26 Apr 09 The Art of Dodging the Tax Man

 

 

By: Angelo Biondo

It’s interesting to see how those who are so eager to raise the taxes of the already over taxed American citizen conduct themselves when it comes time to pay their own taxes.  For instance the past few months have proved to be a challenge to President Obama in appointing cabinet members who have not cheated on their taxes.  The most prominent being the Secretary of the Treasury, Tim Geithner, and Tom Dashle (D) a former U.S. Senator from South Dakota and U.S. Senate Majority Leader.

Cheating the tax system by a convenient oversight is not the only method our congressional leaders are using to avoid the tax system they put in place. They are using legal loopholes in the law to beat the system.  To date several have surfaced.  This raises the question in my mind of how many more congressional leaders are involved.  

Matt Kelley, of USA TODAY wrote, “Pelosi, and two other Democrats failed to disclose roles in family charities”.  When it was brought to her attention, the Speaker of the House claimed it an oversight.  Her name has since been removed from the records of the “Paul & Nancy Pelosi Charitable Foundation.”

Failure to disclose their involvement in family charities is in violation of the law which requires members of Congress to report such activities.   The other two mentioned in the USA Today article are Senator Evan Bayh, (D, IN) and Obama’s current Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.   There are other incidents as well, including Secretary of State Hilliary Clinton who failed to report her involvement in her family tax exempt foundation on five different occasions.

Like Bayh, and Emanuel, the Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, (D, CA) also registered themselves and their spouses as non-profit charitable organizations as far back as 1992.  The problem being they have never solicited donations from others.  They are the sole donors to their own charities, and they failed to report their executive status with Congress. (Required by law.)  Read Mr. Kelley’s complete article by clicking on this USA TODAY link. 

Nancy Pelosi (D, CA) first won election to her Senate seat in 1985 and is currently in her twelfth term of office.  She is the current Speaker of the House and has been the subject of several controversial issues, including the exclusion or exempt status of American Samoa from the increase in the minimum wage law passed last year, and use of a military jet to fly her home non-stop each week.  

Her husband Paul Pelosi attributes his wealth to real-estate investments.  He owns 40% of Star-Kist® Tuna.  Star-Kist® fishing fleets and canneries employ a workforce consisting of approximately 75% American Samoa nationals .  Star-Kist® is a subsidiary of Del Monte Foods® based in San Francisco, CA and is represented by Speaker Pelosi Congressional District.  Exempting American Samoa from the increase in the minimum wage laws will save Star-Kist® millions, as well as payoff in dividends for her husband. 

Ms. Pelosi and her husband formed the family charity which they named the “Paul & Nancy Pelosi Charitable Foundation” 94-3150212, and appear as the only 2 contributors to this organization.  There is some controversy and inconsistency in the official address as well which is listed as being located at 235 Montgomery Street #610, San Francisco, CA 94104.  

The conflict in records which also list this property as a parking garage owned by a Joseph E Seagram & Sons as well contributes to the confusion.  Mr. Seagram is also listed as a major contributor to Ms. Pelosi’s Re-election Campaign Fund.  You can read the complete article posted on the Riehl World View web site.  It makes for an interesting read.

According to “Judicial Watch” Senator Bayh also failed to disclose his involvement in the “Evan and Susan Bayh Foundation.  Judicial Watch, is a public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption.  They have filed a complaint with the United States Senate Select Committee on Ethics concerning inaccurate financial disclosure reports filed by Indiana Senator Evan Bayh. Senator Bayh failed to disclose his position as director of the Evan and Susan Bayh Foundation on disclosure reports despite requirements by the Ethics in Government Act  

Judicial Watch’s Senate ethics complaint, filed on March 8, 2007, notes that Senator Bayh’s failure to comply with disclosure requirements represents “improper conduct that reflects upon the United States Senate.”

On March 1, 2007, Judicial Watch also filed separate complaints with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics and the Justice Department against Senator Hillary Clinton for failing to disclose her position as Secretary/Treasurer of the Clinton Family Foundation on five occasions. 

To review Judicial Watch’s complaints against Senators Evan Bayh and Hillary Clinton, please visit JW’s Internet site, http://www.judicialwatch.org/ 

Like Pelosi and Bayh, Rahm Emanuel a four-term Democrat Congressman and new White House Chief of Staff also failed to disclose the fact that he is an executive officer in his family Charity, the “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation.” 

Unlike Pelosi, and Bayh, Emanuel and his wife declared their prestigious million dollar plus home at 4228 North Hermitage as the office location for their “Rohm Emanuel and Amy Rule Charitable Foundation”, making the property tax exempt.  Federal form 999-PF (Return or Private Foundation.PDF) shows the exempt status of the property.   

According to the Cook County Assessor’s website, the Chicago home does not exist.  The address of 4228 North Hermitage is listed as Emanuel’s residence on the Illinois State Board of Elections’ website.  However, there seems to be no public record of Emanuel ever paying property taxes on this property.

Basically, the advantage to declaring one’s self a non-profit charity organization works like this:

• File with the Federal Government as a non-profit organization. 
• Donate your entire pay and excess campaign funds to your charity.  Campaign funds can only be used for campaign purposes, or donated to a valid charity. 
• Pay all your expenses through your charity. 

Of course this is the simplified explanation, but I’m sure you get the drift. 

The e-mail titled “Interesting read” currently circulating the e-mail circuit apparently originated at the zimbio.com site.  It is also the reason I decided to research the viability of the claim that Emanuel and his wife pay no property taxes.

zimbio.com - “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule pay no property taxes” 

 

References:

Zimbio.com - “Rahm Emanuel and Amy Rule pay no property taxes”

USA Today —  (Democrats put own money into Charitable Foundations) 

Digg.com – (Why Doesn’t Rahm Emanuel Pay Property Taxes?)

Rightsoup.com – (Rahm Emanuel evades property tax on home by declaring himself a charity) 

We look forward to reading and posting your to comment.  Please let us know your thoughts on the subject, and as usual, if you like or do not like what’s happening don’t forget to let your representatives know how you feel.  You can contact them at the links provided here:

Your Senator

Your Congressman/woman

 

 

Copyright © PoliticalFinePrint.com™ ( April, 2009)  

 

All contents are the sole property of PoliticalFinePrint.com. PoliticalFinePrint.com reserves the right to change, modify or delete articles without notice. The material contained within the pages of PoliticalFinePrint.com™, is free to its readers and may be reprinted without pre-authorization from PoliticalFinePriont.com™, as long as it is not modified or changed in any way, and this notice and copyright© is included. PolicalFinePrint.com™ is the trademark of PoliticalFinePrint.com™ and cannot be copied, reproduced or used without the express written permission of PoliticalFinePrint.com™

 

Tags: Bayh, Congress, Congressional abuse, Congressional leaders, Emanuel, House, House of Represntatives, leaders, Matt Kelly, Pelosi, Politics, Senate, tax system, Taxes, USA Today