And so the long-awaited tax returns are duly dumped late on a Friday afternoon, when the media’s busy remembering MLK. Here’s the snapshot via Drudge but you’re better off with the summary at her campaign site, where the individual returns are posted. 31% went to the feds, 9.5% to charity (much of it, I assume, to BJ’s Global Initiative):

World Exclusive: 4/4/08 15:43:06 ET
2000-2007 Returns
Feds Taxes Paid: $33.7 million
Charity: $10.2 million
Her Senate Salary: $1,051,606
His Presidential Pension: $1,217,250
Her Book Income: $10,457,083
His Book Income: $29,580,525
His Speech Income: $51,855,599

That leaves $20 million momentarily unaccounted for, although it’s not hard to guess what sorts of activities generated it. An ex-president has influence to peddle, and a-peddling it he is.

[Senate ethics] disclosures do not require Sen. Clinton to fully report her husband’s income, which obscures the picture of how much the former president has made in his business dealings with longtime friends and fundraisers.

For example, an examination of the records reveals her husband is a partner in an investment fund, Yucaipa Global Partnership, registered in the Cayman Islands, and was paid “guaranteed payments to partner.” Sen. Clinton’s forms do not list the exact amount of her husband’s payments, only that they totaled more than $1,000 over four years.

“No average person has interest and funds in the Cayman Islands. This is all the above-average, non-tax-paying, super rich,” said Jack Blum, an attorney and leading expert on offshore tax havens.

Jay Carson, a spokesperson for Sen. Clinton’s presidential campaign, said the Yucaipa global fund was organized in the Cayman Islands to attract foreign investors. “Each investor or partner in the fund pays the taxes they owe in their home country. For U.S. citizens like Bill Clinton, that means he pays U.S. taxes on his income from this fund, which he does,” said Carson.

The Journal reported that he stands to make $20 million from “advising” Ron Burkle but Hillary’s spokesman disputes that, too.

Most of the scrutiny will be on the effective tax rate they’re paying but at first blush I’m struck by how little of their considerable fortune they’ve been willing to inject into her campaign given the shortfall vis-a-vis Obama. That $5 million loan got a lot of attention but it’s peanuts compared to what Romney (who, admittedly, is worth much more than they are) put into his campaign. If electing her president is their shared, all-consuming ambition, why so stingy? They’ll have a money machine on the lecture circuit for the rest of their lives no matter what happens. Go for broke.

Update: Comments from the Headlines item have been imported.

Update: No return yet for 2007, but here’s a snapshot from the PDF posted at the campaign site:

That’s 20% of his speech income for the past eight seven years, all amassed during 12 months in which he’s been busy with the campaign. Having her run for president is good for business, I guess. Either that or the “fees” he’s paid are actually a backdoor way for major donors to make massive contributions to her campaign by paying him for “services.” But far be it from me to accuse the Clintons of a practice so shady.

Update: Cindy McCain may herself be worth $100 million, but her prenup with Maverick evidently keeps most of that in her name.

Update: Obama’s been donating more to charity as a percentage of his income over time — from one percent in 2004 to 4.7 percent in 2005 to 6.1 percent in 2006 — but he still lags behind Billary.