Free Republic

"Associated Press writer Stephen Ohlemacher had a news story yesterday about President Barack H. Obama’s latest nominee with tax problems, Lael Brainard. We think he left out two pretty important details. First, Ohlemacher’s report says Brainard “is the fifth presidential nominee to reveal tax issues during the congressional vetting process.” The key to the partial truth in that sentence is “during the congressional” vetting process. While Ohlemacher likely is factually correct, the sentence certainly is misleading. One reads it and thinks, “Oh, that’s the 5th appointment he made with tax issues.” That is not true. In fact, it doesn’t count...

For years, Philadelphia candidates for judicial seats and other offices have written checks to a New Jersey-based firm called Dan Silo Consultants. Insiders knew that there was no Dan Silo. It was the name used by Pete Truman, a former Philadelphia ward leader and elected official who brokered the support of an alliance of African-American ward leaders in return for some handsome consulting fees. Yesterday Truman, 74, was charged with filing a false tax return, failing to report consulting income estimated by federal authorities at $700,000 between 2001 and 2007. Also charged with filing a false return was Chester...

After King County Superior Court Judge Gregory Canova awarded Microsoft an $8.7 million judgment in a 2008 lawsuit involving unpaid software licenses, he might have been surprised to learn that Microsoft isn’t actually in the software licensing business in Washington – or at least that’s what it reports to the state Department of Revenue. For tax purposes, Microsoft reports that it’s earned its estimated $143 billion in software licensing revenue in Nevada, where there is no licensing tax. However, for legal purposes, Microsoft executes its licensing contracts so they are governed by and rely on the protections of Washington law...

As part of a voluntary program that ended on October 15, some 7,500 Americans with hidden offshore bank accounts ended the game of hide and seek with the IRS. They finally decided to tell the government where to find their assets. Some of these hidden accounts were pretty hard to lose track of --- one had more than $100 million in it.

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands — What happens to a tax haven when it has to raise taxes? The Cayman Islands may soon find out. Caught in a vise of shrinking revenue and stubbornly high public spending, the Caymans averted a fiscal crisis this week by securing a $60 million overseas loan. But the Foreign and Commonwealth office in Britain, which oversees the Caymans and can veto foreign lending requests, has delivered an ultimatum: The rest of the $284 million the Cayman government says it needs will not be forthcoming until this offshore financial center imposes spending cuts and considers some...

Sorry no link, just watched it on Tv. He really went after them...*somebody must be monitoring their braodcast and will be able to put a vid of it up, sometime today...but what a contrast from a few stories before, where Rattiman and guest "expert" were talking about how the "brave", "manly", thing to do, was to pull our troops out of Afghanistan, and not be "wimpy" and "weak" and "caowardly" and just let others force Obama to send more troops.

In another blow to the false narrative advanced by Tea Party operatives and Fox News that the movement is a “grassroots� uprising of ordinary Americans. A co-founder of the national anti-tax Tea Party Patriots movement, failed to disclose during her numerous media interviews and TV appearances that she and her husband filed for bankruptcy and owed the IRS half a million dollars.

WASHINGTON — House Democrats on Wednesday blocked a Republican effort to force Representative Charles B. Rangel from the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee and instead referred the demand to the ethics panel already investigating him. As expected, the House voted 246 to 153 to essentially table the call for the ouster of Mr. Rangel, Democrat of New York. Representative John Carter, Republican of Texas, had sought Mr. Rangel’s removal in a resolution that said national attention to financial lapses by the chairman of the tax-writing committee has “held the House up to public ridicule.” Under rules governing consideration...

Most people think they pay too much to Uncle Sam, but for some people it simply is not true. In 2009, roughly 47% of households, or 71 million, will not owe any federal income tax, according to estimates by the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Some in that group will even get additional money from the government because they qualify for refundable tax breaks. The ranks of those whose major federal tax burdens net out at zero -- or less -- is on the rise. The center's original 2009 estimate was 38%. That was before enactment in February of the $787...

Maybe when City College of NY is done building Charlie Rangel's favorite Pork project, the $1.95 million, federal earmark funded Charles B. Rangel Center for Public Service one of the first courses they could teach is "Playing Fast and Loose with Ethics 101." This past year, Americans have gotten to see the true nature of Congressman Rangel. He may have been a public servant for almost 40 years, but throughout that time he has found ways to enrich his favorite constituent, Charlie Range. In September of 2008 he admitted a failure to report $75 thousand in taxes. What has followed...

TIDE FOUNDATION: Overview Tides Foundation & Tides Center When is a foundation not a foundation? When it gives away other foundations’ money. Most of America’s big-money philanthropies trace their largesse back to one or two wealthy contributors. The Pew Charitable Trusts was funded by Joseph Pew’s Sun Oil Company earnings, the David & Lucille Packard Foundation got its endowment from the Hewlett-Packard fortune, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation grew out of General Motors profits, and so on. In most cases, the donors’ descendants manage and invest these huge piles of money, distributing a portion each year to nonprofit groups of...

See video @ WDSU: IRS Leins on ACORN

ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis told Fox News' Chris Wallace on Sunday that her group "absolutely pays its taxes." Not true: The IRS and Louisiana's taxmen have imposed nearly $2 million in liens against ACORN for failing to fork over taxes at its New Orleans national headquarters. The IRS recently filed a $548,000 lien against the group, and Louisiana state tax officials have slapped $334,000 in liens on ACORN since last October. Evidence that ACORN ignored its tax obligations may be less exciting than its branch offices' eagerness to help a self-professed pimp break multiple laws, or the voter-registration fraud for...

Oversight: As the Senate votes to de-fund Acorn, add pimping, tax evasion and human trafficking to voter fraud paid for with taxpayer dollars and you have an organized criminal enterprise. It's time to investigate.After Acorn workers were caught on tape in three cities allegedly abetting what they believed was a fraudulent-mortgage and sex-trafficking scheme, the Senate has voted overwhelmingly to strip the group of funding in the Transportation/Housing and Urban Development appropriations bill. The amendment, offered by Nebraska Republican Sen. Mike Johanns, passed by an 83-to-7 margin and marked the third time this year that Republicans have tried to block...

[Page: H9471] GPO's PDF ---    The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of January 6, 2009, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Carter) is recognized for 60 minutes as the designee of the minority leader.    Mr. CARTER. Mr. Speaker, as some people might know and some of my colleagues know, I have been appearing before this House for the leadership hour now for approximately 12 weeks, and I have been talking about this House of hypocrisy that we seem to be thriving in here as we have all of these issues that involve multiple people concerning ethical issues, and...

• Collapse of offshore centres could cost UK many millions • Liberal Vince Cable says it is wrong to reward mismanagement Britain could be forced to bail out one or more of its offshore tax havens at huge cost, according to early drafts of a Treasury report, because the economic crisis has wrecked their finances. Offshore expert Michael Foot will next month set out a number of options to government ministers in the report as anxiety grows within Whitehall over the health of Britain's overseas territories and crown dependencies. Senior insiders say early drafts of Foot's report suggest that the...

In a story on FoxNews Radio, truth broker Glen Beck is revealing how ACORN assists people in tax evasion in the process of helping them to buy houses. Beyond that; assisting in prostitution and condoning child labor in the illegal sex trade along with illegal immigration. Beck plans on playing an undercover video made by two people who were fed up with the corruption displayed by ACORN in their institutionalized voter registration fraud, their intimidation of voters. The corrupt manner in which members of congress are protecting ACORN ought to bring clearly to light just about every member of the...

<p>ACORN officials offered to assist two individuals posing as a pimp and prostitute, encouraging them to lie to the Internal Revenue Service and providing guidance on how to claim underage girls from South America as dependents, according to an audiotape acquired by FOXNews.com.</p>

I confess to having a soft spot in my heart for old-style, Tammany Hall pols like New York Democrat Charles Rangel, current chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee -- which is the same committee another loveable old rogue, disgraced Illinois Democrat Dan Rostenkowski, used to oversee back in the day. Both are from an era that's long past, and for good reason, too. Old Dan ended up doing time in the slam for a myriad of corrupt practices, including mail fraud, and Rangel could find himself going in the same direction, if current news reports are correct....

I finally figured out why Ted Kennedy wants to have Governor Devoid Patrickakis appoint someone to replace him - Ted is staying in Florida. Ted has been in Florida since he collapsed at an Obama inauguration dinner many months ago. Like his dear mother Rose, Teddy wants to establish Florida as his primary residence in order to avoid those massive estate taxes and dreaded Massachusetts income taxes. This is important because Teddy has a new book coming out and he wants the income from that book to be declared tax free in Florida - not Taxachusetts. The same way we...

"When normal people happen to "find" their own money, it might mean a twenty left in a winter coat, or discovering change beneath the sofa cushions. But if you're Charlie Rangel, it means doubling your net worth. "Earlier this month the Chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee "amended" his 2007 financial disclosure form—to the tune of more than a half-million dollars in previously unreported assets and income. That number may be as high as $780,000, because Congress's ethics rules only require the Members to report their finances within broad ranges. This voyage of personal financial discovery brings Mr....

Charles Rangel (D-NY) failed to disclose millions on his taxes, including a $1 million dollar house. The list of forgotten disclosures goes on and on...for years...

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Charles Rangel failed to report as much as $1.3 million in outside income -- including up to $1 million for a Harlem building sale -- on financial-disclosure forms he filed between 2002 and 2006, according to newly amended records. The documents also show the embattled chairman of the Ways and Means Committee -- who is being probed by the House Ethics Committee -- failed to reveal a staggering $3 million in various business transactions over the same period. This week, Rangel filed drastically revised financial-disclosure forms reflecting new, higher amounts of outside income and numerous additional business...

Rangel discloses $660K more in assets By: John Bresnahan August 25, 2009 08:05 PM EST New financial disclosure reports filed by Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) show that the veteran lawmaker failed to report more than $660,000 in assets during 2007, a potential violation of House ethics rules. Rangel, chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, also had previously stated that he sold a Florida condominium in 2007, but an amended report covering that year – filed in mid-August – now makes no mention of that transaction. It appears that Rangel no longer owns the condo as it is...

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Senate Finance Committee on Monday revealed that President Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, had failed to pay $10,000 in taxes over the span of three years beginning in 2005. The panel report comes after several other nominees faced controversy over tax issues. Kirk, a former Dallas mayor, failed to report as income $37,750 in honoraria collected for 16 speaking engagements at Austin College, his alma mater, for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. He also deducted NBA Mavericks tickets worth $17,382 as entertainment expenses in 2006, 2006 and 2007, but has substantiated...

Former Senate majority leader Thomas A. Daschle's visit to the Oval Office on Friday, at the invitation of President Obama, was more than just a meeting between two loyal friends and political allies. It also served as a reminder of what might have been. As Obama's health-care agenda teeters in Congress, the White House listed the private meeting on the president's public schedule, sending a signal that Obama is still consulting Daschle on his top domestic policy priority. An assiduous student of health policy and an adept creature of the Senate, Daschle was Obama's first pick to oversee his reforms,...

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Thousands of Americans who thought they had a secret Swiss bank account will have their names and account details given to the U.S. Internal Revenue Services under an agreement announced Wednesday among U.S. and Swiss authorities and the Swiss bank UBS. The IRS said Americans would no longer be able to evade taxes so easily by hiding their assets in offshore accounts.The agreement comes as U.S. tax authorities conduct a criminal investigation into Americans who used Swiss bank accounts at UBS AG to avoid paying U.S. taxes. The settlement follows demands from the U.S. authorities that the...

'Survivor's' Richard Hatch arrested after Today Show with Matt Lauer Reality-TV star Richard Hatch emerged from an interview on NBC's Today Show with Matt Lauer only to find himself locked-up yet again just hours later. Hatch, who won "Survivor" in 2000, was taken to the Barnstable County Sheriff's Office in Bourne, Mass., where the Federal Bureau of Prisons holds federal inmates. Hatch was nabbed at his sister's home in Newport, R.I., where he has been living under house arrest after serving nearly four years in prison for tax evasion, msnbc.com reports. During his appearance on the "Today" show, Hatch, who...

Here is a video report on the arrest of "Survivor" first winner Richard Hatch immediately after an interview he did on The Today Show. He served four years in prison for tax evasion and has recently been out on home confinement. He claims he had permission to do an interview with The Today Show, but he was taken into custody after the interview for some reason. The authorities won't confirm why he was picked up. . . . . . (Watch Video)

NEWPORT, R.I. – "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he believes he was sent to prison because he's gay, a claim the prosecutors in the case call baseless and delusional. Hatch, speaking publicly for the first time since being released from prison to home confinement, told NBC's "Today" show that he believes the judge in his tax evasion case discriminated against him. He also accused a prosecutor of misconduct. "I know without question that there are personal issues involved for the prosecutor. I don't know why. The prosecutorial misconduct has been egregious," he said. When...

