Bent Corner

Former Saturday Night Live writer and Air America Radio host Al Franken to pay taxes he had already paid:

Senate candidate Al Franken, dogged by accusations that he failed to file tax returns in California, said Tuesday he will pay about $70,000 in back income taxes in 17 states dating to 2003.

Most of the income at issue was from speeches and other paid appearances by the comedian-turned candidate, who said he got bad advice from his accountant but takes responsibility for the errors.

The Minnesota Democrat told The Associated Press that he and his wife, Franni, “paid taxes on every cent of income we ever had.” He said that during the years in question, he followed the accountant’s advice and paid his entire income tax bill to the city and state where he lived at the time. He lived in New York City from 2003-05 and Minnesota in 2006.

He didn’t try to avoid paying taxes. He paid the taxes. He just paid them to the states he lived in at the time and not the states where he earned the actual income. To be honest, I’ve always been lead to believe that was how it worked. You didn’t pay taxes to the state or states you earned the income, but to the state where you lived.

I live in Maryland, but I work in Pennsylvania. Other then a stupid once-a-year tax I have to pay for the right to work in Pennsylvania, I don’t pay taxes in Pennsylvania. That once-a-year tax is not based on my actual income. It’s a flat fee that everyone working in Pennsylvania must pay. It’s based on the county you are working. The only state income tax I pay is to Maryland.

Al Franken and his taxes have been under much scrutiny lately because of the fact that he is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate. He’s running in his home state of Minnesota. I imagine that there is a lot of pressure running for elected office in Minnesota. It is after all the state that elected former professional wrestler and current 9-11 conspiracy crackpot Jesse Ventura as it’s governor.

How embarrassing it would be to lose an election in Minnesota.

Finally XM Radio does something that I can appreciate. Something positive. Something that doesn’t make me wish I bought a Sirius satellite radio instead of an XM radio. They are moving liberal/progressive talker Ed Schultz from a single one hour on tape delay to the whole three hours. His show will also be live. He will fill the time Noon - 3pm time slot that was being filled by The Al Franken Show. Franken is leaving the Air America Network to run for the U.S. Senate.

XM used to air the complete Ed Schultz show on tape delay at 3PM before moving him to a different channel and cutting him to one hour. The move never made sense. In fact, I actually emailed XM and complained. Ed Schultz is one of the few progressive talkers that is actually successful at radio. He has an audience. His show generates revenue. The man has real ability behind the microphone.

In other words, his show is the complete opposite of most of the Air America lineup.

Don’t get me wrong. I listen to most of the shows on Air America. Though the hosts have passion for what they talk about, most lack even basic fundamental skills behind the mic. Most podcasters are more professional and polished behind the microphone then some of the Air American hosts.

It’s not enough to simply be passionate in what you believe. You must also have actual radio skills. Though I don’t agree with most of what Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity have to say, I have to admit that they have superb radio skills. These two guys know what they are doing when it comes to doing radio.

So does Ed Schultz.

Yesterday while listening to the Sam Seder show on Air America, I heard the host talk about Ed Schultz joining the Air America lineup on XM channel 167. Instead of treating the news as something positive, he treated it as something negative. In fact, he advised listeners to call XM and complain.

Huh?

He told listeners to call and ask XM to not add Ed Schultz, but to instead add liberal talker Thom Hartmann. The reasoning being that XM channel 167 is called AIR AMERICA and Ed is not part of the Air America network.

Personally, I don’t really care. I just want to listen to the best liberal or progressive or non-conservative radio that I can. That means Ed Schultz. I’ve never heard of Thom Hartmann. Not to say that he is bad. I’ve just never heard his show. From what I gather, his show is on Air America only on the weekends. His show is sandwiched between repeats of other Air America shows. I would think that if he was better then Ed Schultz, Air America would have moved Thom Hartmann to Jerry Springer’s old time slot.

Yes, Air America put Jerry Springer on the air. The same Jerry Springer that does a TV show that features transvestite prostitutes that marry their brothers.

Maybe it’s just me, but I have a hard time believing that a radio host that isn’t good enough to replace Jerry Springer on Air America is somehow better then Ed Schultz on XM.