Tax Fraud And More Change You Can Believe In!

Last year in my hometown, several people living in an exclusive neighbourhood successfully lobbied the city council against building a homeless shelter near their subdivision. The shelter, the citizens bemoaned, would only bring crime, drugs, and rapid property devaluation to their community. It was no small irony when, a few months later, several members of the community were arrested on charges of having marijuana growing operations in their basements so massive they would have made Willie Nelson blush. It seems they were supplying the drugs and crime by the bucket load, all by themselves (here comes the segway!).

Now, in President Obama's Washington, the sanctimonious ivy league liberals who have been using that mysterious, ill-defined spectre known as the "the rich" as their whipping boy for the last 25 years are starting to feel a little like those folks who got caught with all that pot in their basements. It would appear that the President has traded in his old gang of criminals and terrorists from Chicago for a new gang of tax cheats and liars from the beltway.

First came Governor Bill Richardson. On December 3rd, President Obama nominated Richardson for Commerce Secretary. One month later, Richardson reluctantly withdrew his name after it was revealed that he was under investigation by a grand jury for pay-to-play kickback schemes. How could Obama's vetting team not have known that Richardson was facing the prospect of an INDICTMENT?

Next at bat was Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy Geithner - the supposed economic whiz kid who was so good at his job that he managed to hide reporting over $100,000 in unpaid taxes and used a clever loop hole involving the statute of limitations to avoid paying lots more. He was finally approved by the Senate review committee on January 26th - on the 30th anniversary celebrating the premiere of the "Dukes of Hazzard" on CBS (no point to make there, just an interesting piece of trivia. You may insert your own jokes at will).

Then came the big hitter, the guy who put the "prick" in the expression "sanctimonious little prick" - Health and Human Services nominee Senator Tom Daschle. Senator Daschle's years of loud mouth bullying quickly changed to meek pleas of shame after it was discovered that Mr. Clean cheated the IRS out of $134,000. Insiders are saying that there is strong pressure from both sides for Senator Daschle to step down. As we go to print National Review is reporting that Daschle has stepped down. If he had blood, he'd be blushing.

Finally, but not the only, and surely not the last, is a lady by the name of Nancy Killefer, who was to be the first to hold the newly created position of "Chief Performance Officer". I don't know what a "performance officer" does, but it appears one thing they do not do is pay their taxes. Killefer withdrew her nomination after it was revealed in the press that she failed to report employment taxes on household help, and that the IRS had placed a $1000 lien on her house as a result of the unpaid taxes.

Is this the "Change!" President Obama promised to bring to Washington? Is this the result of what Senator McCain warned about when he spoke of then Senator Obama's inexperience? In any case, the lovely Miss Claire, my fiancée and associate editor, put the whole mess in razor sharp perspective when she said;

"How did this politician - who supposedly made it out of Chicago clean, despite associating with what seems like every corrupt human being in the city, with no knowledge of the corruption surrounding him - manage to track down a bunch of corrupt politicians nationally to bring into his political family? These people must gravitate towards him, longing to purge themselves of this corruption, knowing that only the mighty OBAMA can cure them of their malignant disease."

I think that says it all.

Have a great week everyone. I think Willie Nelson said it best when he sang this.

Cordially

Joe