In a CNBC interview with Larry Kudlow to air later tonight, Mitt Romney defends his decision to release only two years of tax returns — both filed after he decided to run for President — by claiming that 2004 Democratic nominee John Kerry also released two years. From an advanced transcript:

KUDLOW: Why not release your tax returns? Why not go back 10 years?

Gov. ROMNEY: Well, we’ve had people run for president before, and they’ve released two years. John Kerry released two years of taxes.. I’ve released one already, put the estimate out for the next year. We’ll have two years of taxes..

In fact, John Kerry released not two years of returns, but 20. From an April 14, 2004 article by Byron York:

In addition to his 2003 returns, Kerry also released federal tax returns from the years 1999 to 2002 yesterday. There has been some dispute about returns for those years. Kerry has claimed that he had already released the returns — in January of this year, he said, “I released all my tax returns for 20 years. I have never not released my tax returns throughout my political career.” But aside from releasing details from his 2002 taxes — which showed a total income of $144,091 — it is not clear that Kerry has ever made public his returns from 1999 or 2000 or 2001 before now.

Thus far, Mitt Romney has only released one year of returns. Romney’s father, George Romney, released 12 years of returns, stating “one year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show.”

Mitt Romney had the harshest immigration policy in the GOP field, and one of the nation’s most influential anti-immigration activists, Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, as a key unpaid adviser on the issue. Kobach is the author of Arizona’s and Arizona’s controversial immigration laws.

When Kobach endorsed the former Massachusetts governor, Romney said in a press release that he was excited to have “Kris on the team.” “I look forward to working with him to take forceful steps to curtail illegal immigration,” Romney added. Romney also campaigned with Kobach in South Carolina.

But Politico’s Glenn Thrush reports today that the Romney campaign appears to be distancing itself from the controversial adviser as it pivots to the general election and seeks to appeal to Hispanic voters:

When I asked Boston if Kobach was still an “adviser,” a Romney spokesperson emailed back: “supporter.”

However, Kobach disputes this claim. Reached by ThinkProgress this afternoon, Kobach said, “No, my relationship with the campaign has not changed. Still doing the same thing I was doing before.” Asked what that entails, he said, “providing advice on immigration policy.” “I don’t want to go into great detail, but I communicate regularly with senior members of Romney’s team,” he explained.

He said he didn’t want to respond to the Thrush’s report, as he hadn’t read it yet.

“Como se dice ‘Etch a Sketch’ en espanol?” Thush quipped.

The National Republican Senatorial Campaign’s (NRSC) attacks get more far-fetched by the day. The campaign arm for the Senate Republican minority posted a video today on their YouTube account that represents a new level of absurd.

The video, which the group calls “Heidi Heitkamp – ‘Obama is Amazing,’” shows former North Dakota Attorney General Heidi Heitkamp (D), now a candidate for the open seat of retiring Sen. Kent Conrad (D), at the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Heitkamp says in the video that Hillary Clinton’s Denver speech “was amazing,” adding, “and I’m sure that Barack Obama’s going to be amazing, so that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

Heitkamp predicted that Obama’s speech would be “amazing.” And the NRSC presented this as Heitkamp saying “Obama is amazing” — either major sloppiness or intentional outright deception on their part.

The NRSC’s communications director is pushing this video to the press, perhaps in an attempt to expose Heitkamp as someone who was excited to see a speech that 38 million people watched.

If the NRSC hopes to make the 2012 North Dakota Senate race a referendum on whether Obama’s 2008 speech, they may be in for a rude awakening. A large majority of Americans liked it, including even Pat Buchanan, who dubbed Obama’s performance a “genuinely outstanding speech. It was magnificent,” and RNC political director, who called it “a great speech” in a memo just a few weeks ago.

Evan Feinberg, a 28-year-old former aide to Sens. Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Rand Paul (R-KY), is challenging Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) in the April 24 Republican primary. Although Murphy is a fifth-term incumbent, Feinberg has received significant support from Tea Party groups and the far-right wing on the Republican Party.

Yesterday, former Rep. Dick Armey’s (R-TX) FreedomWorks for America Super PAC reported that it has spent $26,500 on a media buy in support of Feinberg. The group has endorsed him, calling him a “strong supporter of a smaller, limited, and more fiscally responsible government,” and labeling the occasionally moderate incumbent as “big government Republican Tim Murphy.”

But an examination of Feinberg’s 23-page fiscal proposal, “Turning the Lights Back On: Restoring the Shining City,” reveals a candidate who not only wants to eliminate the Departments of Energy and Education, but also wants to do away with some of the most important federal programs to our nation’s security.

Some of his controversial policies show how the anti-government Tea Party agenda’s goes:

Complete elimination of the Strategic Peteroleum Reserve. As part of his plan to eliminate the entire Department of Energy, he proposes we eliminate the emergency supply of crude oil stocked by the nation to protect our energy supply in a time of crisis. Without this supply, foreign countries could exert unimaginable influence over our by threatening to disrupt the supply of crude oil — or actually doing so.

Elimination of several key parts of the Department of Homeland Security. Among the things he wants to eliminate: the Emergency Operation Centers, the Office of Bombing Prevention, and the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office.

Elimination of federal anti-gang efforts from the Department of Justice. He proposes to eliminate National Gang Intelligence Center and the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement, and Coordination Center.

Feinberg’s more than $9 trillion in proposed cuts, over ten years, would not only decimate the federal government as we know it, they would destroy vital programs needed to keep America safe and secure.

Last night, ABC News’ Diane Sawyer aired segments of her interview with Mitt and Ann Romney, touching on some of Mitt Romney’s policy proposals and Ann Romney’s recent spate with a Democratic strategist over stay at home moms.

But it was an unaired exchange, reported on by ABC News’ online staff, that is raising the most eyebrows. Asked about the now-infamous trip to their summer retreat in Canada in which the family dog, Seamus, was transported in cage on the roof of their car for 12 hours, Ann Romney told Sawyer that the dog was more than okay with his travel arrangements:

“The dog loved it,” Ann Romney said. “He would see that crate and, you know, he would, like, go crazy because he was going with us on vacation. It was to me a kinder thing to bring him along than to leave him in the kennel for two weeks.”

Mitt Romney told Sawyer that he wouldn’t do it again — but not out of concern for the dog, but because of the political problems the nightmarish trip has created. “Certainly not with the attention it’s received,” he explained.

That response did not sit well with the group Dogs Against Mitt Romney, a very real network of anti-Romney activists who are working to ensure voters don’t forget about Seamus when they go to vote in November. “We continue to be stunned — and disappointed — by Mitt Romney,” the groups creator said.