NEWPORT, R.I. – "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that he believes he was sent to prison because he's gay, a claim the prosecutors in the case call baseless and delusional. Hatch, speaking publicly for the first time since being released from prison to home confinement, told NBC's "Today" show that he believes the judge in his tax evasion case discriminated against him. He also accused a prosecutor of misconduct. "I know without question that there are personal issues involved for the prosecutor. I don't know why. The prosecutorial misconduct has been egregious," he said. When...

In a bit of random news, a federal judge ruled last week that Dinosaur Aventure Land, a creationism theme park in Pensacola, Florida, would be seized. The park's owners were convicted of tax fraud and the land the park inhabits and the two bank accounts associated with it will be expropriated to satisfy $430,400 owed to the federal government in taxes. The seizure of the property is the result of 17 years of the park's owner, Kent Hovind, fighting the federal government over $470,000 in employee taxes owed. Hovind claimed he was employed by God and his "ministers" -- I'm...

London (PTI): Hollywood star Nicolas Cage has been dragged to court by US tax officials who have demanded that the actor pay up a massive USD 6.2 million of overdue taxes. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) officials have filed a case in a court in Louisiana accusing him of failing to keep up with his taxes in 2007. The actor, who won an Academy award for his leading role in 'Leaving Las Vegas', is trying to sell his home in Louisiana to recoup the cash, Contactmusic reported. This is not the first time that the 'Ghost Rider' star has messed...

The chief of staff to former congressman Curt Weldon was sentenced, July 30, for the heinous offense of not reporting $19,000 his wife made with a non-profit as required. Russell James Caso Jr., 36, got probation.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) is one of the drivers of a 5.4 percent income tax surcharge in order to help pay for the Democrats' nationalization of health care. Taking a look back at Rangel's personal tax history, however, it's easy to see why he's so keen on the proposal -- he isn't likely to pay any of it himself. The Wall Street Journal published a refresher course in Rangel's tax history this week, reminding us all of the scams that he's put forth in order to dodge taxes on his now famous Dominican villa. Rangel...

Henry Louis Gates’ Foundation to Revise Tax Return Cambridge, Mass. (July 28, 2009) By WebCPA Staff A nonprofit foundation run by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is filing an amended 2007 tax return after it was found to have mischaracterized $11,000 in payments to officials as research grants. Gates founded the Inkwell Foundation four years ago to conduct research and education about African and African-American history and culture. The foundation apparently reported a $10,000 grant to Joanne Kendall, the foundation’s treasurer, who is also Gates’ assistant at Harvard. In addition, the foundation made a $1,000 payment to secretary Abby...

A charity headed by star Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. is filing an amended 2007 report to the Internal Revenue Service because $11,000 it paid to foundation officers as compensation was mischaracterized as being for research grants. Questions about Inkwell Foundation emerged over the weekend, part of a tsunami of attention Gates has received since July 16, when he was arrested at his home by a police officer responding to a report about a possible burglary in progress. The incident ignited a national debate over racial profiling, further magnified when President Obama jumped into it.

The House Ethics Committee is investigating Caribbean trips paid for by corporate lobbyists Rangel and several other members went on, in apparent violation of House rules.........more than nine months after the trips were disclosed by The Post. Not that the committee will ever do more than slap Rangel's wrist -- if that. Speaker Pelosi declared the initial probe into Rangel's tortured personal finances would be finished last January...... Rangel for nearly a decade enjoyed free luxurious Carib trips paid for by corporate lobbyists who bundled their sponsorships through a small Carib newspaper in NY. The paper's owner bragged publicly the...

Indictment Charges Koerber with Mail, Wire Fraud and Tax Evasion in Connection with Real Estate Investment Scheme Investment Scheme Took in About $100 Million in Investor Funds; More than $50 Million Used to Make Ponzi Payments While Other Investor Money Was Diverted to Other Uses SALT LAKE CITY—A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment Tuesday morning charging Claud R. Koerber aka Rick Koerber, age 36, of Alpine, with mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion in connection with an alleged fraudulent investment scheme he devised to get money from investors. Koerber was involved with several businesses in Utah, including...

Randall Bradley Jones, who authorities say cheated the Internal Revenue Service out of taxes on income from his six houses of prostitution, today was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $15,000 restitution. U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon sentenced Jones, who pleaded guilty in February to one count of tax evasion for failing to inform the IRS of about $665,962 in cash he acquired. Prosecutor Charles Escher told the judge at the plea hearing that Jones and his business, Amazing Promotions Group Inc., collected the cash from the safes at the six houses he called Escape...

