Earlier, Cindy McCain had pledged not to release her tax returns as a principled stand for privacy. Apparently she changed her mind, releasing through her husband’s campaign offices her 2006 returns. She also pledged to release 2007 when she completes them, having requested and received an extension.

So what do they show? Not much, other than an income level everyone already knew:

Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) campaign released some of wife Cindy McCain’s tax returns late Friday, after previously stating the information would stay private.

Only the two summary pages of her 2006 form were released. She had a total income of more than $6 million. She paid more than $1.7 million in taxes.

According to Reuters, she listed $570,000 in itemized deductions, but that’s less than 10% of her overall income. Her effective tax rate appears to be around 30%.

So now we know that Cindy McCain makes lots of money … which we knew before. We also now know that they keep separate finances .. which we knew before. She owns a business that’s lucrative and makes a good profit … which we knew before.

It’s too bad Mrs. McCain had to capitulate on such a silly issue, but at least it deprives Democrats of another whining point.