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Calm and Cool on a No Good, Very Bad Day (President Screw Up: Leave no tax cheat behind)
Townhall.com ^ | Saturday, February 07, 2009 | Michael Barone

Posted on 02/07/2009 2:31:41 AM PST by JohnHuang2

Tuesday, Feb. 3, was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for Barack Obama. First, his appointee for White House chief performance officer resigned, apparently because she had failed to pay unemployment taxes on household help several years ago. Continues...


President Screw Up: Leave no tax cheat behind

How many tax cheats and cronies does it take to fill a Cabinet with "Hope" and "Change"? Obama says his corrupt vetting process deserves kudos since the majority of his nominees aren't tax cheats. And only one got through!

Focusing on what's really important, Obama asks each of his job applicants, 'Have you ever owned a gun?' and not, 'Have you ever paid taxes?'

(Update: The questionnaire was just revised: Have you ever cheated on your taxes in excess of $43,000? Have you ever engaged in senseless savagery, such as murdering patriotic wolves from airplanes?)

At this rate, the $780,000,000,000 pork 'stimulation' package could be paid for with the surge of Democrat tax filings if Obama keeps nominating. Democrats 'stimulate' themselves into paying taxes for the first time when nominated.

Obama ran around the country during the campaign insisting that his administration would bring on a tidal wave of ethical progress -- the most ever in history. Democrats were already wrestling with those 'little' ethics problems called Charlie Rangel, Barney Frank, William Jefferson and Christopher Dodd, but in two short weeks Obama has made significant progress assembling a Cabinet filled with Al Capones.

Obama won an "early victory" when the Senate approved his tax cheat Timothy Geithner for Treasury. For years, "financial guru" Geithner refused to pay $43,000 in taxes by "mistake". He'll have lots of credibility overseeing the IRS.

Tom Daschle, considered a health-care "expert" by liberals because he wrote a book, refused to pay over $128,000 in taxes by "mistake"; Nancy Killefer, named by Obama to be budget honcho and the federal government's chief performance officer, refused to "perform" her unemployment compensation taxes for her household servants by "mistake"; Rep. Hilda Solis sat on the board and was Treasurer of a group that was lobbying Congress and Hilda Solis on bills Hilda Solis had co-sponsored, violating multiple House ethics rules. Armed with this knowledge, Obama picked her for Labor Secretary. It was at that precise moment that her husband made a shocking discovery about tax liens. He had refused to settle $6,400 in tax liens against his business for 16 years by "mistake", which suggests Obama will find a top Cabinet post for him too.

And, in the words of Sen. Patrick Leahy, to "restore the Justice Department and to restore the American people's confidence in Federal law enforcement," Obama named a porn lawyer as deputy Attorney General.

Obama vowed never to name 'lobbyists' to his administration, so he names lobbyist William Lynn as deputy Pentagon honcho, lobbyist Tom Vilsack as Agriculture sec., lobbyist William Corr as HHS deputy, lobbyist Mark Gitenstein as DOJ honcho, lobbyist George Mitchell as 'Middle East envoy' -- or, more precisely, envoy to push the Jews into the sea -- and Goldman Sachs lobbyist Mark Patterson for a gig as chief of staff to that pillar of ethics, Timothy Geithner.

As the Washington Times reports, around two dozen registered ex-lobbyists are working in Obama's lobbyist-free administration -- from yawneroo "executive-branch hires, all the way to Cabinet level." Not to worry, all this frantic lobbyist hiring falls within the new ethics guidelines simply by waiving the new ethics guidelines.

Daschle rode around for years in a chauffeured limo on loan from an investment firm owned by his chum Leo Hindery, and got paid millions for lobbying, but, not to worry here either. Obama says his useless ethics guidelines allow hiring Daschle because he failed to register as a lobbyist.

(For the record, lobbyist Mark Gitenstein -- lead candidate for a gig to oversee the office that oversees judicial nominations that oversees legal policy -- may not require a blanket waiver but a somewhat waiver rather than a waiver of recusal or waiver of the right to waiver when waivering over lawyer-client privilege waiver forms or waiver letters needed to finalize a waiver . . . OK, that doesn't make sense. I think I messed up. I screwed up. I screwed up in not recognizing the perception that even though this is an honest mistake, I believe, on my part, that, you know, ordinary people are out there paying waivers every day and, um, uh, whether it's an intentional mistake or not, it was sending the wrong message that there are two sets of waivers, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their waivers every day.

Capping Obama's streak of stellar nominations is Leon Panetta, a budget guy to run CIA. This regular James Bond raked in big bucks last year from "speaking fees" and from BP Corp. and from PR firms and from banks which took bailout money. Panetta's sole qualification seems to be that he took money from everybody except Blackwater and Halliburton. With little or no intelligence experience, Panetta was a shoo-in for CIA.

For two years, Obama ran a campaign against Washington insiders with a campaign filled with Washington insiders, now he's named a Cabinet with ethics standards so high it doesn't need ethics, and the media claim they're shocked, stunned and astounded that their lover is already making Jimmy Carter look good. Oh dear. Pass the popcorn.

