Here's my simple advice for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee when it comes to the debate over his tax returns: Tell it early, tell it all, tell it yourself. 

Yes, Gov. Romney - that subtitle to my memoir concerning the rules we learned the hard way at the Clinton White House in 1996-98 about getting the truth out yourself proactively, even if it is a bad-news story, applies to you and the issue of your tax returns.

It applies to everyone facing bad news - in business, politics and life.

The only exception is if putting the facts out can land you in jail. In that case, I recommend forgetting about crisis management rules and relying on the advice of a good criminal lawyer.

If you stay where you are, you are defying history - in both parties. As my favorite source of truth, Glenn Kessler, pointed out in his Monday "Fact-Checker" column for The Washington Post, virtually every other presidential candidate in both parties going back to FDR released many years of tax returns when they ran for president against the incumbent. Why wouldn't you, too?