The Presidential campaign has been dogged by the candidates’ refusal to be prompt, honest and transparent. Transparent is a word that means you can see right through ‘em. And most voters don’t like what they see.

Here are a few “if’s” that could have prevented a lot of arguments and saved millions of dollars.

If Obama had released full details about his birth in 2008 or sooner, there would be no such word as “birther.” If Trump had released a year ago his tax returns, or at least an accurate summary, no one would be raising a fuss about them. Of course, his income might be far less than he has claimed.

If Hillary Clinton had corrected her huge mistake of having classified emails on a private server shortly after beginning her term as Secretary of State, and then all four years of her official emails had been made available to Congressional committees, millions of dollars and years of investigation would have been avoided. Then we would have never heard the phrase, “At this point, what difference does it make?” nor learned how to bleach emails.

No one accepted my offer to debate, not even our minor party candidates. So I’m gonna sit between two empty chairs and pretend Trump and Clinton are sitting there. I’ll spring a couple of surprises. To Mr. Trump, I’ll quote from his “audited” income taxes and ask, “In 2012 did you actually only net $37,000 after taxes?” Then to Mrs. Clinton, I’ll read one of her “bleached” top secret emails, skipping the CIA agent’s name, and ask, “Would you like me to read any more of your 30,000 boring emails?” (You can read more about my “Anti-Bunk” campaign at: WillRogersForPresident.com)

The first debate next Monday will have six major topics, to be selected by the Moderator, Lester Holt. What should they be? How about these: Illegal immigrants (amnesty, citizenship, deportation); National security (handling classified information, Muslim refugees from terrorist countries); Economy (jobs, tax rates); Federal debt ($19 Trillion and rising); Foreign policy; and Farm policy.

Historic quotes by Will Rogers:      

“If you ever injected truth into politics, you would have no politics.”
“If there is one thing a politician hates worse than a recount, it’s somebody that is not in their business.”
“Our Anti-Bunk Party may not get many votes, but we got many a laugh coming. And we’ve got our conscience intact.”