Rekna

see CNN Political Ticker: All politics, all the time Blog Archive - Palin told to pay back taxes - Blogs from CNN.com for a reference.

Sarah Palin has been ordered to pay back taxes on per diem that she charged Alaska while staying at home. She will also likely face tax issues for air fair and hotel rooms for her family that were paid for by the state.

Will Republicans rail on Governor Palin as a "tax cheat" as they did recently to democrats in similar situations? Currently search fox news for "palin taxes" yields zero results.

As I said in other threads my view is this is par for the course when it comes to peoples taxes. I promise that a sizable portion of the US population would owe back taxes if the IRS new everything about them.

shakran

Probably they won't, though not in this case out of any hypocrisy. I think the Republicans (wisely) largely want Palin to go away. If they could make us forget she ever existed, I think they would.

And speaking of which, it's 3 months since the election, why the hell is this dipshit still in the news every day?

(and yes, I know the irony of that question considering my profession )

Rekna

I'm under the opposite impression about Palin and Republicans. It seems to me that many of them still love her and want her to run against Obama in 2012.

aceventura3

1) There is a difference between a tax cheat, someone who knows the law and violates it, and a person who discovers that an issue, upon review by the IRS is subject to taxation.

2) there is a difference between a nominee clearing up a tax issue on the eve of a nomination and a person addressing a tax issue when it comes up.

3) there is a difference between the person who is in charge of the IRS having "tax issue" and everybody else.

4) there is a difference between a Congressman using endless rhetoric about off-shore corporation's and having "tax issues" with off-shore property.

If Palin owes the taxes, she should pay what she owes. If she lied or if there is proof that she knowingly broke the law, she should suffer the consequences.
-----Added 18/2/2009 at 03 : 42 : 52-----
I love her but she is not my first choice to run in 2012 for President. If I was forced to make a choice today, it would be Huckabee - the man I supported during the primaries. My second choice would be Rice, but I doubt she would run.

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

Rekna

Daschle has the same thing as she did. He used a limo and didn't pay taxes on it. Also Palin was told prior to the election that she likely owed back taxes. Your difference here is Daschle volunteered to pay his back taxes. Palin refused until she was ordered to do so (assuming she now pays them).

You should add another to your list:

#5 there is a difference is one is a democrat and one is a republican.

aceventura3

If it were that simple with Daschel, why did Obama "throw him under the bus." what was the mistake made by Obama and his team? I have never had a problem with a person making a mistake on taxes, hell nobody understands our tax code. The difference is I support tax code simplification and Democrats don't. I don't like paying taxes and a guy like Biden thinks paying taxes is patriotic. I think taxing work, savings and investment is wrong and punitive. I think creating real wealth (for yourself and others) is patriotic because we all benefit from real wealth creation.

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

Rekna

Daschle chose to withdraw under his own free will. Just because he withdrew doesn't mean he didn't pay intentionally or that Palin didn't pay unintentionally. Republicans were making so much noise about it Daschle decided to withdraw. He was becoming a distraction.

Right now you are arguing two sets of standards, one for Democrats and one for Republicans.
-----Added 18/2/2009 at 04 : 21 : 37-----
You may not believe you have any bias but this thread is a clear example of it.

Here we have two people who both did not pay taxes on something their employer gave them. Without any evidence you assume that 1) Daschel is a tax cheat and 2) Palin made an innocent mistake.

flstf

I don't believe there are many innocent mistakes by Governors and Senators when it comes to paying taxes. They probably get very good tax advice and are told what the odds are that they will get caught when they cheat. I believe Daschle and Palin both knew it was wrong to not claim the income but were advised that chances of getting caught were slim.

The_Dunedan

The more people who cheat on their taxes, the better I'll feel. Every dollar that -doesn't- end up in George Bush or Barack Obama's pockets is a step in the right ruttin' direction. This gov't doesn't care anyway, they're printing money by the trillions of dollars (literally) already. The more people who starve the beast, the sooner it will die and be replaced, hopefully with something better.

Joan Baez was a heroine for her tax evasion, likewise Wesley Snipes, likewise anybody who ever dodged so much as Sales Tax. One less dollar to pay for blowing people up in foreign countries (or this one).

Baraka_Guru

Wow, how did you fail to mention Henry David Thoreau?

__________________
Knowing that death is certain and that the time of death is uncertain, what's the most important thing?
—Bhikkhuni Pema Chödrön

Humankind cannot bear very much reality.
—From "Burnt Norton," Four Quartets (1936), T. S. Eliot

guyy

Then they chose bad advisors, or didn't listen to them. The first job of a pol is to pick good advisors and know when to listen to them. They flunked on that score. Again.

MSD

I don't agree on the taxes, you would probably get behind my plan to cut government spending: cut the ATF and DEA to 5% of their size and have 100% of their work dedicated to dealing with gangs and other violent criminals.

roachboy

why not eliminate the national security state?
it's far more unnecessary than the atf and would save a pantload more money.

as for the topic at hand, these little instances are instructive in that they provide an indicator of the conservative megaphone, what it does---magnification and blah blah blah in one direction, silence in the other so that there really are two standards abroad in the land of repetition, one for conservatives and another for everyone else---and that it still exists. i guess millions upon millions in extreme-rightwing money bought an infrastructure that will dissolve more slowly than their ideology has.

__________________
a gramophone its corrugated trumpet silver handle
spinning dog. such faithfulness it hear

it make you sick.

-kamau brathwaite

aceventura3

What was the mistake Obama apologized for?

No. I have a higher standard for the Treasury Secretary, that is true but not partisan.

