NYC Letter: Prescript For Thee, Not Me -- The Fair Share Administration

Day 1,099 of CHOPE

Post-SOTU Fair Share Edition

If you are rich, Mr. Obama wants you to pay more taxes. Everyone should pay their fair share. Unless you work for him, in which case, what the hey.

36 OBAMA AIDES OWE
$833,000
IN BACK TAXES
By Andrew Malcolm

January 26, 2012 (IBD) - A new report just out from the Internal Revenue Service reveals that 36 of President Obama's executive office staff owe the country $833,970 in back taxes. These people working for Mr. Fair Share apparently haven't paid any share, let alone their fair share.

Previous reports have shown how well-paid Obama's White House staff is, with 457 aides pulling down more than $37 million last year. That's up seven workers and nearly $4 million from the Bush administration's last year.

Nearly one-third of Obama's aides make more than $100,000 with 21 being paid the top White House salary of $172,200, each.

The IRS' 2010 delinquent tax revelations come as part of a required annual agency report on federal employees' tax compliance. Turns out, an awful lot of folks being paid by taxpayers are not paying their own income taxes.

The report finds that thousands of federal employees owe the country more than $3.4 billion in back taxes. That's up 3% in the past year.

Up. Most of these federal employees fall under the executive branch. So while Mr. Obama travels around the country demanding everyone pay their fair share in tax, tax dereliction flourishes in his own administration, its agencies, and its work force.

The tax offenders include employees of the U.S. Senate who help write the laws imposed on everyone else. They owe $2.1 million. Workers in the House of Representatives owe $8.5 million.

The following departments and agencies and their employees are all under Mr. Obama's remit.

Department of Education employees owe $4.3 million and over at Homeland Security, 4,697 workers owe about $37 million. Active duty military members owe more than $100 million.

The Treasury Department, where Obama nominee Tim Geithner had to pay up $42,000 in his own back taxes before being confirmed as secretary, has 1,181 other employees with delinquent taxes totaling $9.3 million.

A memory lane interlude:

I’ve got to own up to my mistake [scil., nominating and supporting tax cheat Tom Daschle on the heels of nominating tax cheat Tim Geithner]. Which is, ultimately, it's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules -- you know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes.

President Obama,
admitting people might mistake nominating
tax cheats like Tom Daschle as a double standard
WASHINGTON February 3, 2009 (NBC News/MSNBC)

At his SOTU Mr. Obama used Warren Buffett's secretary Debbie Bosanke as a prop for camera cutaways as he argued for higher taxes. Mr. Obama:

Right now, because of loopholes and shelters in the tax code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households. Right now, Warren Buffett pays a lower tax rate than his secretary.

... [W]e need to change our tax code so that people like me, and an awful lot of members of Congress, pay our fair share of taxes. (Applause.)

Yeah. [Pause.] How about Team Barry paying their current fair share first.

CHOPE.

Pay up.