Bent Corner

Even though Representative Roscoe Bartlett admits that since 2004 he submitted fraudulent incorrect personal financial disclosure forms that he is required to submit because he is a member of Congress, he claims that his taxes filed during that same time period with the Internal Revenue Service are correct.

Why would the two be any different?

When asked by the Frederick News-Post to release copies of his tax returns to the public, Bartlett spokeswoman Lisa Wright said he would not do so because legally he isn’t required to do it.

That doesn’t make any sense. The tax returns should contain the exact same information that is on his personal financial disclosure forms. That information is public record. Granted, that information is fraudulent incorrect, but he claims that he is “planning” on filing an amended personal financial disclosure.

My guess is that his tax returns were just as fraudulent incorrect as his personal financial disclosure. He’s probably just hoping he doesn’t get audited.

Good luck with that Roscoe.

Link

Presidential hopefuls John McCain and Hillary Clinton want to suspend the 18 cents a gallon Federal tax on gasoline - only for the Summer.  Barack Obama wants to leave things the way they are.  He thinks lowering the price might actually increase demand which would cause prices to go up.  Something like that.

They should suspend the Federal gas tax.  Not only for the Summer, but forever.

Why are they taxing gasoline?  We buy gasoline not because it is some sort of luxury item that we reward ourselves with, but it is something we need to get us from one place to another.  For better or worse, it is the fuel that we need to be productive citizens.  The government shouldn’t be taxing the gas we buy, they should be taxing the income we earn.  That’s something they already do.

I buy gas to put in my car so I can drive to work each day.  If I didn’t have to buy gas, I would happily spend my money on something else.

Instead of arguing over whether or not the Federal gas tax should be suspended for the Summer, they ought to be discussing why gas was ever taxed in the first place.

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.

I got an email from my draft-dodging nutball of a representative Roscoe Bartlett last night. Evidently Roscoe wanted to explain to me why he voted against the State Children’s Health Insurance Programs bill. Not that I needed any explanation. Of course Roscoe would vote against a law providing better health care for children.

What cracked me up were some of the reasons he came up with. Check out reason #8:

Dramatically Increases Taxes on Working Families. The Democrats’ bill hikes tobacco taxes by 61 cents per pack, once again proving that Democrats are harming low-income families they claim to want to help. In April, 15 Democrats acknowledged this fact when they sent a letter to Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt (D-SC) encouraging him not to raise the tobacco taxes in the budget resolution because they were not only regressive but a declining source of revenue. (Section 701)

Smoking is a disgusting and a severely unhealthy habit. I think everyone that smokes should quit, especially people in low-income families. The only thing wrong with a 61 cent per pack tax is that it’s far too low.

It ought to be at least $10 a pack.

I used to smoke. Quiting was probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done. The high price of cigarettes was one of the main reasons I didn’t take the habit back up. I thought cigarettes were expensive when I was addicted, but I was addicted. Once I was no longer addicted to nicotine, the high price of cigarettes seemed absolutely ridiculous. It really made me stop and think.

The truth is that if cigarettes were cheap, I probably would have started up again.

If Roscoe Bartlett is going to vote against a bill that helps provide health care for children, it shouldn’t be because it would make it harder for poor families to buy smokes. Once again Roscoe Bartlett uses the power of his office to vote against the best interests of the people in his district.