I read with some interest (via the Corner’s Mark Hemingway) the report that Obama Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel never paid rent on his five year stay with Congresswoman DeLauro, who just happens to be married to a pollster…
The White House chief of staff said this week that he did not pay rent during the five years he bunked at the Capitol Hill home of Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn). But that raises questions whether Emanuel reported the rent-free lodging to Congress, since DeLauro is married to pollster Stan Greenberg. And will either of the parties report what could be “imputed income” to the IRS? Reps for Emanuel and DeLauro argue that House Ethics rules allow “hospitality between colleagues.”
…who also just happens to be the Chairman of a polling company that had Rep. Emanuel and the DCCC as clients. As you can see, they’re claiming that this wasn’t a commerical transaction at all – and thus not taxable, which is suddenly a burning issue among Obama staffers. You can believe as much of that as you like, of course: for my own part, I take this as an indication that maybe John Edwards was right all along. Maybe there really are two Americas: there’s the America where people pay their taxes and disclose their income without engaging in undue shenanigans, and then there’s the America that Democratic politicians live in. Speaking as someone who lives in the first America, let me make the denizens of the second one aware of something: we tolerate this sort of thing only when times are good.
Times are not good.
Moe Lane
PS: Please, by all means: try the “but it was technically legal!” defense. That always works so well with people who don’t have a Congressman’s influence and pull.
Crossposted at Moe Lane.
Moe Lane
Steve Maley
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I heard a joke and it may be true.
gekster (Diary) Sunday, February 8th at 10:49PM EST (link)If Obama’s Cabinet and staff paid off thier back TAXES, then we could cut the national debt in half. Could be true.
They say Republicans are for the rich, Democrats are for the poor.
If they need more voters,
then they have to make more of who they are for.
We are there in the various Tea Party groups, leaderless, but not rudderless.
We steer always toward the Constitutional principles this nation was founded upon.
Erick Brockway
Ok folks, 2012 is here. Get involved
Classic Kickback
Steven Willis (Diary) Sunday, February 8th at 10:59PM EST (link)This is classic Duberstein income: a payment to someone in appreciation of a business relationship.
Emanuel should resign. Along with Geithner. Enough of the tax cheats.
“Let it be said, I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith.”
Paul, Second Timothy 4:7, The New Covenant.
Steve Willis
Professor of Law
University of Florida College of Law
Considering their horror at the government
papalee Sunday, February 8th at 11:00PM EST (link)listening in on calls from terrorists, why is it that the Democratic (not) Left has so little trouble with forcing everyone to report their income so that nosy bureaucrats can go throught it whenever they want. Isn’t that the same invasion of privacy
But since they don’t seem to either file or pay, perhaps they don’t understand the issue?
"No controlling legal authority" - Al Gore
icbm (Diary) Sunday, February 8th at 11:26PM EST (link)They could try that good old line, too. The one that Gore used when he was caught fundraising from his government office.
Unfortunately, there is one. Still, I’d like to see them use the line again, just for old time’ sake.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/campfin/stories/op030797.htm
Here we go again...
The Political Class (Diary) Sunday, February 8th at 11:36PM EST (link)…hypocrisy in DC at its finest.
www.thepoliticalclass.com
And he doesn't pay his property taxes either...
cookcountyconservative (Diary) Sunday, February 8th at 11:59PM EST (link)According to the Cook County Assessor’s website, the Chicago home of four-term Democrat Congressman and likely new White House Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, doesn’t exist. While the address of 4228 North Hermitage is listed as Emanuel’s residence on the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website, there seems to be no public record of Emanuel ever paying property taxes on this home…
Why wouldn’t 4228 North Hermitage property owners Rahm Emanuel and wife Amy Rule not pay property taxes?
One reason may be because Emanuel and Rule declared their 4228 North Hermitage home as the office location for their non-profit foundation appropriately called the “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation”. As a non-profit headquarters, they may consider their home as exempt from paying taxes.
I guess the change we can believe to see is “what is good for thee is not for me.”
That one's been debunked, actually.
Moe Lane (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 12:11AM EST (link)Multiple lots, multiple parcel IDs, double address. Taxes listed on only one. I came across all of this while researching the story; it’s a nothingburger.
I did real estate research for over ten years; this sort of thing is incredibly common, particularly in urban areas. At that, Chicago has nothing on either Boston or NYC.
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Thank you Moe-That's integrity.
jadad Monday, February 9th at 12:26AM EST (link)Just lay out the facts about those who disagree with you…nothing more should be necessary.
Raum Emanuel didn't report income from this either...what a crook!
speciallist (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 12:43AM EST (link)Huh?
PD Monday, February 9th at 12:48AM EST (link)Whether staying a colleague’s home should count as “imputed income” is something I leave to the tax lawyers, though I’m not sure why it should. My aunt lived with my family for several years when I was a teenager. Should she have listed that as imputed income?
More important: Rent payments that members of Congress make in Washington while living away from their home districts are, as I understand it, deductible under the tax code. So if Emmanuel had listed the value of his lodging as imputed income, he wold have then been entitled to deduct that same amount from income, and it would have come out as a wash.
So there’s no tax issue here, at least as best as I can tell. At worst, there’s an income-reporting question for House ethics purposes, which is probably covered by the “hospitality between colleagues” argument.
In any event, I don’t quite see the relevance of the Stan Greenberg connection. Is the argument that staying in the apartment was a kickback to Emmanuel for sending business to Greenberg? Does that really make sense?
Translation: Rahm's a Democrat...
Moe Lane (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 12:51AM EST (link)…so it’s OK.
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PS: I really do hope that you get paid for this...
Moe Lane (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 12:53AM EST (link)…for your own sake; it’s depressing to think that you go around carrying water for these guys on your own hook.
The Kim Kardashian of blogging.
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If you want to know...
PD Monday, February 9th at 1:13AM EST (link)(1) No, I don’t get paid for this.
(2) I’m not defending anyone. I just really don’t quite understand what the problem is. I don’t think there’s a tax issue here, and if there’s an ethics issue, which is slightly more plausible, it still seems doubtful.
(3) If this were an attack on a Republican, on these grounds, I’d be just as skeptical.
See, now this is where tradecraft's important, Sparky.
Moe Lane (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 1:18AM EST (link)Your usual method of drive-by and ignore afterward would have worked better. You see, when I get told by a law professor that he doesn’t understand why there can be seen as being even the possibility of a conflict of interest from a sitting Congressman and party election committee chair accepting free rent from a man who runs a firm that does business with that Congressman and Chairman, I’m forced to conclude that one of three things is true:
1). That the law professor is stupid;
2). That the law professor is lying;
3). That the law professor is hyper-partisan.
Being a sweet fellow who believes the best of everybody, I assumed 3). was true… but I think that it’s really 2), right?
Right.
Blam.
Moe
PS: Hope that was everything you dreamed of it being.
The Kim Kardashian of blogging.
Check out my blog at http://moelane.com/.
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http://twitter.com/moelane
My (combined) wish list.
I really can't wait for the News stories...
speciallist (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 1:03AM EST (link)of folks making 30,000 to 50,000 dollars per year getting AUDITED….it happens and it’s LAME…
and these guys that are in charge, making millions, seldom if ever get touched…
Barry? your running out of friends….
I have to add...
speciallist (Diary) Monday, February 9th at 1:33AM EST (link)Does everyone remember your gramps talking about “death and Taxes!”
Barry…Taxes are, like, a BIG issue….people will start dumping stuff overboard…you are begging for ‘pitchfork’ talk……
The only thing Certain is ……….I am cracking up