Hey you! Troubled by hypocrisy in government lately?
Do Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s tax indiscretions, lies, and affrontery have you singing the economic blues?
According to Mr. Geithner, he initially failed to pay payroll taxes on income he received from the International Monetary Fund in 2001, and then repeated the error in the three subsequent years, despite the help of an accountant. [snip]
… adding that he should have read the statement more carefully. Millions of Americans have said the same thing about the tax code during an IRS audit, earning less forgiveness.
Is Charlie Rangel’s ethics probe against himself making you feel a little less hopeful about the 111th Congress?
The embattled Harlem lawmaker said yesterday that he made his third complaint to the House Ethics Committee against himself in as many months - this time to look at his beachfront dream home in the Dominican Republic.
Rangel purchased the villa at the Punta Cana Yacht Club with a no-interest loan 20 years ago and has failed to report rental income on the property, which rents for $1,100 a night during the peak season.
If, perchance, you feel a double-standard forming between yourself and the government officials supposed to represent you, look no further than former Texas judge John Carter (R-TX) and his new bill submitted for consideration to Congress.
Titled, “The Rangel Rule,” this bill grants federal and IRS leniency to American citizens who have been accused of committing the same tax crimes Geithner and Rangel committed, requiring that any sentences issued should be lesser than or equal to Geithner’s and Rangel’s in their respective ethics inquiries.
All U.S. taxpayers would enjoy the same immunity from IRS penalties and interest as House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Obama Administration Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, if a bill introduced today by Congressman John Carter (R-TX) becomes law.
Carter, a former longtime Texas judge, today introduced the Rangel Rule Act of 2009, HR 735, which would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from charging penalties and interest on back taxes against U.S. citizens. Under the proposed law, any taxpayer who wrote “Rangel Rule” on their return when paying back taxes would be immune from penalties and interest.
In other words — cheating on your taxes will not only carry no penalty, but may get you nominated for Treasury Secretary some day.
Yes You Can, fellow citizens, Yes You Can.
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