Anyway, that's...
My Two Cents...
"JohnHuang2"



TOPICS: Editorial; News/Current Events
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1 posted on 02/07/2009 2:31:41 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: xm177e2; mercy; Wait4Truth; hole_n_one; GretchenEE; Clinton's a rapist; buffyt; ladyinred; Angel; ..

Ping...


2 posted on 02/07/2009 2:33:09 AM PST by JohnHuang2
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To: JohnHuang2

i am convinced, only conservatives pay their taxes, and we are being hosed.


3 posted on 02/07/2009 2:36:04 AM PST by television is just wrong
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To: television is just wrong

It does appear that way. But, speaking for myself, I am not one of the “special people”. I am just a regular guy with a regular job that I get up and go to each day. So, I guess it’s only fair that I pull the weight for those that don’t work and the “special people” who don’t pay their taxes.


4 posted on 02/07/2009 2:49:24 AM PST by Jubal Madison (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: JohnHuang2

Too bad Peter Sellers isn’t around any longer...

He’d be perfect to play Obama in the movie...


5 posted on 02/07/2009 3:02:16 AM PST by DB
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To: JohnHuang2
Obama Lied.....Trillions Died!
6 posted on 02/07/2009 3:07:34 AM PST by Dixie Yooper (Ephesians 6:11)
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To: JohnHuang2

uh oh, Barone has really left our camp.


7 posted on 02/07/2009 3:14:01 AM PST by gusopol3
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To: JohnHuang2
Barone drank the KoolAid...read the last paragraph.

But nontheless, he did include a tidbit I'd been looking for documentation for:

And, with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, he has been making decision after decision in the financial crisis.

Question is, did Geitner have a hand in the misspent TARP funds that they're laying at the feet of the Bush Administration?

8 posted on 02/07/2009 3:28:12 AM PST by dawn53
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To: television is just wrong

i am convinced, only conservatives pay their taxes, and we are being hosed.

Broad brush painting a pretty truthful picture. I’m betting that non-payers, whether tax cheats or by law, outnumber the payers, and that is the crux of the bidding war for votes, and the foundation for the class warfare that now exists in the country.

The tax cheats, and the non-payers, will legislate the payers into oblivion as a lobby group or political party. This ought not to be, and by law it must be illegal for anyone who earns income to not pay taxes on that income. I would say 10 percent, and no more, but payment is important to stop the class warfare.

No one should be allowed to escape the heavy hand of government where the collection of taxes is concerned. Not the poor, not the rich, not the in between. By golly if the very sustenance on the table is taxed, then tell me why anyone should escape their responsibility to the great protector in Washington DC.

As our latest Bush Basher is so eager to tell the American people, there are not two sets of rules, one for the rich and powerful, and the other for the pawns and sheep. Want to bet on that?


9 posted on 02/07/2009 3:44:03 AM PST by wita
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To: wita

Well said. I like the way you think.


10 posted on 02/07/2009 3:58:12 AM PST by Jubal Madison (Sic Semper Tyrannis)
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To: JohnHuang2

1) Would you please be so kind as to add me to your ping list, John?

2) Excellent article, and thanks for mapping it out: Obama’s net is confusing, all the different players and their dodgy backgrounds. It was helpful to see them all in one place, described for what they are.

Cheers
*DieHard*


11 posted on 02/07/2009 4:07:59 AM PST by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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To: Jubal Madison

I love the smell of validation in the morning.

Validation is a two way street, and your FR home page tells me where you stand. We stand together.


12 posted on 02/07/2009 4:41:47 AM PST by wita
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To: JohnHuang2

A great idea for a tagline!


13 posted on 02/07/2009 5:10:53 AM PST by Carley (President Obama ~ Leaving No Tax Cheat Behind)
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To: JohnHuang2

You don’t have to pay taxes on your maid if she’s an illegal immigrant.


14 posted on 02/07/2009 5:58:25 AM PST by tvdog12345
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To: JohnHuang2

With this administration I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I laugh because of the absurdity of it all, I cry because of the damage they are doing to my beloved country.

I guess at least as we go down the tubes, we will be entertained. Thanks JH2


15 posted on 02/07/2009 6:42:42 AM PST by Grammy
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To: JohnHuang2

Thank you so much for this excellent wrap-up!


16 posted on 02/07/2009 7:22:15 AM PST by Alamo-Girl
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To: gusopol3

Barone has been suspect for a while.Maybe he’s thinking about giving Kathleen Parker a run for her money.


17 posted on 02/07/2009 7:39:09 AM PST by Clint Lippo
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To: JohnHuang2

You’ve nailed it again, John!!


18 posted on 02/07/2009 8:16:48 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: DB

Title it “The Boy President”.


19 posted on 02/07/2009 8:23:38 AM PST by csmusaret (Call any Congresscritter at 1-877-762-8762. Tell them what you think.)
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To: JohnHuang2
Thanks, John. A few more thoughts.
20 posted on 02/07/2009 8:33:55 AM PST by moneyrunner (I have not flattered its rank breath, nor bowed to its idolatries a patient knee.)
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