Wonkette
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius made Barack Obama’s short list for vice presidential candidates when it was thought he needed some ladies up in there, ladies besides the future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. And boom just like that, “Kathleen Sebelius” was a household name! And then she spoke at the Democratic National Convention and everyone said, What a pleasant person, thank goodness she is not running for Veep as she is rather a dull public speaker. Then Obama nominated her to be the new Tom Daschle after the old Tom Daschle was revealed to be a tax cheat, and guess what?
(See title of post.)
The moral of the story is this: Everybody does their taxes wrong. EVERYBODY. Fortunately, Governor Sebelius erred to the tune of $7,000 over the course of three tax years, an amount so tiny that even Senate Republicans will probably give her a mulligan on this one.
Health nominee Sebelius reveals tax troubles [Los Angeles Times]
Do we have a democratic nominee that can do their taxes correctly? This is seriously getting ridiculous!
Sweet Mary mother of God! wTf!
The clearest indicator of our government’s failure is in that our schools do not properly educate citizens to the level required to understand the system of taxation to which they are subject.
Nobody does their taxes correctly. Most people just never bother to check.
Wait, charitable donations to Hezbollah and Hamas are mot tax deductible? Who’d a thunk it!
Another happy satisfied customer of Turbo Tax.
Can we just let government officials use the 1040-EZ?
Shouldn’t Republicans be cheering people who underpay their taxes?
Turbotax needs a check box “Do you plan to seek public office” with appropriate flags and alerts to go back and ask about bribe money and illegal nannies.
…ladies besides the future Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Somehow I don’t think you can use the term ‘lady’ in the same sentence with ‘Hillary Clinton’.
prototype: You would think the elected officials would get it right.
Higher taxes in Israel? http://www.governmentalityblog.com/my_weblog/2009/04/netanyahu-takes-office-israels-market-rises.html
Let this be a lesson to all. No matter how much you rationalize it, hot tubs are NOT deductible!
wow, she must really like turquoise.
Was it just an urban myth that said these fuckers get their taxes done for FREEZ?
In addition the IRS maintains two “customer service centers” to assist lawmakers and Capitol Hill employees in filling out their tax forms at a cost to taxpayers of $100,000. In 1993 Money Magazine determined that 60 percent of the Members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees, who are responsible for our tax laws, didn’t even prepare their own tax returns. [http://www.ntu.org/main/page.php?PageID=22]
Are the idiots with tax problems doing their own taxes or are they having someone else doing it for them? If they are having someone else doing it for them, are they using the same ding-dong who can’t seem to get it right or are there a bunch of H&R Block type idiots out there that we should be concerned about?
It’s very discouraging that we can’t find people who can competently cheat on their taxes to run the country.
*facepalm*
a mulligan is a good idea… I’d like one for the last 8 years or so.
So, Kathleen Sebelius walks into a bar and the bartender says “Hey, Governor Sebelius, why the long face?”
I’d hit it.
If she’d cheat on her taxes, she’d cheat on her husband.
Isn’t Kansas the state the doesn’t believe in science? Math is sort of scientific, so no wonder she screwed up her taxes. This will make her more popular back home. Besides, she’s kind of cute.
OK, WTF, srsly. The Obama vetting process was all fucked up. People had to fill out a 65-page history about their blogging history and Facebook pages, but no one took a close look at the nominees’ taxes before the nominations were announced? I guess this is better than Daschle forgetting to pay 100 grand on taxes for a driver to take him to get handjobs at the local Japanese massage parlor.
The Orly Taitz petition site needs your help to reach 2,000 frivolous signatures. So far it looks like the 9/11 hijackers have chimed in, along with various historical racists and other hilarity. They stopped scrubbing comments too!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/RedressofGrievances/signatures-39.html
And again, I ask…do none of these people have a friggin’ accountant?
I wonder how wrong my taxes are? Was I not supposed to get a refund greater than my reported salary?
When can we hear about someone mistakenly overpaying their taxes? How come the IRS never emphasizes those mistakes?
you’d think that elected officials who can’t figure out the tax code would probably make an effort to make the tax code understandable. But this is AMERIKA so f*ck it
OMG. Fuck these people. I’ve been doing my taxes since I was 16 years old working at a Dairy Queen in Bumblefuck, Illinois. In fact, I did the forms myself back then. I’ll do them myself this year too b/c I’m too poor and the old lady I used to pay to do them is too senile. It’s not that hard. Just pay your damn taxes.
Jsab: Tax cuts in Israel??
http://www.governmentalityblog.com/my_weblog/2009/04/netanyahu-takes-office-israels-market-rises.html
Newest Cabinet Nominee Also Has Tax Problems … and a fabulous blue suit.
I want purty lady in turquoise to be my boss! (Well several times removed)
Daschle wasn’t cute enough.
Is it possible to get some moderately high-level government official to do tax returns? They know some real money-saving strategies.
ihasasad: Maybe there is a big old corrupt tax prep industry thang afoot like with the AIG, and the Rs are busting it wide open in their zeal to make Obama look stupid, which will only piss off the tax preparer industry which has gotta be full of Rs, and the whole evil plan will backfire.
Hey, Ted Stevens has already been vetted — why not him? You have to admire someone who lived in the pocket of an oil company, got convicted, and is now getting un-convicted. And universal health care, to him, is just a couple of bridges to a few uninhabited islands — practically free.
it appears that the only way to catch your tax return mistakes is to get nominated for a post by our prez. i wonder what my mistakes would look like? i guess we’ll never know.
Min: They used Bernie Madoff’s accountant.
SayItWithWookies: You have to be a really *big* thief to avoid punishment.
Bruno: Somehow the mistakes are always in the taxpayers’ favor. You wonder why.
It’s like those politicians who say they “experimented” with drugs in college. Meaning double-blind lab testing with placebos for half the participants? Fuck no, they just got loaded!
Tonight I’m going to experiment with some gin and vermouth, maybe an olive and some ice. The hypothesis I’m testing is this: Is it possible to get so drunk I forget about my 401(k) and still undress myself and get to bed?
TGY: Well, that would certainly explain it.
Srsly, does anybody not deduct charitable deductions just because they don’t have the documentation? It’s not that she didn’t make the contributions; she just doesn’t have the letters. I’ve done stuff like that a ton of times, but I don’t consider it cheating. So, basically, she hired an accountant to audit her after she got nominated, and that’s the stuff she fucked up. Meh. Smaller than small potatoes.
V572625694: From my experience with those types of experiments (mine generally involve bourbon and sweet vermouth), its totally possible to forget all kinds of things and still make it to bed nekkid.
“Finally, she explained that she and her husband had insufficient documentation for some of the business expenses they had deducted.”
Cmon, this is getting ridiculous. What, she didn’t save crumpled 3 year old credit card slips? Talk about a fine tooth comb.
She’s not fudging taxes, shes going Galt! Just very slowly, in $7k increments.
What with the tax corruption scandals coming out of England right now, I think it would be an immense source of national pride in knowing that the US Congress would walk away with the trophy if they would only hold an international tax-grabbing competition.
I guess all this amounts to the fact that Willie Nelson would be an excellent choice for some job in the cabinet.
Can we get serious here and talk more about what she’s wearing? Cuz that’s what CNN’s talking about this morning (and every other MSM outlet)–you know, what people–ahem–women are wearing at G-20.
And will Michelle go sleeveless to the queen. Or curtsy.
Jesus, don’t come back because you will never stop throwing up.
Jesus, what the fuck is it with pols and their taxes? You can’t tell me that they’re not using our tax money (ie, their salaries) to hire accounts? Do these assholes even pay income tax, if so, can it be doubled?
The clearest indicators of the failure of our education system are Paultards and Randbots.
I found that the best way to ensure I do my taxes correctly is to never make over $7,000 a year.
Schadenfried: ugh, stupid whore, that should be accountants.
ETA: I bet Howard Dean doesn’t have tax problems /indignant!
This is not a surprise - every accountant I’ve ever met is a Republican.
Sebelius just forgot to report the royalty money and ASCAP fees from all the great classical music she’s written for years. I think of her as The Swan of Tuonela.
Kudos also for the almost-turquoise outfit — one of the really trendy colors of 1963, right up there with coral.
bitchincamaro: SHILF????
I’m torn between my crush on her and Cindy-Lou-Who-with-the-mole from Michigan.
prototype: I think most people do their taxes wrong and just figure that the chronically understaffed IRS won’t bother to check unless it egregiously wrong. And they are correct.
Democrats should just go to this African guy that I use on Georgia Ave. in Maryland. He is for reals the bizness… a real numbers genius. He gets me EITC money every time, and I don’t even have kids.
Roger3815: Gee, Roger, let’s compare these nominees tax problems with the roughly dozen criminal convictions and almost as many (if there really were any justice) jail terms being served by Republicans. Here’s a suggestion, Rodge baby. Submit the last 10 years of your tax returns to the IRS and let them pore over them with a microscope. Then let’s hear how smart your ass sounds.
bitchincamaro:
The silver hair is HOT
Somebody told her not to color it.
A politician from Kansas that is boringly competent, centrist and not really at all embarrassing….and kinda hot in an older lady sort of way. Sigh. A rare proud moment in Kansas politics. Still….ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS!