Do The Democrats Have Another Tax Evader?

The Bulletin ^ | Thursday, March 26, 2009 | Michael P. Tremoglie

[curth]

U.S. Rep. Fortney “Pete” Stark, D-Calif., the No. 2 man on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Ways and Means Committee, responsible for writing the tax code, could be the latest in a list of prominent Democrats in Washington with tax problems.

According to a Bloomberg News report, he has allegedly been taking advantage of a tax break on a Maryland home he claims as his principal residence. Homeowners in Maryland qualify for a tax credit for residences they use “for the legal purposes of voting, obtaining a driver’s license, and filing income tax returns,” according to the Maryland Assessment Procedures Manual.

Maryland state officials are investigating his eligibility, according to Bloomberg.

Joseph Glorioso, the Maryland supervisor of assessments for Anne Arundel County, said he would investigate Mr. Stark’s eligibility for the tax break after being told of comments allegedly made by the congressman.

“It doesn’t sound like he should get the credit,” Mr. Glorioso said. “Now that you’ve brought it up, I have to make an inquiry.”

Mr. Stark, in a telephone interview last week said, “Insofar as I know, I’m obeying the law.”

He said he stays in the Maryland home about two-thirds of the year.

He confirmed he and his wife, Deborah, are registered to vote in California’s 13th Congressional District, using the address of her parents in San Lorenzo, about 25 miles southeast of San Francisco.

Mr. Stark also said both he and his wife have California driver’s licenses, and he rents an apartment in his district where he stays when he is there.

Last week, The Associated Press reported that U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., was declared ineligible by Maryland officials for the tax break he has been receiving for a home he owns in Montgomery County, Md., a Washington suburb.

[A message]

I just received a spam from Fortney this evening.

E-mailed back and called him an - *-hole and a tax cheat.

The small satisfactions in life.

[OneWingedShark]

Question: Why don’t we run the “Ways and Means” committee out of the country, burn the tax code, and institute something that is both simple and sane?

If we went with an income-tax, make it a flat 2% tax for everyone.
If it’s a sales tax, the same.
Then how would people/politicians have an excuse for not paying their taxes?

We don’t need something that is convoluted and complex and, ultimately, designed only as a “gotcha”-farm.

[Nervous Tick]

>> Do The Democrats Have Another Tax Evader?

Does Howdy Doody have wooden balls?

[xp38]

Because the tax code is the greatest tool for social engineering that the government has. Simplifying it would be sacrilege to the dims.

[catpuppy]

You’ll have to admit that many Democrats would look good in orange jumpsuits.