Only “Little People” pay taxes.

Is the Head of the IRS an appointee? I hope s/he investigates all these rich creeps, and fines them big time. If even one paid taxes owe, I’ll…well, I will be surprized.

Nomination down in flames? Heads on pikes is what I want!!

Kinda makes all those tax cuts meaningless, doesn’t it.

I guess he’ll claim this is an Economic Stimulus, or some such rot.

So they’re saying he pulled a “Dine and Daschle”?

Well, here’s the thing, with the economic downturn there’s gonna be a whole lot of nannys, drivers, housekeepers, gardeners, handymen, etc. taking money under the table.

Nomination down in flames? Heads on pikes is what I want!!

Heads on pikes? What are you, David Frum? We need to blow all the fuckers up and censor wherever they land on Google Earth.

Who gives a fuck, amirite? He’ll be confirmed anyway, because he’s a former Senator and those club ties are more important than any wrongdoing by Daschle. Let’s get it over and get on with running the government.

To be serious for just a moment, I hardly feel that being reticent about his taxes (a common feature of rich white assholes of every party) is quite as important as rolling over on USA PATRIOT, the Iraq war, and everything else of significance, and politely handing over the keys to the GOP only to be succeeded by Harry fucking Reid.

So I’m joking when I say I want a devoted Saturn engine used to scatter him to the ends of the earth, but only a little.

Just thinking medievally, pike-wise.

One good econ index might be how far up the economic food chain the “will work for cash” thing is. The categories g mentions are just the beginning.

“Will work for room & board” is another indicator.

Didn’t ol’ Dasch get defeated because the Repunks were tired of his leadership of the Dems, or he said something true, or something.

Not to mention his being from one Dakota or another (Is there a difference?) & having to kiss up to the stupid farmers for votes.

alas, alec, the Saturn rocket is defunct. A-fucking-mazing beast, that was.

Which makes me think about how government can’t do anything right. Y’know, if need to win a world war, put a man on the moon or create, say, a global accurate portable positioning system, then we’re really fucked. Aren’t we?

“if we need…”

a hearty FYWP

Well, I suppose a Saturn Launch Vehicle engine would be better than the Saturn motor vehicle engine I had first envisioned. (Although when fantasizing in right-wing ways about the suffering of enemies, I find that the longer their suffering, the more pleasing. Being pounded to death by the drive train or whatever sounds fine to me.)

Especially dense assumption as I was watching an aerospace industry-sponsored PBS thingie on going to the moon not five hrs. ago.

OT: Did anyone else notice that the Boy Scouts officially became a wingnut training organization today? They got busted running clear cuts on their privately owned forests and blamed the gehys and atheists.

Boufy, there’s a great progressive tradition among those northern plains farmers. Sure, they’re a little hamstrung by natural conservatism of rural communities these days, but they’re not exactly wingnuts nor stupid.

There are a lot of reasons I’m not thrilled with Daschle, but I dunno that the tax thing is a dealbreaker for me – the other stuff is what does it for me. For one thing, he really only screwed himself; the interest and penalties on unpaid taxes are really high and on this amount, I would guess it’s gotta be at least a third of the total he ends up paying. My whole thing on taxes is as long as they get paid along with whatever penalties and interest have accrued, no harm no foul. I do, however, find it interesting that so many of these guys only “discover” that they “forgot” to pay their taxes when they’re up for confirmation to some post they want.

alas, alec, the Saturn rocket is defunct. A-fucking-mazing beast, that was.

The Orion isn’t too shabby, from what I’ve heard – although the first I heard of it I thought they were trying to reintroduce that goddamn nuclear-explosive propellant, which in spite of lots of nerd & Bechtel slobber seems like one of the worst ideas any engineer has ever had.

You see Neil deGrasse Tyson’s appearance on the Daily Show the other day? The idea that he’s potentially going to be the head of NASA is great – he seems like the kind of astrophysics popularizer we haven’t really had since Sagan died.

Only “Little People” pay taxes.

What he said.

Also, this is one of those things that really irritates me about politicians — this tendency to do stupid-ass shit that they keep getting caught on over and over and over. Not paying taxes, housekeeper irregularities, and screwing around.

For christs sake, politicians, would it fucking kill you to pay your taxes, hire a legal nanny, and not sleep around? Because you guys always get caught, and it always fucks up your career.

OT: Did anyone else notice that the Boy Scouts officially became a wingnut training organization today? They got busted running clear cuts on their privately owned forests and blamed the gehys and atheists.

I’ve written about this, sort of. Needless to say, since 2000 or so the Republicans have basically taken over the Boy Scouts as an organization – it now exists as much to launder right-wing memes as it does for any real pedagogical aim.

Yeah, what Alec said: Daschle, like Reid, is an ineffective milquetoaste with zero charisma and even less passion for actually getting meaningful policies passed.

So if there’s any hope of getting universal health care passed, I think my 8-year-old nephew would be more effective than a South Dakota incumbent who lost his reelection bid to a man made out of wax.

Just mocking the urban/rural divide that so divides us. Plenty of “farmers” in big cities, or at least suburbs, & look at HTML Mencken for an actual & hap’nin farmer.

Speaking of Scouts, from the Texas GOP Platform (PDF, p. 19):

Boy Scouts of America – We support the Boy Scouts of America and reject any attempt to undermine or fundamentally change the ideals of the organization.

One of a zillion howlers. Except they aren’t trying to be funny.

