More tax problems in the hopeychange?
I’m probably late to this party, but since the only news I get here in Panama is CNN International which is more worried about the plight of of the poor Tamil Tigers in the face of the Sri Lankan government forces (didn’t Bill Clinton solve that problem?) than reporting another tax cheat in the Obama Administration. Tom Daschle, one of my least favorite Democrats of the last decade, seems to have come up $146,000 short on his taxes, according to the Washington Post;
Thomas A. Daschle, fighting to defend his nomination to be secretary of health and human services, released a letter early today apologizing to the top lawmakers on the Senate Finance Committee for mistakes on his personal income tax returns that resulted in $146,000 in back payments.
“I am deeply embarrassed and disappointed by the errors that required me to amend my tax returns,” he wrote to Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). “I apologize for the errors and profoundly regret that you have had to devote time to them.”
Oh, so Daschle apologizes – not that he cheated on his taxes in an amount equal to several workers’ annual pay, but that he had to amend his filings and that the committee found it necessary to “devote time” to such an incidental problem – now can we please move on, Daschle seems to be saying.
Now this comes at a time when many Americans are doing their own taxes – a year ago, my wife and I decided that she should stop working because we couldn’t afford to pay taxes on two incomes any longer. Because, even after the Bush tax cuts took effect, and we took advantage of every LEGAL recourse, we were still paying too much in income taxes to defend her continued work.
It’s nice that the Democrats seem to have come to the same conclusion – but since they’re in a position to do something about lowering taxes, I guess they’d rather just game the system, since, when they get caught, all they need to do is write a letter of apology.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the very definition of elitism.
Category: Politics
What are you talking about Jonn. Lots of Americans get tripped up over how to pay taxes on a Limo & Driver provided by a lobbyist friend!
I’m kind of interested in testing the “elistism” theory. Think I’ll drop a couple of zeroes off my gross adjusted income this year and see what happens. Heck, if they catch it, I just have to apologize, right? Or, maybe that will qualify me for some cushy high-paying job in the swamp.
Mr. Moon, Please reconsider what you just said! Jonn says that youre to pretty for prison!
“I am a democrat elitest who once dared to say that the IRS code and law dictates that it be followed.
Perhaps that and many other eh, speedbumps and such is why Tom Daschle is not a leader by any stretch.”