I can understand Daschel's tax problem, what I don't get is the connection to lobbying ,what Democrats say about lobbying, and Obama's executive order. And like I wrote if Palin violated the law she should pay the price and penalty. If there is evidence that she is in fact a "tax cheat", she should be prosecuted for that. However, I just think our tax code is too complicated and that even smart people can fall victim to it. But, some people, Republicans, support tax simplification, lower rates and fewer special interest loop holes. Democrats general don't.

Re-read what I wrote. I think most of my concern with Daschel is that he tried to clean up his issue on the eve of his confirmation to a cabinet post. Palin's issue came up as a result of investigation of how she filed expense reimbursement. One seems to be a logical progression the other an attempt to cover one's ass -that backfires.

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

Rekna

Again, Daschle chose to take care of it of his own free will even though no other body has said he had to pay taxes on it. Palin on the other hand said i don't have to pay taxes on that and then someone else said no you do. She did not just find out that she had to pay taxes on it. People pointed this out shortly after she became a VP candidate. Using your logic if Daschle would have just not paid it and waited for the IRS to say no you have to pay then he would have been innocent but since he paid it on his own he is guilty.....

Your logic is astounding.

aceventura3

I am not giving Palin a pass.

However, it is fair to dispute a finding by the IRS, they are not always right.

Let me ask you - when does a taxable situation occur in these examples:

*You live next door to your employer, and he drives you to work each day, saving you money and he lets you use his car for personal use during your lunch.

*You live next door to your employer and you drive him to work, and he pays you for gas and other expenses including when he uses your car for personal matters during his lunch.

*You don't live next door to your employer but he sends a car for you each day to take you to and from work. You use the car during lunch for personal use.

*Your employer pays you a car allowance, but you walk to work.

I think the average person could get a little confused even if they want to do the right thing. I think the IRS, in some cases, has to make a subjective determination that could be different from on IRS person to the next.

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

ratbastid

But ace, it sounds like there's no room for Daschle to be confused, in your view. In your book he's a tax cheat. Even though he cleaned it up immediately rather than fighting it, and then withdrew from nomination to a post that it was pretty much universally agreed he'd be good for because of the furor raised by the rabid right.

Palin, on the other hand, tried to get out of paying--on the eve of her being a candidate she DIDN'T clean it up, rather she REFUSED to clean it up. That's much WORSE than what you're saying Daschle did, by your very own logic, isn't it?

I just can't fathom how you're not seeing the disconnect here.

flstf

Governors and Senators are not average people and have access to expert tax advice. I believe Daschle and Palin and their tax advisors knew exactly what they were doing and the risks involved. I believe people in high office are used to gaming the system and get away with it most of the time.

aceventura3

Let me put it this way - Daschle is not guilty of being a tax cheat in my opinion. However, I don't trust him. There are many reasons, if you want to call it being partisan, so be it. I don't think Palin is guilty of being a tax cheat. However, I do trust her as much as I could possibly trust a politician, if you want to call that partisan, so be it. On a scale of one to ten, with 10 being the highest. My mother would get a ten, if I knew Mother Teresa she might get a ten. The most a politician could get in my book is a 6. Daschel gets a 0.5.

I separate the issues of being a tax cheat and trust. My distrust of Daschle has almost nothing to do with his tax problem.
-----Added 19/2/2009 at 04 : 04 : 30-----
Even tax experts can get it wrong.

Tax Problems at H&R Block - - CFO.com

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

flstf

ace... H&R Block is not my idea of tax experts. In my opinion this is not a partisan issue.

aceventura3

The leading tax preparation company in the US and you don't consider them experts? I certainly understand the limitations of your local tax preparer at an HR Block office, but HR Block generates $4.4 billion per year doing mostly individual taxes. I think a few people at the company spend some time with the tax code and are experts. If the point was lost - we can certainly move on.

__________________
"Democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on lunch."
"It is useless for the sheep to pass resolutions on vegetarianism while the wolf is of a different opinion."
"If you live among wolves you have to act like one."
"A lady screams at the mouse but smiles at the wolf. A gentleman is a wolf who sends flowers."

dippin

If only there was a document from the government of alaska outlining under which conditions per diems are tax free...

oh, wait:
http://fin.admin.state.ak.us/dof/tra...source/tax.pdf

Paq

btw, just an aside here, i see more people now with "Palin supporter" on their facebook page than i did before the election. She's gaining strength and will likely start campaigning in 2010.

just read her facebook supporter page : Login | Facebook and check the roughly 65,000 posts and 500,000+ supporters...

and yes, these people vote.

as for this particular issue: i think both daschle and palin made a mistake and i don't think it was intentional. It is ENTIRELY too easy to mess up filling out your taxes and miss paying something that may be politically damaging. I'm not a fairtax advocate bc i don't like their setup yet, but we definitely need something easier/better than the current encyclopedia of tax codes.

__________________
Live.

Chris

flstf

You are probably right. At the top H&R Block probably has tax experts who know how to game the system as well. As to the main topic of this thread, I'm just not willing to give Palin and Daschle and their tax advisors a pass on their "it was an honest mistake" defense of their tax evasion. This is a sensitive issue for most polititians and I believe they know exactly what they are doing and know that they will rarely get caught. I'm probably too cynical but I also believe most of our polititians would have similar problems if they were audited closely.

guyy

Bring it on!

Derwood

hope our scientists make a lot of breakthroughs with stem cell research over the next 4 years, as a Palin presidency would likely shut it all down again in 2012

FoolThemAll

Well, that settles it, I'm not voting for McCain anymore.
-----Added 20/2/2009 at 02 : 28 : 15-----
In my experience, there's a pretty decent split between the two camps. Which depresses me. I don't want my vote for some libertarian nut in 2012 to be a foregone conclusion.

__________________
I wonder if we're stuck in Rome.

mortgage007

That would be the mismatch of the century!