I second what alec said. Not only that, aren’t these guys able to hire teams of skilled financial professionals to prevent precisely this sort of thing from happening? It’s not like he’s got a bunch of receipts crammed into a shoe box on shelf in the closet.
Do ya think, if Daschle’s nomination goes down in flames, maybe we’d get Howard Dean for a replacement? I really wanted Dean.

Two things:

I wonder what it is that makes people fundamentally incapable of change in the face of a reality that’s running swiftly away from/with them.

And, while I agree mostly with the idea that our pols really ought to get their acts together, there is another way to go about fixing this problem; make our society a bit more forgiving of relatively minor lapses. A big part of why people hate our ruling class is the aristocrats get away with shit that would have any of us (gah, I can’t believe I’m about to use this phrase) regular joes clapped in irons in a heartbeat.

Perhaps if we didn’t live in an America where you could get tasered to death for questioning a cop, relatively unimportant stuff like this wouldn’t make good political hay.

Two things:

Years ago the Ho and I went down to Florida for one of our first vacations together. Called our congresscritter and got VIP passes for a shuttle launch. Wow. Anyway, we did the whole cape tour and I spent a lot of film (there may have been digital cameras around but I didn’t know about em and probably couldn’t afford one even if I did know) taking totally geek pix. The Ho, who knew I was a nerdus maximus, kept making fun of me. When we came across the partially diasassembled Saturn V stretched out on its side, I practically creamed my jeans. I think I blew a whole roll (~35 shots) on the SatV alone.

Second, the BSA has always been a great place for boys to get laid. Of the kids in my troop, I would guess one other was (is?) as gay as I but when you’re 14 and horny, no one has a sexual orientation. Our camping trips were full of hot boy:boy sex. I wonder what ever happened to Jack….

Snowwy? !?!? Synchronicity!

And I have a recollection that Mormon wards like to have their own B. S.Troops.

The more I think about it, that was probably early 90’s so I don’t think digital cameras existed as a consumer product. Just striving for accuracy and transparency here.

Hey alec,

It needs to be said “out loud” that I love Neil deGrasse Tyson. If he would take the job I would be thrilled.

I wonder if engineering, building and launching science platforms into space would stimulate the economy? What the hell — we should be doing more of it anyway!

I wonder if engineering, building and launching science platforms into space would stimulate the economy? What the hell — we should be doing more of it anyway!

Aaaahhh, I dunno. The returns on massive federal spedning on technology development can’t possibly be worth anything. After all, serious advances in materials science, electronics, control systems, large scale systems integration, human factors research, et cetera et cetera et cetera couldn’t possibly> have any benefit for the common weal.

Right?

unreported consulting fees, questionable charitable contributions, and a car and driver provided by a private equity firm

There’s the thing. You “regular joes” get salaries, wages or tips. It’s withheld. Some of you get money back.

The upper crust gets almost everything w/o it coming to the immediate attention of the IRS. They then hire lawyers who negotiate the liability down w/ the IRS.

The psychology behind not handling this crap, or not hiring someone to handle it, is doubtless complex, varies w/ the individual, & is probably proportional to how stupid the non-payer is.

I wonder if engineering, building and launching science platforms into space would stimulate the economy? What the hell — we should be doing more of it anyway!

You’d be surprised, actually – there’s a lot we could do with cheaper launches and bigger satellites, especially now that the primary drive is no longer going to be paying RNC donors billions of dollars to build giant bocce balls in the sky.

Between that and the remote but still enticing possibility of microwave power systems, space does have tangible returns. The one thing I would do, unfortunately, would be to put a halt to any non-high-value (excepting stuff like comet impact probes etc) trans-lunar missions, and to focus primarily on LEO and the space station, both of which offer significant short-term benefits.

As far as I’m concerned, for the record, the appointment of an actual scientist (whether or not he’s a biofuels exponent) to Energy instead of a fossil-industry flack is enough to make up for a hundred Daschles. There’s a lot of stuff happening in the current lineup that we haven’t had an equivalent of since FDR, whether or not there’s a preponderance of Clintonite lifers.

Boy am I an idiot. I see in the original post that Daschle’s interest and penalties only came to $12,000.

From what I know, that is NOT the standard charge that you or I would incur on failure to pay taxes for 3 years. I don’t know the particulars of what amounts were due in each year, but the interest rate alone on unpaid taxes is 10% annual or more…if the wages for these unpaid taxes were divided equally over the three years ($42,666 each year), Daschle should owe over $12,000 in interest alone for the first year of unpaid taxes. For all three years, using the assumption above, his interest alone should be in excess of $25,000. And that’s without penalties.

Fry his ass.

Wow man, brainwave…

I wonder if engineering, building and launching science platformsvarious wing-nut a-holes, typists, pundits, commentators, etc. into space would stimulate the economy? What the hell — we should be doing more of it anyway!

Now we’re on to something!

Enough with the posting in the same minute as me. I forbid it.

Hah!

I wonder if engineering, building and launching science platformsvarious wing-nut a-holes, typists, pundits, commentators, etc. into space would stimulate the economy? What the hell — we should be doing more of it anyway!

It’s not only an economic stimulus plan, it’s an intellectual stimulus plan! Clear all the bad brains off the balance sheets!

It’s a floor wax and a dessert topping!

Jennifer, as I typed, there is almost always negotiation, & the first amounts negotiated would be penalties & interest rates. Daschle probably strong-armed free negotiations from a Wash. law firm, which he won’t pay taxes on until the next time he’s caught.

Being pounded to death by the drive train or whatever sounds fine to me.

