Political Rantings
Rewriting the Bush Legacy? Already???
Sunday, February 8th, 2009You know, George W. Bush told us all that history would judge him differently after he left office. I had sort of assumed he meant more than three weeks after he left, though.
First, Jeff Porten tells me that NPR
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More on Taxes
Sunday, February 8th, 2009Seems another Obama appointment fits into the tax problem news-catalog. The hearing to consider Rep. Hilda Solis as Labor Secretary was cancelled on Thursday after it was revealed that her husband paid off $6,400 in tax liens (some of which were sixteen years old) the day before the hearing was scheduled. Once again, we are led down the lazy path, on which all four of these problems are considered equivalent. Even though, in this case, Rep. Solis’ husband is, in fact, not being considered for Labor Secretary. To his credit, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said this:
We reviewed her tax returns, and her tax returns are in order. The story denotes that her husband had some issues with paying a business tax, and obviously that tax . . . should be paid. She’s not a partner in that business, so we’re not going to penalize her for her husband’s business mistakes. Obviously, her husband, I think, has and should pay any taxes that he owes.
On the more amusing side of news cataloging is the JammieWearingFool, who, while discussing Rep. Charles Rangel’s ongoing tax problems, comes up with this gem:
What with tax cheats being all the rage, one wonders how Charlie Rangel avoided an Obama cabinet appointment?
Classic.
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Taxing our Patience
Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009Another tax problem for an Obama nominee. And once again, the media is news cataloging – lumping all three of these tax-related issues together as if they are the same thing. Let’s skim just slightly below the surface and point out the differences, shall we?
Tim Geithner– Mr. Geithner didn’t pay his employer’s portion of his social security taxes ($43,000), something that most of us don’t have to do. But the rules are different for people who work for the International Monetary Fund. At the IMF, employees are considered “self-employed” for the purposes of Social Security taxes, and are reimbursed separately for the need to pay these extra taxes. In 2006, the IRS informed him that he failed to pay these taxes (despite being reimbursed) for his 2003 and 2004 returns, and he promptly paid up (including penalties and interest). The Obama vetting team discovered the same issue with 2001 and 2002, at which point he paid up on those as well. All of this makes him careless, not criminal. Not that I’m advocating for a careless Treasury Secretary, especially in these times, but an administrative foul-up does not diminish his qualifications to run the Treasury Department.
Tom Daschle– Senator Daschle used a chauffeur-driven car that was provided to him by a long-time friend, Democratic fundraiser and founder of his own private equity firm, InterMedia Advisors, for three years. The value of this service – more than $300,000 – is taxable as income, which he never declared and hence, never paid tax on. When the Obama team vetted him for HHS secretary, they discovered the discrepancy, at which point, Senator Daschle amended his 2005, 2006, and 2007 tax returns – paying over $100,000 in back taxes and interest (but no penalties). Unlike Mr. Geithner’s case, this does not seem like an administrative oversight, nor does it seem like something that Mr. Daschle would have cleared up on his own until he got caught by the vetting process. The article I linked too, nonetheless, compares the two cases, implying that they’re part of the same story.
Nancy Killefer– Ms. Killefer owed $298 in unpaid unemployment compensation taxes for her housekeeper in February of 2005. The IRS fined her $600 for the mistake and charged her $48.69 in interest, which she paid in July of 2005. She has been free and clear of any and all tax problems for three and a half years. And yet, the Associated Press “broke” this “news story” today, linking Ms. Killefer to Messrs. Geithner and Daschle, implying that she, too, is part of the same story. This, despite the fact that she a) was quicker and more complete about settling her accounts with the IRS when she found out about them, and b) owed amounts that were orders of magnitude less than the other two. Surprisingly, Ms. Killefer decided to withdraw her name from nomination to the new post of Chief Performance Officer, saying:
“I recognize that your agenda and the duties facing your Chief Performance Officer are urgent. I have also come to realize in the current environment that my personal tax issue of D.C. Unemployment tax could be used to create exactly the kind of distraction and delay those duties must avoid. Because of this I must reluctantly ask you to withdraw my name from consideration.”
The key words here are “in the current environment.” In other words, because the media has used each subsequent story to build upon the one before, “news cataloging” these three significantly different situations together, she feels her $947 tax penalty from 2005 is enough to disqualify her from high office. One can speculate that she just didn’t want to deal with the spotlight over something so trivial.
When I sat down to write this post, I was going to conclude with “what a waste.” As it turns out, Ms. Killefer’s actions may have had some benefit after all, as it was just announced (a mere three hours after Ms. Killefer withdrew her nomination) that Senator Daschle is doing the same thing.
Of the three, Senator Daschle seems to be the one who came closest to commiting tax fraud here, and for a much larger sum of money than the other two. The right answer in this whole mess would have been for him to resign, and for the other two to get past it and get on with their new jobs.
Two out of three ain’t bad, I guess…
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It’s Finally Begun
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
As of noon today, Barack H. Obama is the President of the United States. As he often reminds us, he begins his presidency in the midst of war, financial crisis, and a dearth of confidence from the American people – confidence in their government, confidence in their financial markets, and confidence in their country’s standing around the world. And yet, despite all of that, Barack Obama exudes a charisma that the nation has not seen since John F. Kennedy took office in 1961. He is, in our modern terms, a celebrity. People go out of their way to see him and to hear him speak. They want to like what it is he has to say. In times like these, Obama’s ability to lead through inspiration is perhaps his most valuable asset.
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It’s Finally Over
Wednesday, January 21st, 2009
As of noon today, George W. Bush is no longer the President of the United States. His presidency was controversial from before it even began, given the extraordinary events of November, 2000. It turned tragic just ten months later, on September 11, 2001. What followed was seven and a half years of war, punctuated by an ever increasing level of criticism and scandal, which quickly evolved into accusations and outrage, and has lately reached a state of all-out vilification and rage. Today, a vast majority of the American people disapprove of the job Bush did as President. An extremely vocal minority have gone even further – declaring him a failure in every aspect of his Presidency, anointing him the “Worst President Ever,” and accusing him
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The Gaffe Machine processes another tax return
Thursday, January 15th, 2009John Hinderaker, over at Powerline
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The Five Living Presidents
Saturday, January 10th, 2009Barack Obama had lunch yesterday at the White House with the four other living Presidents and ex-Presidents:
For the record, despite appearances, I’m told that Jimmy Carter was not played by a cardboard-cutout of Jimmy Carter. Then again, Photoshop is a powerful tool and we shouldn’t take anything for granted these days.
Anyway, the picture made me think of this picture from Richard Nixon’s funeral in 1994:
Since ’94, we’ve had two ex-Presidents die, and we’ve elected two more. All part of our Presidential replacement program, I guess…
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Random Acts of Blogging – 1/9/09
Saturday, January 10th, 2009Happy New Year to all! We start off 2009 here at I Should Be Sleeping with a random smattering of things I’ve seen since New Year’s that I thought you’d find fascinating:
First, there’s Burger King. Last month, we discussed their new meat-scented cologne. Now, they’ve gone hi-tech. The Whopper Sacrifice
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Six Degrees of Barack Obama
Sunday, December 21st, 2008Barack Obama, who could be the most easily predicted Time Person of the Year
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One more post on that shoe thing…
Saturday, December 20th, 2008I guess we should have seen this coming, too.
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