"Already Kerry's economic proposals seem tuned to serve his wife's economic interests," Luskin contended.

"His proposal last March to end tax breaks for U.S. corporations that do business overseas was designed with a loophole that would let the H.J. Heinz Company — the centerpiece of Mrs. Kerry's family fortune — keep its overseas tax breaks, and get a lower domestic tax rate at the same time."

Luskin cited Kerry's Heinz Foods tax loophole as just one example of why it was absolutely imperative that his wife unseal her tax returns before the election.

So far the prospective first lady has agreed to make just two pages of her tax forms public - and then not until October. Meanwhile, there are indications that she may have significantly understated her income.

Limited tax information released by Mrs. Kerry in March put her annual 2003 income at $5 million. While the Heinz Kerrys refuse to reveal the full extent of their wealth, the Los Angeles Times valued her net worth last month at between $900 million and $3.2 billion.

Even if Heinz Kerry picked extremely conservative investments, Luskin said, her reported income was suspiciously low.

"Let's put this in terms that people of less extreme wealth can relate to," he wrote. "If you had $100,000 invested last year and your investment income was only $500 - the same percentage as Mrs. Kerry's income - then something would be very much out of whack."

Luskin said that Heinz Kerry's financial figures, such as they're known to date, suggest that she is either "the world's worst investor" or "Mrs. Kerry may be the world's greatest cheat."

"We can't know exactly what is out of whack with Mrs. Kerry's income, if anything, because ... [her] separate [tax] returns have never been made part of the public record," Luskin said.

Editor's note: