns. Like Sanders, O'Rourke noted that President Trump has declined to release any of his tax returns, despite promising to do so while running for president. "If he must be compelled through a subpoena to do so, so be it," O'Rourke said Monday morning, after a town hall in Charlotte. "But everyone who runs to seek that office should release their taxes."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
July 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include new TSA rules, FEMA cuts, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy complimenting Donald Trump's new wardrobe
-
5 weather-beaten cartoons about the Texas floods
Cartoons Artists take on funding cuts, politicizing tragedy, and more
-
What has the Dalai Lama achieved?
The Explainer Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader has just turned 90, and he has been clarifying his reincarnation plans
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling