What is it with potential cabinet appointees and their taxes? I may not like it very much but I pay my taxes every year. Even the year I sold my house in DC and had to pay capital gains tax on the ginormous amount I made on the sale. It was painful, but guess what, I did it.The latest is Tom Daschele, who was the nominee for Secretary of Health and Human Services. Apparently he used a car and did not declare the use of the car on his income taxes. It must have been one hell of a car, because all told, he had to pay the IRS over $128,000 in back taxes. Reporter Andrea Mitchell, when interviewing Senator Daschele, reported that Daschele became "emotional" and "was near tears." I say, cry me a river, Buddy!
Earlier, Nancy Killefer, nominated by Obama to be the government's first Chief Performance Officer, said she didn't want her "bungling" of payroll taxes on her household help to be a distraction. Really, what is it with taxing the nanny, et al? Certainly people realize that when you hire someone--whether to work in your home or outside of it--you have to pay taxes?
I am far from a tax expert, but it sounds to me like these are fairly simple tax issues. Are these people trying to save a few dollars by doing their taxes themselves? If so, I have two words for them: Jackson Hewitt.
The whole thing reminds me of the old Steve Martin routine about how to become a millionaire (or in this case a political appointee). He has a different set of two words that might have helped Daschele and Killefer, part of his 1977 monologue on SNL:
You can be a millionaire and never pay taxes! You can be a millionaire and never pay taxes! You say,"Steve.. how can I be a millionaire.. and never pay taxes?" First.. get a million dollars. Now.. you say, "Steve.. what do I say to the tax man when he comes to my door and says, 'You have never paid taxes'?" Two simple words. Two simple words in the English language: "I forgot!"
How many times do we let ourselves get into terrible situations because we don't say "I forgot"? Let's say you're on trial for armed robbery. You say to the judge, "I forgot armed robbery was illegal."
Let's not forget Tim Geithner, the current Treasury Secretary. The man in charge of the IRS had his own little "senior moment" when it came time to ante up. He got confirmed no problem, though.
ReplyDeleteHmmmmm....
There have also been a couple of former lobbyists/industry insiders confirmed in Deputy positions (in the DOD, for example), despite Obama's pledge to keep government free of corporate influence.
Hmmmm.....
Maureen Dowd had a nice op/ed in today's (02/04) NY Times about Obama's Cabinet appointments, their tax troubles, and the apparent double standard in Obama's rhetoric. She was not amused.
nor are many of us amused. we thought there would be "change". what message does this send to everyone who believed in righting government, and voted for obama?
ReplyDeleteI did know anonymous people CAN TALK????
ReplyDeletethe earth is moving as anonymous speak !