02 February 2009

Fox in the Chicken Coop

Q: What does it take to make Democrats pay their taxes?

A: Being nominated for President Obama's Cabinet.

Our newest candidate for Obama's Cabinet is former Senator Tom Daschle. He failed to pay $120,000 in taxes. This comes on the heels of the confirmation of the new IRS chief, Timothy Geithner, who couldn't be bothered to pay his taxes either. The irony shouldn't be lost on us.

Other Democrats who have trouble keeping track of their income and taxes are Representative Charles Rangel from New York and (almost) Senator Al Franken from Minnesota. Both will need a team of accountants to figure out their tax evasions and the amounts that they owe.

Beginning with Charlie Rangel:
_Rangel's papers over the past 10 years show no reference to the sale of a home he once owned on Colorado Avenue in Washington.

_The details of a property bought in Sunny Isles, Fla., are bewildering at best. The stated value changes significantly from year to year, and even page to page, from $50,000 to $100,000 all the way up to $500,000.

_Some of the entries for investment funds fluctuate strangely, suggesting that the person either didn't have accurate information or didn't fill out the paperwork correctly.

Rangel spent the past week trying to answer questions about his ethics and his finances.

He acknowledged that he owes the Internal Revenue Service about $5,000 in back taxes for unreported income from the rental of his vacation villa, and probably a smaller amount to state and city tax collectors.

The best part of all of this is that Rangel is the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, which means he helps write tax laws. Nice, he doesn't bother paying the taxes he helps punish the rest of us with.

Let's turn our attention to Al Franken. Owing $70,000 Franken makes Daschle look like a piker. Amazingly enough, this did not make big news. How shocking!

Looking over our wonderful civil servants: What could be more fun than tax evaders running the IRS and the Ways and Means Committee? It's kind of like putting the fox in charge of security for the chicken coop.

Rangel and Franken should have been outed for their non-payment of taxes for sure. But the definition of chutzpah is when Obama actually nominates and pushes for the confirmation of these criminals to hold the posts they hold. Yes, it is a crime not to pay your taxes.

Imagine yourself next April 15th not paying your taxes - for whatever reason. Imagine the IRS agent who comes knocking at your door... will an "oops, I'm sorry" work? It seems to work for these Democrats. why shouldn't it work for us?

Update: Daschle takes his name out of the running after paying $140,000 in back taxes and fines.

And another winner: Obama's Chief Performance Officer, Nancy Killefer - the one he nominated to make sure government money spent should be spent properly and economically has also withdrawn her name due to tax issues.

What is going on here?! While Timothy Geithner is one crook that was given a job in Obama's government - it is quite ridiculous to have such a number of Democrats who are incapable of filling out forms or hiring an accountant. I'm watching a clip of an interview with Chris Wallace and President Obama - who calls Daschle's tax problems an "honest mistake".

Sure an "honest mistake" is when one person makes an error. Two and three people making the same "honest mistake" is a joke. It brings to mind the old adage, "fool me once - shame on you, fool me twice - shame on me." Fool me three times - and we have Obama's cabinet picks.

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