Why doesn’t Rahm Emanuel pay property taxes? Email Written by gto7 on Feb-23-09 3:58pm From: gto7.wordpress.com Why don’t we all do this!!!! Rahm Emanuel's home Rahm Emanuel's home According to the Cook County Assessor’s website, the Chicago home of four-term Democrat Congressman and new White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, doesn’t exist. While the address of 4228 North Hermitage is listed as Emanuel’s residence on the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website, there seems to be no public record of Emanuel ever paying property taxes on this home. The Cook County Assessor’s and Cook County Treasurer’s online records indicate...

The Treasury secretary, who oversees the IRS, didn't pay all his taxes. Neither did five other top nominees for the Obama administration, or their spouses. Now, [...] some Americans are wondering why they should comply with the arcane requirements of the [IRS] when top administration officials failed to do the same. Even some IRS employees are upset at what they see as a double standard. The most criticized example has been Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who admitted not paying $34,000 in payroll and Social Security taxes, saying his failure to pay was an oversight. Five other nominees disclosed similar tax...

Just two days after she revealed that she owed nearly $8,000 in back taxes, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius faced largely friendly questioning from the Senate Finance Committee Thursday – with no questions at all asked about her tax situation. The committee has jurisdiction over tax issues. What’s more, only 11 senators – seven Democrats and four Republicans – out of a total 23 committee members had questions for Sebelius, who is President Obama’s choice to be secretary of health and human services. The sparse attendance and short, cordial exchanges between senators and Sebelius was surprising, since the same committee grilled...

Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius recently corrected three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes after finding "unintentional errors" -- the latest tax troubles for an Obama administration nominee. The Kansas governor explained the changes to senators in a letter dated Tuesday that the administration released. She said they involved charitable contributions, the sale of a home and business expenses. Sebelius said she filed the amended returns as soon as the errors were discovered by an accountant she hired to scrub her taxes in preparation for her confirmation hearings. She and her husband,...

Well. well. the Justice Department is dropping the case against Ted Stevens now that they've succeeeded in driving him from office. That is a rather naked admission of their intentions in the case. I have another suggestion for our dear friends in the Injustice Department. How about checking to see if Barack Obama failed to pay taxes, as Stevens was accused of doing, when he accepted a enhancement to his property from a political donor (and dual resident of the US and SYRIA), namely a strip of land sold at a bargain price from the wife of Tony Rezko. Certainly,...

Hey, did you hear about the Obama nominee who paid their taxes? Neither have we. But we accept tips. Kathy Sebelius, President Obama’s pick to head up the massive Health and Human Services department, is the latest Obama Cabinet nominee to have tax issues. Broken record? In a letter to the Senate Finance Committee yesterday, the Kansas governor said she paid a total of $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest because of “unintentional errors.” “In preparation for my confirmation process as the nominee for Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, my husband and I hired...

Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius recently corrected three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes after finding "unintentional errors" — the latest tax troubles for an Obama administration nominee. The Kansas governor explained the changes to senators in a letter dated Tuesday that the administration released. She said they involved charitable contributions, the sale of a home and business expenses. Sebelius said she filed the amended returns as soon as the errors were discovered by an accountant she hired to scrub her taxes in preparation for her confirmation hearings. She and her husband,...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius has corrected three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes after finding "unintentional errors" — the latest tax troubles for an Obama administration nominee. The Kansas governor explained the changes to senators in a letter dated Tuesday that was obtained by The Associated Press. She said they involved charitable contributions, the sale of a home and business expenses. She and her husband paid a total of $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest to amend returns from 2005-2007. Several Obama administration nominees have been...

Sebelius paid over $7,000 in back taxes By: Carrie Budoff Brown March 31, 2009 06:31 PM EST Health and Human Services nominee Kathleen Sebelius has paid back taxes of more than $7,000 stemming from "unintentional errors" revealed during her accountant's review of recent tax returns. The White House on Tuesday released a letter Sebelius sent to the Senate Finance Committee, detailing how she lacked some proper paperwork in accounting for charitable donations and business expenses. The Kansas governor also mistakenly claimed a deduction on her mortgage interest. Sebelius was nominated for health secretary after President Barack Obama’s first choice, former...

And by “unbelievable,” I of course mean inevitable. Remember, she was the “safe” choice for HHS after Daschle got dinged for — that’s right — not paying his taxes. By CBS’s count, this is the sixth nominee to have tax trouble. Yes, really.