It wouldn't be a day...

...without tax evaders in the news:

California Congressman Calls Maryland Home to Gain Tax Credit

Representative Pete Stark, the second-ranking Democrat on the Ways and Means panel, in 2007 and 2008 saved a total of $3,853 in state and Anne Arundel County taxes on a Maryland waterfront home that he claims as his primary residence, according to Maryland tax disclosures.

Homeowners in Maryland qualify for the tax credit for residences they use “for the legal purposes of voting, obtaining a driver’s license, and filing income tax returns,” according to the Maryland Assessment Procedures Manual.

Stark, 77, confirmed in a telephone interview last week that he and his wife, Deborah, are registered to vote in California’s 13th congressional district using the address of her parents in San Lorenzo, about 25 miles southeast of San Francisco. Stark also said both he and his wife have California driver’s licenses.

I have an idea. Why doesn't Pete Stark go back to Maryland and stay there, and quit pretending to speak for the people of California? He can take that other carpetbagger from Maryland, Nancy Pelosi, with him.

Lawmaker: TARP Companies Owe Back Taxes

Of the 23 top recipients of government capital through the Troubled Asset Relief Program, 13 owe unpaid federal taxes, a U.S. House oversight committee reported Thursday.

House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight Chairman John Lewis (D., Ga.) said the companies owe a combined more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes. Of those companies, two owe more than $100 million each.

Rep. Lewis accused the Treasury of engaging in poor documentation practices by failing to ask companies to prove they didn't owe federal taxes, a requirement for government aid.

It seems the House Ways and Means Committee has its hands full these days. Not only can at least one member not live up to the standards they are supposed to apply to others, they can't even do the job they're paid to do. Sounds like they deserve to be a part of the AIG bonus pool.

In other news, Intrade is currently predicting a >20% chance that Tim Geithner will leave his post at the Treasury Department before June, and a 33% chance he'll be out before the year ends.

The Dodd Amendment

I do believe that the Obama administration and his congressional enablers finally have a plan in place to remove the last vestiges of faith in the federal government any of us may still harbor exempt their campaign contributors from having to take unsavory responsibility for their bad business decisions:

While the Senate was constructing the $787 billion stimulus last month, Dodd added an executive-compensation restriction to the bill. The provision, now called “the Dodd Amendment” by the Obama Administration provides an “exception for contractually obligated bonuses agreed on before Feb. 11, 2009” -- which exempts the very AIG bonuses Dodd and others are now seeking to tax.

He was for the bonuses before he was against them. John Kerry would appreciate that. Also, it's pretty rich that they want to "tax" these bonuses. As the tax laws already stand the federal government will get about 35% of the gross amount. And depending on what state the recipients live in, they'll be lucky to see 55% of the gross amount after the local governments are through.

Dodd’s original amendment did not include that exemption, and the Connecticut Senator denied inserting the provision.

"Idunnoitwasn'tme!" Classic 3rd grade denial.

“I can't point a finger at someone who was responsible for putting those dates in,” Dodd told FOX. “I can tell you this much, when my language left the senate, it did not include it. When it came back, it did.”

Of course he can't point a finger. If he did there would be three pointing back at at him. I bet even Senator Dodd can understand that 3>1.

This explains a lot (click to enlarge):




The WSJ has an editorial today that gets to the heart of the matter:

The Washington crowd wants to focus on bonuses because it aims public anger on private actors, not the political class. But our politicians and regulators should direct some of their anger back on themselves -- for kicking off AIG's demise by ousting Mr. Greenberg, for failing to supervise its bets, and then for blowing a mountain of taxpayer cash on their AIG nationalization.

The best insurance policy AIG ever invested in was political donations to the left side of the aisle.

UPDATE 3/19/09: Dodd admits Role in AIG Controversy

Why does this guy still have a job?

Geithner to fight himself; Obama channels Jim Cramer

Everytime I see Treasury Sec Geithner's mug on TV, this is how I envision him:


Geithner: Obama to fight international tax dodgers

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's Treasury secretary says the administration will unveil a series of rules and measures in the coming months to limit the ability of international companies to avoid U.S. taxes.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday that Obama will propose legislation to limit U.S. companies' ability to shelter foreign earnings from taxation in the U.S. He also said the administration will try to limit wealthy Americans' ability to use tax havens to avoid taxation.

He did not immediately provide details.

Separately, Obama had this to say about the stock market:

"What you're now seeing is profit and earnings ratios are starting to get to the point where buying stocks is a potentially good deal"

I'm no CFA, but even I know there is no such thing as a profit and earnings ratio, let alone multiple "profit and earnings ratios" . I know that the very useful price to earnings (P/E) ratio exists, but a profit to earnings ratio? No such thing. Perhaps it was just a gaffe, and he really meant P/E ratio. I would give him the benefit of the doubt if I thought that he actually knew anything about finance or wealth creation. But as a self described community organizer and a lawyer to boot, I will assume he is as well-versed in finance as the rest of his cohort. By that I mean he only knows how to take wealth from those who create it and give it to those who do not.

By the way, WTF is the President of the United States of America doing making a market timimg call in the first place?

Death and T...oh nevermind.

It is pretty clear to me that the reason Democrats are such big fans of taxes is because they don't pay any taxes.

Leona Helmsley was right, when she allegedly said to one of her housekeepers, "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes ..."

Though I wonder, what would happen if all of us little people simultaneously decided to stop paying taxes?