Posted on 07/23/2008 7:48:28 PM PDT by Libloather
Bill O'Reilly Nails Robert Wexler
Tue Jul 22, 2008 at 09:11:12 PM
Bill O'Reilly did a good number on "local" Congressman Robert Wexler tonight.
And I think Wexler is in a bit of trouble.
You see, the longtime Democratic rep says he lives in Delray Beach and he's required to maintain a residence in his district. But he really lives in Potomac MD. The house in Delray that he calls his "offical residence" is owned by Lawrence and Roslyn Cohen, the parents of Wexler's wife, Laurie. And it's in a restricted over-55 community, which makes it impossible for Wexler and and his three children to reside there.
"U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler (D-Delray Beach)"? I think not.
Wexler's Republican opponent, Edward Lynch, dug this stuff up and fed it to Fox News. O'Reilly ate it up.
A Fox News producer named Griff Jenkins caught up with Wexler in the front yard of his home in Potomac. When Jenkins walked up on his driveway, Wexler -- looking 100 percent the goofy suburban dad in a green hat, green t-shirt, and shorts -- didn't even wait for a question.
"No, I'm not doing this," Wexler said. "If you want to call my office, that's fine, I gotta drive my daughter to work."
Jenkins, like any good reporter, kept charging, asking Wexler by the congressman's silver Volvo SUV if his residency was in Delray.
"That's correct, that's my residence," he said.
Jenkins noted that it belonged to Wexler's in-laws.
"Is that true? You live with your mother-in-law?" Jenkins asked with a straight face.
That's when the fire-breathing liberal got what football man Bill Curry likes to call the "brook trout stare." His eyes went blank and you could practically hear his brain leaking out of his head.
"Uh, the, mm ..."
The stammering only lasted a second or two, but it seemed like an hour in at the DMV.
"My in-laws own that house, that's correct," he finally said.
"So you live with your mother-in-law?"
"My in-laws own that house, yes, that's my official residence."
To the videotape:
You might think this seems a small matter and you might not like the vigor with which O'Reilly goes after Wexler (fresh liberal meat, you know). But it's about more than partisan politics or even the fact that Wexler hasn't lived in his district for ten years and lists a sham residence in official papers. Put bluntly, this is a sleazy and unethical move by Wexler and O'Reilly and the Wall Street Journal's John Fund touch on the reasons why. For one, he gets a housing deduction from Congress to help him maintain two residences. Unless, he's paying Mrs. Cohen rent when he sleeps on the pull-out, he's just pocketing that little federal benefit.
Another thing is that he might be using the sham Delray house for tax purposes -- as in, to not pay them. Florida doesn't have a state income tax, Maryland does. That means his little deceit might be bringing him more than a little coin. It's not proven, but his cars are, weirdly, registered in Florida and it deserves to be looked into.
Basically, this could be tantamount to fraud and it could actually have some legs, though I seriously doubt we'll see any criminal charges and I'm quite certain his loyal voters will quickly forgive him. He's good ol' Bobby Wexler, after all.
But good on Lynch for digging it up. So how did he do it? Well, Wexler can blame his own big mouth. Or, more specifically, his typing fingers. From Lynch's press release:
This revelation became known after reading Congressman Wexler’s book, “Fire Breathing Liberal.” On P. 52 he states, “While many members don’t bring their families with them to Washington, choosing instead to fly home each weekend, Laurie and I decided it would work best for our family if our three young children attended school in the Washington area.” It was that statement the caused this candidate to look further into Rep. Wexler’s past.
That's how he found a damn good story, though you wouldn't really have known it if you read the story about it in the Palm Beach Post this morning. Rather than treat it like a serious local political story, the Post basically wrote a preview of O'Reilly's show and brought up none of the more pertinent problems regarding Wexler's action. Headlined "Wexler residency dispute enters Fox's 'No Spin Zone'," it basically nullified itself as news and handed Fox the real scoop. It also reminded me of how chummy the Post has historically been with its long-time congressmen. Remember Mark Foley? The newspaper treated him like a near-deity until he finally went down in flames over the page scandal.
This isn't anywhere near a Foley-caliber story (even if O'Reilly treats it as one to push his famously non-existent political agenda). But it definitely deserves serious local coverage.
bor did a good job on this.
Campaign laws are for Republicans.
this is nothing new. Obestar the raise taxes on gas and spned it on lite rail congressman in MN. Does not live in his district.
He probably also does it to avoid Maryland state income taxes by claiming Florida (no state income tax) as his residence.
Wexler is among the most loathsome of the ‘Rat scumbags - it will be really interesting to see how this develops. Has he committed any tax fraud with FL or the IRS? Is he even eligible to serve in Congress as a Rep. from FL if that’s a fake residency?? Inquiring minds want to know whether this will help to bring down one of the more contemptible Demagogues......
actually his potential state tax fraud might well be with MD if he has been avoiding income taxes there and letting FL appear as his primary residence.......
All Liberals live in Potomac, MD..............
wonder what state his driver’s license was issued?
He is a jerk though and we can hope.
Was your post supposed to be in English?
And where he's registered to vote............
Didn’t Dick Gephardt use his mother’s home as his official Missouri residence, and the address was actually a retirement home or hospice or some such?
Wexler is the one who started the ball rolling on the challenging the Bush election of 2000. He is an evil person who has done great harm to our country. People talk about why is america divided. Wexler is exhibit A of why it is that way (if it really is that way).
A few years back New York had a congressman from Buffalo married to a congresswoman from NYC. And yet they maintained separate residences. Must've been a happy marriage. One wonders how they managed to have a baby.
After all remember when Grandma Kennedy was about to croak the clan scrambled to create papers stating that her 'residence' was in Florida even though she never set foot out of Mass her entire life.
So when she died the Kennedys' managed to get around (illegally though bribing some corrupt Florida officials) paying the Inheritance/Death taxes in Mass.
Additionally the Kennedys' (and most democrats) are still on record for wanting the keep that tax for everyone else at the usual rate of minimun of 55% on any inheritance/estate valued over $500,000 (which is almost nothing nowadays)!!
I agree with your comments on Wexler. The interesting part of this to me is that he’s constantly accusing Republicans of corruption. Perhaps he’s due for some of his own treatment?
The No Spin Zone left Wexler spinning.
I had no trouble understanding it.
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