I want all the climate-change deniers staked down on what’s left of the permafrost and nudged to death by walrus and muskox.

Bork Daschle’s sorry ass.

People, you’re forgetting something important here: at least Tom Daschle didn’t get involved in an icky, icky sex scandal with another woman.

Also, this is one of those things that really irritates me about politicians — this tendency to do stupid-ass shit that they keep getting caught on over and over and over.

And why shouldn’t they? If you hardly ever pay any significant penalty for what you’re doing, why stop doing it?

Here’s a somewhat heartening story:

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=6770489&page=1

The headline: State Department to Blackwater–You’re Fired.

“I wonder what it is that makes people fundamentally incapable of change in the face of a reality that’s running swiftly away from/with them.”

In some ways people are fairly simple. It has to be more difficult to stay where you are than it is to change. That and the denial thing. We humans got that mastered.

Nothing new here. Skip this. I’m going to say it anyway.

Goddamn their lousy souls to whatever it is they think is hell. daschle will get the nomination anyway. Senators don’t fuck Senators, they fuck the pages (and interns).

And all the math aside how is that if I go a mere few hundred in arrears on my taxes I’m threatened with thousand dollar plus penalities, fines and interest, a lien on my home and wages garnished but fucking tom fucking daschle can run up a six figure tab and no one cries about it until the asshole is going through a Sentate confirmation hearing? No shit I’m a peon. Keep ramming that fact up my ass. Make me feel small.

If Obama had a half a testicle he’d pull the nomination now and apologize for insulting just about every tax paying American alive (and most of the dead ones).

Oh, and if I wasn’t clear above, fuck dashcle. Send him packing back to whatever it is upper midwestern paradise it is he calls home.

I say we retrocede South Dakota to the Sioux and tie him down over an anthill.

Wow, ignoring the laws he himself made? Obviously, Mr. D. is stuck in the past, and thinks he was asked to join a Republican administration. Democrats are not above the law, even the laws made retroactively by partisan prosecutors! As mentioned up-thread, we get a two-fer: dump the useless idiot, and crow about how morally superior we are.

Because you guys always get caught, and it always fucks up your career.

Dick Cheney practically laughed his ass out the door of his secret undisclosed location, daring all of civilization to prosecute him for the many crimes he’d gleefully committed from day one.

Strom Thurmond suffered what, exactly, for his rape of his parents’ serving-girl?

Henry Hyde prosecuted Clinton for his lying about adultery. (Pronoun deliberately left ambiguous.)

Mark Foley had already tried to retire; Karl Rove insisted he stay. Larry Craig served his full term, and might have been dumped in 2008 anyway. David Vitter was never even censured for the entire series of crimes he committed. (Elliott Spitzer, on the other hand…)

Because you Democrats always get caught, and it always fucks up your career.

F’zd.

(Cue howling of wingnuts, deliriously happy to have a crime committed by a Democrat. They’re going to pump this harder than that shy girl they once date-raped.)

Republicans hate taxes, maybe he’d be more suited to their team.

Tom Daschle was once my senator. Frankly, I was very glad to see an actual Republican take his place, since all he ever did as SML was give Repukes everything they wanted. The fact that he’s being nominated for Secretary of HHS tells me that there are no plans to do a single useful thing about healthcare in this country, because Daschle is incapable of doing a single useful thing for Democrats. He’s a fucking traitor to the party, flat-out.

Reid gets a lot of well-deserved bitching, but ‘ol Harry is a hard-nosed political genius compared to that worthless shithead Daschle.

Please, Obama, withdraw Tom’s nomination and replace him with somebody more useful and intelligent. Failing that, we have zoos just packed full of chimps with nothing to do.

Oh, and yeah, if any one of us missed a measly thousand bucks on our taxes, we’d be lucky to only have our lives ruined and not get hauled off to Dick Up Your Asshole Federal Penitentiary. But for Daschle, and every other rich piece of shit who somehow forgets to pay hundreds of thousands, well meh, no biggie, just drop off a check whenever it’s convienient. Unless you’re Willy Nelson, obviously. FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU-

Here’s a somewhat heartening story:

The headline: State Department to Blackwater–You’re Fired.

And here’s the buzzkill for it.

Sure, Blackwater as a corporate entity probably won’t be roaming the streets of Baghdad or Mosul for much longer. But the individual mercenaries who’ve been working for years in Iraq, serving as a Praetorian Guard for the State Department’s diplomats — those guys likely will be able to stay.

So… He did pay them before his hearings came up.

Now, it’s really easy to screw up the consulting fees one, and the valuation of service and material donations and benefits are tough to figure – and the IRS once they look at things often takes a very liberal view at the valuation.

Of course, this wouldn’t happen if the IRS spent as much time auditing rich people as poor people…

I do, however, find it interesting that so many of these guys only “discover” that they “forgot” to pay their taxes when they’re up for confirmation to some post they want.

Well, there’s yer Economic Stimulus Package: Obama nominates a new congresscritter to some highly-Media-Village-visible position twice a week, said congresscritter is shocked — shocked! to discover that taxes aren’t just something other people pay, and bingo, another hunnerd-thou in the Treasury kitty! Even more effective, Obama can go straight to Wall Street for his next dozen potential appointments, and the Media Village Idiots will suddenly be inspired to look into John Thain’s and Bernie Madoff’s tax situation…

M. Bouffant is right, sorta, except that I think it’s more cluelessness than classism that Daschle and his ilk suffer from. From what I’ve seen, Tom was happy to accept lotsa free rides and nice meals from his very good friends — the thought that those people might have ulterior motives never crossed his clean Mormon mind. That’s a whole different scandal: the fact that our nominal “representatives” have come to accept a standard of living available only to millionaires as normal, without allowing themselves to understand that it’s not legislating, it’s prostitution, and not even particularly well-paid prostitution.

