Tax Problems All Around For The Administration

Why is it that this administration’s cabinet members cannot go a few weeks before admitting to some tax problem?

The latest is Kathleen Sebelius who’s the Health and Human Services secretary nominee. She has now admitted that she made “unintentional errors” on her taxes and has corrected her returns from three different years. In total, she and her husband paid just over $7,000 in back taxes, along with $878 in interest.

Before Sebelius, it was Tom Daschle who was the first Health and Human Services secretary nominee. He withdrew his nomination over tax issues.

Before Daschle, it was Nancy Killefer, the Chief Performance Officer nominee, who admitted to tax problems.

Before Killefer, it was Timothy Geithner, Treasury Secretary.

Before Geithner, it was Ron Kirk, US Trade Representative.

Before Kirk, it was Hilda Solis, Labor Secretary.

I’m no genius, but I’m detecting a pattern here.

The Best Glenn Beck Interview Ever

Every once in a while, even Glenn Beck conducts a brilliant interview. This video is kind of long – 10 minutes. But it’s absolutely brilliant.

Glenn is interviewing Connecticut State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal.The premise of the interview is very simple. Glenn is asking Blumenthal what law AIG executives broke when they dished out those bonuses. Irrespective of your outrage over bonuses, the right answer is none. And Blumenthal is not prepared for that.

Clearly Glenn Beck is capable of conducting a great interview, just not every day . . . or week . . . or month . . .

Bonuses, Suicide, Tits: Chuck Grassley Sums It Up.

Seems like Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue.

It all began on Monday when Sen. Grassley was steamed about AIG bonuses. He suggested that AIG executives should resign or “commit suicide.” Not surprisingly, he apologized the next day by claiming that he didn’t mean suicide literally. → source

So, how can Grassley redeem himself? Easy! He throws himself a press event and utters the following sentence: “From my standpoint, it’s irresponsible for corporations to give bonuses at this time when they’re sucking the tit of the taxpayer.”

One thing is not quite clear to me. Does the sucking tit part come before committing suicide or as a result of it?

Ponzi Scheme: 1, Insider Trading: 0

As of January 14, Bernie Madoff has managed to remain out of jail and only under house arrest in his Manhattan apartment.

I know it’s still early in the investigation of this case, and that he will likely serve some prison term. But does anyone else see the irony in all this. Madoff created a $50B ponzi scheme. Countless people lost their savings and investments. His actions negatively affected the lives of others. In contrast, Martha Stewart served a 4-month jail sentence in 2004 for improperly selling (through insider trading, as it’s claimed) 4000 shares of ImClone. That action, in contrast, did not directly harm others’ well being.

Welcome to our justice system.

What Rhymes With Blagojevich?

Finally, something that rhymes with his name. Here’s a radio commercial from 2002 when he was running for office.