Posted on 02/11/2009 3:50:53 PM PST by Nachum
Big Democrats just can't seem to get right with Big Government, lately.
Tim Geithner "mistakenly" avoided more than $40,000 in taxes. Nancy Killefer withdrew her nomination over word that she failed to pay employment taxes for household help. Tom Daschle "honestly" overlooked more than $100,000 for a car service donated to him by a lobbying company. Hilda Solis, Obama's Labor Secretary nominee, faces questions over her husband's failure to pay thousands in tax bills, some of them 16 years old.
Now, it turns out, skull-cracker Rahm Emanuel himself has been crashing in a colleague's basement for five years for free and, you guessed it, not paying taxes on the abode.
Gawker first reported that Emanuel rents a basement apartment last week, mostly to make fun of the chief of staff for sleeping on a futon under a blacklight poster of Bob Marley. Which is an important part of the story, but it turns out the residence in question isn't zoned for rentals.
That sent Emanuel's colleague and alleged landlord out to deny the charges. Rep. Rose DeLauro (D-Conn.) told her hometown paper, "Hey, it's cool. He doesn't rent from me. He lives there for free!"
"I wanted to make clear: we have no separate apartment in our DC house, no rental apartment; all our bedrooms and living areas are part of the house and accessible. They are often used by close family and friends. In mid-November, I got a call from the DC zoning office indicating that somebody had lodged a complaint and asked to inspect the property, which we welcomed. My husband was there for the inspection, which was uneventful and we did not hear again from the zoning office."
Wow, so one of the most powerful men in Washington is either the 7th-year undergrad rocking out to Dave Matthews in his efficiency pad in between shifts at the Gyro Wrap or the masterful mooch who passed out on your couch after a tailgate freshman year and never, ever left. One wonders if he even pays his part of utilities. That hot shower water is not free, Rahmbo.
Hospitality between colleagues is not prohibited by House ethics rules, but a gift of this size would have required a written waiver from the Standards Committee, which neither party has yet produced.
But, let's not stop there with the questionable ethics. DeLauro is married to one Stan Greenberg, a Democratic pollster who has made quite a pile of money off work supplied to him by none other than his semi-permanent house guest. Living for free in the home of a Democratic pollster whom you employed as both a Congressman and as chair of the DCCC might run up against the ethics rules of the "most open and transparent" administration in history. That revolving door Obama keeps talking about is actually the private entrance to Emanuel's digs.
Let's say the Obama administration overlooks the ethics lapses— after all, they've set the bar so high, that each failure to reach it is simply a reminder of their superiority, according to spokesman Robert Gibbs. What of the pesky tax issue?
To most people, this is “imputed income” — non-financial gifts or compensation that should be reported to the IRS. Emanuel and DeLauro defend their conduct by saying that House ethics rules permit “hospitality between colleagues.”
It would likely fall in the same category as Daschle's car service in the IRS' eyes. And, that would put Rahm Emanuel in the same category as Geithner, Killefer, and Daschle. Clearly, the Cult of Competence does not allow decent accountants.
Am I the only one that had to do a double take on the use of the word “dope”...
Yep. I had to think about that myself.
What the hell kind of title of an article is this? Did someone just randomly slap some words together?
dirty! dirty! dirty!
Is the sleeping on a futon under a blacklight a joke or is that for real?
Someone is tricking us.
Scum Emanuel, at it again.
Probably a joke. That the place has no permit for being a rental and him staying there isn’t.
“dope” here means “cool”, “rad”, or “nifty”(for all you who are over fifty.)
Mary Elizabeth is young, beautiful,and “with it!” Ya know—”hip”, “groovy”, “su-weeeeet”!
I love when she talks her cool kid language with O’Reilly and he doesn’t have a clue as to what she means.
Or Beckel...he’s even older and denser (in more ways than one.)
I meant to say Mary Katharine. Accidentally put in the name of my cool, beautiful, hip niece.
Do you think that Daschle owes tax if a friend provides him a car and driver?
Sounds like the same principle to me.
Of course he owes. Still, the messiah will absolve him.
If this is the Right's best shot against Rahm Emanuel then we are so eff'ed.
Silly, sophmoric, irrelevant twaddle, IMHO. I don't care who he sleeps with and even less in what room.
If this is the sort of thing that has gotten under your skin in the past couple weeks then I don't think you're paying attention. Serious criticism of the new administration is diminished when we worry about Rahm Emanuel leaving the seat up or Barack Obama being birthed in orbit by Kenyan pod-people.
Nachum: Not ranting at you at all, but instead howling at the moon. I don't think any of this serves our shared interests.
tax bump
The special election, to replace Emanuel, has a conservative, Rosanna Pulido, the founder and director of the Illinois Minuteman Project, and I’m her volunteer coordinator. She’s pro-life and pro-gun rights. Please read her site, www.rosannapulido2009.com. If you know anyone who wants to volunteer, for her, please ask them to email me at philacollins@yahoo.com. If you know anyone who wants to donate, to her campaign, please ask them to do so, through her site.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.