Y’know, I’ll worry about Daschle’s taxes after I see the returns and audits for Thain and his buddies. Or Cheney or Bush or Rove or Lee Raymond or Ciccone.

I get your general point, Brad, but fuck… what a surprise that his taxes suddenly get a microscope, just as he’s nominated for a Cabinet position. Same with Geithner. Same old, I suppose.

Then again, my Physician sister’s taxes are probably golden – she’d make a great Surgeon General or HHS Sec. Seriously.

I’m pretty god damned tired of being expected to accept the fucktardery of Democratic politicians on the grounds that they’re far less evil than their Republican colleagues.

Yet I’m pretty sure that with a capitulationist turd like Daschle, he didn’t give a shit about hist ethical public image since he assumed Democrats would just keep losing forever. He didn’t anticipate being in the national spotlight again.

Fine, I’d like to see a physician in charge of HHS anyway.

Next!

Brad,

In fairness, often these cases come down to the ambiguity of the tax code.

Having been audited myself, let me explain how this works.

The taxpayer will be as aggressive as he can in reducing his taxes. Where he feels there’s a loophole (and we’ll assume at the very least Daschle doesn’t use Turbotax like a certain Treas. Sec’y), he and his accountant will, correctly, try to pay less taxes, either by deferring income, treating it as non-taxable, or taking a deduction.

THe IRS will take a look at it, and go “No, no! This has to be taxed!”

Paperwork gets exchanged, laws get read, and a decision is made.

No fraud. No intent to defraud. The taxpayer gets hit with a tax bill plus penalties and interest, and both sides walk away.

That Daschle didn’t get hit with criminal penalties tells me that this is how the scenario worked in this case. I don’t have a problem with it.

Where the problem lies is in the myriad tax rules that a taxpayer has to comply with, and the various amendments to the Tax Code that are passed each and every year.

Have you ever read the Tax Code? No? Neither have I. Of course not, because it takes up literally an entire shelf in the Library of Congress! No one could possibly know the permutations and oddities therein, totally.

OK, all that said, Daschle should have known better with the consulting fees, and the driver, but, that said, it’s also possible they could have genuinely slipped his mind (especially the driver). He should have received 1099s for both, but if the people he worked for didn’t bother to send them, he probably didn’t report them.

What happens there is Daschle now becomes the collateral damage of the audit of the companies who “forgot” (it happens, but more likely, they tried to slip this past the SEC) to notify Daschle. The IRS audits, finds the payments, and now traces those to Daschle, who didn’t report them, probably due to an oversight, more likely because he was never given a reminder that he earned them.

Like I said, this isn’t an issue for me, and only points up the ludicrous tax code.

Duck Faschle.

-GSD

Careful, Comrade Bradley. Keep this up and you’ll be joining me on the Red side of the left/right divide!

I want all the climate-change deniers staked down on what’s left of the permafrost and nudged to death by walrus and muskox.

Sounds OK to me. Let’s get a plan going on this one.

How could this admin which was so tight during the campaign have two nominees with tax problems and Richardson?

If Geithner goes thru why not Daschle?
Why didn’t Obama pull Geithner’s nomination when it became clear that he is a tax cheat?
Why did every MSM report I heard on Geitner’s tax cheating downplay his actions?

Just some questions I would like to answered but I know never will be.

For christs sake, politicians, would it fucking kill you to pay your taxes, hire a legal nanny, and not sleep around? Because you guys always get caught, and it always fucks up your career.

Scott: That’s the problem. The type of egomaniac who manages to become a top-tier pol thinks the rules don’t apply to him, so he can do what the fuck ever he wants. Or her/she.

What a surprise. It’s proving to be difficult to find honesty in Washington, DC. Clean ’em all out. I’ve had it. I’m ready for a “storm the Bastille” moment. Grab your pitchforks, shovels, (dare I say hoes?) and let us rise up like an angry horde of citizens who ‘ve been naively abiding by laws and paying taxes while our leaders didn’t long enough! Storm DC … storm Wall Street … storm FOX News … aw, hell, storm all the media outlets … drag ’em all out in the streets for their public jeering (and pointy pitchfork poking) and drive them into the sea. They can’t arrest us all.

People’s Rebellion, anyone?

I’ve got to agree with Actor 2012, the tax code is very difficult to follow. For years I had to file taxes in two states because I was moving around so much–and I’m talking *as a graduate student* making zero money. When I moved out of CA where I was still a graduate student, and owned no property, for some reason the IRS decided that I had wrongly underpaid some tax and they put a lien on *property that I might come to own in the future*. I continued to file and pay taxes regularly for years, under my own name, with my own SS number, eventually bought my own home, sold that home and tried to buy another. Now, in all those years I had moved two or three times and continued to pay taxes, both federal and state, but the IRS never contacted me directly to let me know they thought there was a problem. When it came time to buy my next home, having sold the previous one, suddenly this “lien” turned up. There was nothing to do at that point since it was literally at the house closing but phone california and have someone walk the tax money over to the IRS. The whole tax code and the way people are notified that they have made an error is a tragic joke.

aimai

I’m pretty god damned tired of being expected to accept the fucktardery of Democratic politicians on the grounds that they’re far less evil than their Republican colleagues.

