All federal legislators and top fed officials should have their taxes audited

[prolesunited]

as a show of good faith.

After hearing about all these tax scandals, I think everyone from both parties should be reviewed to see just how rampant this is in D.C.

I believe such a proposal would be very popular with the public right now. With so many in crisis and struggling to pay their bills and taxes, we need to restore public faith in government by conducting a full audit.

And who knows? Maybe we can come up with a couple million in the process?

[HowHasItComeToThis]

1. AUTOMATICALLY

GOSH, THE TREASURY WILL GET A BUNDLE

[NightWatcher]

2. the IRS should focus on government officials and leave us poor peeps alone

[stillcool]

3. Obviously they have...

or at least the ones appointed by Obama. I think it's hilarious that these are considered "tax scandals" considering.

[prolesunited]

4. It only has come up through the vetting process

I'm talking every federal legislator, A to Z. I'm wondering who the biggest cheats will be, Democrats or Republicans. Or, maybe it's just rich people.

[stillcool]

5. I myself would be considered a 'tax-cheat'..

We were audited about 15 years ago, and had to pay back taxes. I guess you can determine guilt by who the IRS chooses to audit, but I don't.

[prolesunited]

10. Did you do it knowingly and hope you wouldn't get caught?

Or just made an honest mistake.

These people have money to pay accountants do their taxes to avoid such mistakes.

It's laughable that Geitner was using TurboTax.

[stillcool]

14. I wouldn't know how to do it 'willingly'..

but what difference does it make? Obviously if anyone has a 'tax-problem', they are a 'tax-cheat' right? We've has our taxes done by an accountant ever since..and guess what..he screwed us and filed late one year. So..that means we're really, really 'tax-cheats', right?

[prolesunited]

16. When did I call you a tax cheat?

You sure are personalizing this.

No, if you've done due diligence and make a mistake or pay someone who screws up, no, I don't think you are a tax cheat. I think most people are clear that this is not what I am talking about.

BTW, I certainly hope you went after the accountant for any fines or penalties levied against you for it as a result of his negligence.

[stillcool]

17. No we didn't...it was just another ordeal...

and when all was said and done, we got all our files and switched accountants. It wasn't so much that he made a mistake, but that he lied about it. But regardless of that why would I be any different than Daschle, or this woman, or Geittner? They are all judged to be "tax-cheats", why wouldn't I be as well?

[prolesunited]

18. That's not what I said

or likely not what anyone else here thinks.

And, yes, it is VERY different for the reasons I state previously. If someone you paid lies to you and doesn't file your tax documents, how could you logically argue that this is the same as any of these cases?

[stillcool]

19. I can't argue that any cases are the same...

and at the same time I can't argue that mine is any different. What is the same is that I obviously made a mistake..and I got caught in that mistake, and had to pay back taxes. It was years later that my accountant made a mistake...and got caught in it. Looks like we're all human, unlike so many others who claim perfection.

[napi21]

11. Me too! Over 20 years ago, we bought an old VW Beetle that was

mechanically pretty goo, but the body was shot. It was in Pittsburgh, and suffered from a lot of body rot from the salted roads. We bought several cans of body putty, some sand paper, and a gal. of paint and fixed it up. Well, some little vegrant (age 12) from down the street stole it and totaled it by running into a tree. Alll we had was liability ins. on it, so I claimed the loss on my tax return. I carefully clipped the classified from several papers to document how I came up with the value and claimed the loss. We were audited that year, and the IRS said I couldn't claim that amount as actual value beecause I couldn't charge for MY LABOR TIME in fixing it up! Yep, I had to pay $200+ in back taxes. Am I a tax cheat? I don't think so.

HOWEVER, back when people were allowed to deduct a certain amount of the Fed. Tax that was paid on cigaretts, EVERYBODY I knew claimed they smoked! THAT included my old Aunt who wouldn't even let a cigarette inside her house!

Before computerized matching by the IRS, NOT ALL 1099 income was reported.

People who wore mandatory uniforms ALL deducted the cost of having their uniforms dry cleaned/laundered, wether they did them themselves or had them done.

Face it folks, the majority of taxpayers would pay less if they thought they could get away with it!!!!!! I'm disappointed in so many holier than thou's gripeing about Obama's picks.

[stillcool]

15. the worst part of all of this is...

that our tax code is so fucked up, and the real criminals write the frigging laws. People get played so easily.

[closeupready]

20. Then this is karma - you wrote the laws, you obey them or else this is what you get.

No sympathy from me for them at ALL.

[stillcool]

22. you can't be serious...

the tax laws are written by and for industry. I don't expect you to have any sympathy for anyone who makes a mistake on their tax returns, but I would expect you would know where the major fraud occurs in regards to paying taxes and the IRS itself.

[hfojvt]

23. I expect people to have sympathy, especially for mistakes

Seems to me that's one of the characteristics of a decent person - having sympathy.

[closeupready]

24. Do you sympathize with lawbreakers, too?

??

[hfojvt]

27. uh, yeah, considering that I am one

I think I ran 3 or 4 stop signs today while riding my bicycle. Many lawbreakers get caught speeding or failing to wear their seatbelt or smoking a blunt or some other minor infraction. That doesn't make them total a$$holes or mass murderers or cereal rapists.

[closeupready]

29. $125,000 is not jaywalking.

n/t

[hfojvt]

30. $125,000 is pretty small potatoes at his income level

There is no proof that he deliberately broke the law, except that the cynics "just know he's guilty". He's declared guilty and even though he paid for this "mistake" without ever being caught, there's no way for him to prove his innocence to a crowd of progressives who already hate him.

[closeupready]

31. If it's small potatoes at his income level, why did he wait to pay such a small amount until Obama

chose him for a cabinet position? Coincidence? :eyes:

[hfojvt]

32. he says that he thought his accountant was taking care of it

or had taken care of it. That cannot be true though, can it? It must be a deep conspiracy involving bad motives. Simply must be.

[stillcool]

26. something lost it seems...

it's not even the sympathy, it's the empathy. Who are these perfect people who have made no mistakes in life? The willingness to pounce on any human being that doesn't measure up to expectations stuns me. And this is politics.

[napi21]

6. In all fairness, I would be willing to challenge ANYONE who has

filed a tax return more complicated than the norm (like most Americans who are employed by someone else and receive a W2) to go through an audit and come out 100% correct! There's always SOMETHING! Judgements are made that the IRS disagrees. Mistakes are made by accountants. Things are forgotten by the taxpayers.

The lady who was to be the Chief Performance Officer and resigned today was guilty of a very stupid error, but one she certainly KNOWN about. Geitner & Daschel, I honestly believe were stupid oversights.

[prolesunited]

8. I don't

But I'm sure they are not the only ones in D.C. who are doing it.

If it would have happened to us, how much trouble would we have been for the "mistake"? What fees or penalties are they paying?

The little people get slammed with these. The IRS doesn't say, "Just give us what you owed and we'll call it even."

[napi21]

13. Even the news media stated that "They paid back taxes PLUS fines & penalties."

The only time anyone gets into REAL trouble with the IRS is when they commit fraud. Laundering $$, claiming more dependants than you actually have. Those offenses are mostly considered fraud, and criminal.

[closeupready]

21. Yeah, they both paid AFTER they learned Obama was going to choose them, not before.

n/t

[Democrats_win]

7. Ok, but after they audit every mf on Fraud Street first!

[Uzybone]

9. This and the OP are great ideas.

[prolesunited]

12. I think you could only tie that to taking taxpayer support

Just going on a fishing expedition into the taxes of a targeted group of private citizens would be unconstitutional.

[4 t 4]

25. They should all be audited

they are the law makers if they don't follow them why in the hell should we. Very bad examples they are setting

[libodem]

28. No shit!