l****z 发帖数: 29846 | 1 Last Updated: 12:39 AM, March 12, 2013
Posted: March 12, 2013
Those who make the rules should play by them. Especially a White House that
lectures the rest of America about the importance of paying your “fair
share” of taxes.
So we were struck by IRS reports that no fewer than 40 aides to President
Obama still owe the federal government a combined $333,485 in back taxes. In
terms of people, that’s four more tax delinquents on the White House staff
than last year, though a decline in the total amount owed.
We know these numbers because the IRS is required by law to disclose how
many federal employees, by department (and including retirees), are behind
in their taxes. This year, some 312,000 of Uncle Sam’s own employees owe
the IRS a whopping $3.52 billion.
Sure, federal employees may have a lower delinquency rate than the American
public at large. Then again, most Americans aren’t paid with the dollars
that other Americans are forking over to Washington.
For all its sermons on fairness, this administration has never seemed too
bothered when its own people somehow forget to send the IRS the check they
owe.
Tim Geithner became treasury secretary despite failing to pay Social
Security and Medicare taxes. Ron Kirk’s unpaid taxes didn’t stand in the
way of his becoming US trade representative. Tom Daschle, Obama’s pick for
Secretary of Health and Human Services, was another delinquent — though his
nomination did go down.
Obama says, “We need to change our tax code so that people like me . . .
pay our fair share of taxes. Most Americans would call that common sense.”
Given this administration’s double standard for its own employees, most
Americans would probably call that hypocrisy. |
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