El Cid: Me too. Exactly. Also, what Anne Laurie said up there a ways. I’m just a little echo this morning.

actor 212 – you know, I started off where you’re coming from on this, until I saw that Daschle’s interest and penalties on this bullshit is less than 10%.

Motherfucker skips out on paying taxes for an amount equal to the median income each year for three years, and he gets a fucking fine and interest of less than 10%? That’s supremely fucked up, and here’s why: your average joe who can’t afford an attorney to get him off the hook for failing to pay what he’s supposed to pay would be hit with multiple times this amount. Shit, in fact, I have even had the IRS go back and try to pin reported income on me and tax me again. I had a real interesting conversation with one of their employees by phone that went something like, “oh, so you’re saying the 1099 filed with my corporate return to your Ogden UT office somehow detached itself, flew magically through the air to Austin TX and into your office there where you process personal returns, and attached itself to my 1040?”

Fuckers were trying to give me fines and penalties of over $2500 on $5000 of fucking income that was reported and had taxes paid when due. I fought those assholes for 6 months on that one, and they kept trying during the entire process to add on more shit that had already been paid, such as saying, “well, YOU didn’t claim the income you took on this car lease to your business.” Oh yeah, motherfucker? Then what’s this fucking FORM right here attached to my return that REPORTS THE FUCKING INCOME I TOOK FROM THE CAR LEASE? I finally won, by going to the taxpayer advocate, throwing the shit on the table in front of them, and saying, “can YOU figure out what these retarded bastards have up their asses and why they’re trying to dick me for double taxes AND interest AND penalties on shit that’s already been paid?” And this was over a lousy $5000 bucks.

So, yeah, fuck Daschle. Maybe it was an “honest error”. But that’s not an excuse for him getting a big fucking break for something that was his own goddamned mistake.

I wonder what it is that makes people fundamentally incapable of change in the face of a reality that’s running swiftly away from/with them.

Because if human beings handled change well, we would have no drawers full of saggy underwear and pens that do not write.

It’s pretty simple, isn’t it? You grab a cheap pen that is probably promotional anyway, it doesn’t write, you throw it away.

Yet hardly anyone does this. In restaurants and stores, where it’s pretty important that the sig gets on the paper, they will go through three pens before they get one that writes.

And when I grab that pen that doesn’t write and throw it away, they look at me like I’ve leaped over the bar and started guzzling the single malt.

How we ever got to the disposable society, I’ll never know.

@WereBear refillable pens leaked a lot

Jennifer, calm down. I’m a tax lawyer. I’ve read the tax code, I read it every day and work with the IRS regularly on stuff like this. Actor is basically right. And the fact that Daschle’s interest and penalties are low indicates that his actions weren’t that egregious. Do you really believe the IRS would allow a high profile politician to skate? Instead of getting a break, more likely Daschle was scrutinized a lot more closely than the average taxpayer.
I can’t speak to your experience, but I’ve found the IRs over the years to be reasonable, and fairly easy to deal with. Certainly a lot easier than my health insurance providers, telephone companies and banks.

The dems need to realize that appearance is everything. If they don’t police their own, they will play right in to the repub’s hands.

To give Daschle some credit, he did have some sensible ideas on healthcare reform.

Ha-HA, loony libs! Looks like your guy Dummy Daschle was busted for fleecin’ ol’ Uncle Sam!! Let’s see you wacky hippies denoun– oh shit wait

Yep. Wouldn’t hurt me a bit if Daschle went down – especially if Obama told Rahm and Gibbs* to stuff their jealousies and hire Howard Dean (who I’ve heard was promised HHS in the first place before Rahm and Gibbs backstabbed him).

* Gibbs, in case you hadn’t realized, worked for John Kerry in 2004, which would be where his anti-Dean anger would come from. Rahm we’re all aware of.

I have to side with actor here too. I’ve been through this tax mill. If you get your money from more than one source, it’s pretty easy for somebody to screw up somewhere, either you or the people who sent you the money, in terms of reporting it correctly, getting the information to you, and your accountant deciding it goes into the wrong category. Tax laws are a nightmare, and his low interest charge reflects that this was not outright fraud.

But he’s still an asshole.

Wow, every day that goes by I feel more cheated by everything Obama does.

Lessee, run on a platform of Democratic change and progressive ideals, then turn around and fill the cabinet with DINOs, Wall Street suckups like Clinton and Rahm, Republicans, and tax cheats.

Change I Could Believe In wouldn’t be bringing GOoPers into the Obama cabinet, and it wouldn’t be letting Daschle, that spineless shitburger, back into power. Daschle of course is only beat on the Weak Gutless Vichy Dem scale by Reid, who I swear must be afraid someone’s got pictures of him doing something, the way he rolls over for the GOP. Fucking turd.

Also the fact that Obama ran on “overturn the Bushy tax cuts for the rich” and then says “oh, no, best not do that”, runs on”end blood and treasure for war” then says “time to get out of Iraq in a few years maybe, but in the meantime, boots on kids, we’re goin’ to Afghanistan again”…

Fucking lied to, every day.

Funny how Democrat politicians insist we pay more in taxes, by skimp on theirs.

Chiselling taxes is the most popular middle-class pastime in America. If you’re in a regular job where it all comes out of withholding, then you might get a “refund” of money that’s been kept in the IRS bank account for the best part of a year.

Once you’re in the land of deductibles, then it’s competitive accountancy at work, and party affiliation doesn’t matter a bit.

Why should anyone deduct if they’re a Democrat? I thought you libs think its patriotic to pay taxes!

People paying back taxes are actually paying their taxes multiple times over, since they’re also paying penalties and interest. I’m currently paying off some back taxes (thankfully the end is in sight), and I figure when I’m done I will have paid my taxes for the years in question about three or four times.

I’m not gonna come down too hard on Daschle. He “turned himself in”, after all, which is the same thing I did. Did I report my unpaid taxes out of some sense of moral obligation or duty? No, I did it because I didn’t want the IRS finding it out on their own, in which case they would’ve ruined my shit. Daschle did it to get himself a sweet job.

Some of you may have already read about the Army recalling16,000 pieces of armor, according to the latest Pentagon IG’s audit. But, speaking as a former QC inspector, I can tell you why this report is even more disturbing than even Time magazine or any of its readers realizes.

So where does RedFaced stand on the taxes thing? Does he pay it all without finding tax shelters, as his taunting comment indicates? Or does he evade his taxes entirely? C’mon RedFaced let’s hear some of that pretzel logic of yours regarding your own situation.

OT, but is anyone else surprised that a walrus is being published at The Next Right? I had them pegged more for College Republicans, not a refugee camp for RenewAmerica contributors.

G, I use whatever deductions and tax shelters I can. But then again I think the government takes too much of our money.

Libs, OTOH, think government needs more money so it is hypocritical of them to use deductions and tax shelters while railing for tax increases.

Can we have a new rallying cry: Audit the rich?

I think we should all go back to paying taxes as per the golden age of society – the 1950’s. I keep getting told by the right that the 1950’s were great. So lets revert to the tax rates that made the 50’s great!

“I’ve got to agree with Actor 2012, the tax code is very difficult to follow.”

But Daschle is a career bureaucrat in the American government. I realize that not every politico in Washington is there because of his/her vast intellect (“HAH!!!”), but I don’t think it’s asking too much that they know enough to deal with something like this in an above-board kinda way. Shit, even if the man’s as crooked as can be, he should at least be competent enough to cover his ass sufficiently so that he at least doesn’t look like a crook. This little indescretion is just plain bad, and on several different levels. Fuck him. I have no sympathy for him.

Never even mind that his main duty as Senate, er, “Leader” was to act as the Republicans’ Shoeshine Boy. “And why use a rag to wipe their boots nice and shiny clean, when his tongue would do just as well?” seemed to be Daschle’s thinking on the matter back then…Yeah, good ole Daschle…good ole useless, worthless Doormat Daschle.

“I keep getting told by the right that the 1950’s were great. So lets revert to the tax rates that made the 50’s great!”

I think the 1980s were much better.

The Italians are banning kebabs.

For me, this is the money quote:

Davide Boni, a councillor in Milan for the Northern League, which also opposes the building of mosques in Italian cities, said that kebab shop owners were prepared to work long hours, which was unfair competition.

Go Italy – you can make Americans look sane!

Okay, I hate Daschle but, taxes can be a byzantine thing and keeping track of all forms of compensation, particularly where actual money doesn’t change hands, can be tricky business. And the guy who preps his taxes is only as good as the documentation he receives. I find it hard to believe that he was trying to cheat taxes.

Keeping quite money that he was not supposed to take? Now that I believe…

RedStater75

Maybe you have a point – in the 80’s the reforms in the UK destroyed our industrial base and led us to be almost totally reliant on our Finance industry for growth. This has worked out really well for us. Te light touch regulation of the City hasn’t meant we’re totally fucked…honest

On more important matters, Football wise the 80’s were a disaster with numerous tradegies. Same for music – thank god for Acid House and Ecstasy culture!

Your socialist masters and unlimited Muslim immigration have destroyed your country, Dave.

Soviet Britain swells in recession:

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article5581225. ece

Ooooh, awful spelling. Damn the Saturday afternoon pints! Damn them!

From the article:

“The study of “Soviet Britain” has found the government’s share of output and expenditure has now surged to more than 60% in some areas of England and over 70% elsewhere. “

Well, at least he didn’t cuss.

“…There’s something afoot in the culture that’s deliberately unmaking Western civilization. We think it’s satanic. Whatever that is, whenever somebody good decides to champion goodness in some effective way, the demons jump on it immediately as hard as they can to try to stifle it.

It reminds me of a silly game at the arcade called Whac-A-Mole, where the player stands in front of a board with holes in it and a soft, black mallet in his hand, and smacks anything that pops its head up. Pop your head up and start saying “We shouldn’t cuss,” and Wham! down comes the mallet. “What gays do isn’t marriage.” Wham! “We shouldn’t murder our children.” Wham! “Our culture’s sexuality is out of control.” Wham!”…

http://www.plumbbobblog.com/?p=2929

Yup, one of America’s best conservative blogs! Wham! Danm!

I agree we are in a chronic recession. However, to claim New Labour is socialist is pretty laughable. Blair and Brown have spent the last 12 years giving handjobs to the private sector.

As for unlimited Muslim immigration, you really do need to have a word with yourself. I look forward to pointing out to Amirah and Sanjay on Monday that they are destroying England. despite the fact that they are as English as all of us.

I don’t get it RedState. The US is an country entirely founded on immigration – whats the problem with it?

RedStater75 said,

January 31, 2009 at 19:36

Spot on. The areas where we used to have industry are now supported by Government spending. It makes me sick that the Government makes policy that destroys family life and then, when the see the consequences of it, try to do something about it.

Ethics & politics – almost as vitally inter-related as fish & miniskirts.

I’m pretty god damned tired of being expected to accept the fucktardery of Democratic politicians on the grounds that they’re far less evil than their Republican colleagues.

Correctly so – because in historical terms, they’ve been every bit as genocidally malevolent. Next to JFK’s Alliance For Progress program, Iran-Contra looks like kids larking in a sandbox. It took a healthy fraction of South America nearly half a century to recover from all the fascist kleptocrats (who were in some cases flat-out NSDAP-wannabes) that program kept in power there.

“Party that does better things more often” does not equal “virtuous party” just because its opponents opt to belong to a much more dangerous or evil brand-name. Don’t believe the McHype.

Moden politics as she is done on this planet is now a bag of moldy dessicated piss. The concept of multi-party oppositional national governance was obsolete before I was born.

Hey, got a dollar?

Potential obstacle?

It’s a very unique situation, Rusty. I think it was in WaPo that I read “They literally ripped him limb from limb.”

Or something like that.

I don’t get it RedState. The US is an country entirely founded on immigration – whats the problem with it?

As I said on a previous thread, I don’t like blacks.

From the WaPo:

According to the Senate committee, Daschle used the car 80 percent of the time for personal purposes. That service was worth more than $255,000 in unreported income, according to the committee report.

Ahem.

$255,000?????? Worth of car service? Where the hell did they drive him?

I also don’t like browns, yellows, beige-ys, those sort of taupe-colored people, or most whiteys for that matter.

$255,000?????? Worth of car service? Where the hell did they drive him?

Three years’ wages for a full-time driver would account for much of that, I expect.

Blacks are hurt the most by massive illegal immigration.

Ha, PeeJ! Just got your 20:22 post. I literally died laughing.

My penis is hurt the most by massive illegal immigrants, but it’s hard to find the right color of little illegal immigrant.

Uh, I have some sympathy. When you have multiple sources of income with different deduction rates etc. It is sometimes not so clear as to what and where things are from. Even if you have an accountant do your taxes (like I do) there is no guarantee that he will do them right and you are ultimately responsible for the tax form.

For example, for years, I never put frequent flyer miles on my tax form as a form of income. I met a group of people the other day that said “Everyone knows that you have to put that as a source of income”. Everyone except for me. I never told my accountant about it because I never figured that it was relevant.

Now I have to worry about getting a Senate conformation.

That comment at 20:46 was not me. How dare someone be so rude. Now it’s hard to tell who’s who around here.

I’m with actor and honus on this one. I’m inclined to view a person’s tax problems on a case by case basis. I myself have never had enough money or stuff to file anything but an EZ form, but if you have money, property, various employers or independent contractor gigs, you are likely at some point to run afoul of something in the tax code. I used to work for a tax attorney, and as honus describes, it’s kind of formulaic. The IRS says you did it wrong and you owe $x plus interest, and you say, nuh-uh, what I did is okay and here’s why, and they look at it, and you dither, and in the end you settle it, occasionally because the IRS drops it, but usually because you come to a compromise. I think I’d been working for this particular attorney for only a few days when he got word that the IRS was proposing a $150K tax settlement on a client. Of course I though OMG, this is horrible. Imagine my surprise when the client rushed in with champagne and hugs and high-fives: he’d been looking at a $950K bill before the negotiations.

So the thing is in the details for me: intentionality, circumstance, mistake, attempted evasion. But the existence of a tax problem isn’t in itself a deal-breaker in my opinion.

RedStater75 said,

January 31, 2009 at 20:48

That comment at 20:46 was not me. How dare someone be so rude. Now it’s hard to tell who’s who around here.

Hey! That wasn’t me! I mean that wasn’t me who made that comment. I made the comment that comment was referring to.

Yes it was!

I mean, it’s not like I even have a penis.

Along with blacks, I also hate Reds. No, not reds as in Redstaters! I mean er… reds, as in Soviets. Like you have in Britain now. Filthy commies! Invading innocent countries like Iraq and… wait… what? It’s still the same Government as the heroic and noble Britains who supported us during the Iraq War? Then… I… head… spinning… doublethink… failing… MUST… KILL… DARKIES!

*BOOM*

http://townhall.com/Columnists/DouglasMacKinnon/2009/01/30/paul_blart_mall_cop_please_arrest_the_elitist_reviewers

Different people like different films for different reasons. All should be respected. To the utter amazement and disdain of these reviewers, Paul Blart: Mall Cop has become a certified hit. Get over it. More than that, climb down from the Ivory tower from time to time and actually speak to those in line to see the movies of Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and Rob Schneider. If you do, you will find that you are speaking to a representation of the vast majority of the people in our nation.

The Republicans choose Steele as their head is not either an example of affirmative action. Or of “Quick! Find a darkie!” just because Osama bin Barry X got elected. Steele got picked because he’s the best nigra man for the job. You libs are so cynical.

I lurved dat moobie…dat one where dat guy he dun sumpin to dat udder guy. Man dat wuz a good moobie.

I getsted me a jopb at TwonHall revuin moobies, I did!

This is really starting to annoy me. Someone, or several someones, is using my name. I demand that it stop.

Speaking of annoying, where’s that actor guy? He usually hand-feeds me. Don’t tell me he’s out “acting” or something.

If you do, you will find that you are speaking to a representation of the vast majority of the people in our nation.

Actually, you’d be speaking to the predominant moviegoing demographic, which is basically teenagers. When I was that age I went and saw pretty much everything that was on offer from Hollywood, which then, as now, was mostly crap.

Ah, the takeover is complete. I’d like to thank all my enablers, forgers and easy marks. My dominion over your threads shall last a thousand years, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAHA HA!!11

I’m with actor … on this one.

Yes, but do you also agree that he’s still an asshole?

MacKinnon (my emphases):

Do these reviewers ever step into a mall? Were they in any malls during the holidays? Are malls, like the films of Adam Sandler, Kevin James, and Rob Schneider, never seen or visited by the proletariat?

[…]

Don’t worry. If you find it too traumatic or disgusting, you can always climb back up to your tower, take a shower, and then rip the next bourgeoisie movie that offends your lofty station in life.

There’s some analytical rigor for you.

A little more:

As for that non-stop media narrative that the economic sky is falling, a top investment banker I know in London tells me that the media negativity is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Their reporting is contributing to and indeed fueling, some of the economic downturn.

A former Senator from Texas told me the same thing, so it must be true! The economic slump is only in our minds.

Redstate,

I’m not going to go for the ‘you haven’t responded hence you’re a light weight coward know nothing’ response but I’m still interested to know how immigration is destoying Europe.

For example, for years, I never put frequent flyer miles on my tax form as a form of income. I met a group of people the other day that said “Everyone knows that you have to put that as a source of income”. Everyone except for me. I never told my accountant about it because I never figured that it was relevant.

You only have to put them on your tax form if you swap them for cash, i.e. actually get income. If you use them for award flights, upgrades, etc, you don’t; Google Announcement 2002-18 for details.

Taxes are for the little people!

Late to the table, but:

As an accountant friend of mine told me years ago, whatever you send the IRS is a first offer. If they accept, fine. If not, you work towards another figure.

There’s nothing immoral about owing the IRS back taxes. If there are penalties, you pay them. If there is interest, you pay it. When you have income from many different sources, each with their own deductions, exemptions and schedules to file, it’s pretty easy to overlook paying some taxes, just as it’s easy to overlook taking some exemptions or credits. If you find that you’ve overpaid and file an amended return within 7 years, you’ll be repaid, sometimes with interest (but not with penalties, of course, since it’s still your fault), but that doesn’t make the IRS crxooks. It’s just a complex system, that’s all.

As long as you’re not taking positive steps towards tax evasion, you’re not a criminal scumbag, or any other kind of scumbag. [Disclaimer: I’ve done taxes for H&R Block, and they ARE scumbags, loanshark scumbags to be exact.] Ask any enrolled agent or auditor, and they’ll tell you that they can find something done wrong on just about anyone’s tax return.

Douglas MacKinnon:

While the furthest thing from being an accomplished writer, I have authored a few successful books and novels (two of which have been optioned for films), by-lined a few hundred columns that have run in all of the major papers, and even have a couple of screenplays bouncing around Hollywood.

Based on the quality of his editorializing it is very difficult to believe he has achieved any success as a writer.

I’ll be anxiously awaiting the sequel to Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

He should have led with this and saved everybody’s time.

Can we have a new rallying cry: Audit the rich?

I think we should all go back to paying taxes as per the golden age of society – the 1950’s. I keep getting told by the right that the 1950’s were great. So lets revert to the tax rates that made the 50’s great!

Two excellent suggestions! If we audit everyone in the top 5% of income, for instance, the IRS will be hiring a few thousand new people right now (talk about your ‘shovel-ready’ project!) and the money reclaimed over the next several years will *still* multiply by a factor of… well, the economists I’ve heard discussing the topic guess anywhere from 5 to infinity. And that includes the libertarian economists arguing that IRS enforcement is a bad bad thing ‘cuz it interferes with the entrepreneurs’ financial creativity.

And most of the vast shelves of financial creativity regarding the tax code have been added since those glorious days when Eisenhower ruled the airwaves, so even without reverting to a 90% confiscation rate for the Robber Barons, stripping away 90% of the “business deductibles” would return vast sums of multinational booty to American coffers.

My spouse had the same problem as gertnier… Got paid one year as a contractor instead of having her wages withheld. Five years later, I’m trying to pay them back…

…We paid all in all 0% penalties all told, even though she’d specifically avoided paying taxes for several years because she knew of the fuckup.

The penalties just aren’t criminal. The IRS had its entire schedule of penalties changed about ten years ago.

The criminal aspect is how the Bush administration kept the IRS auditing the bottom 4/5ths more than the top 1/5th.

Anyone who is living so high on the hog that they are able to make a $130,000 “mistake” on their taxes is simply making too much money. Their money should be taken away. And $12,000 in interest and penalties is not enough, I want at least treble damages.

This is especially galling when the fat cat in question is not really producing anything or creating wealth for society as a whole. I’m getting effing sick of the privileged class.

Phein, nicely put. I woulda said something more like that I if knew the right words and could put them together properly.

Daschle is a guy who was so ineffectual as Senate Democratic leader that he made Harry Reid look good. I’m hardly surprised the tosser cheated on his taxes too. Dump him, Obama!

“I’ve got to agree with Actor 2012, the tax code is very difficult to follow.”

But Daschle is a career bureaucrat in the American government.

I’ve got a degree in accounting and still got audited. I don’t think even Daschle, who helped passed many of the laws he broke, knows precisely what the code is.

Only dupes (and apparently actor212)

That’s right, I’m not a dupe, I’m an asshole!

Looks like Daschle’s dropped out.