Saving America Part 16

Tax cheats and officials under investigation should NOT be eligible to take an office. If they are not able to handle their own affairs in a moral and legal manner they cannot be trusted to hold an office to make decisions about Americans.

We must set standards and make sure they are met before someone is allowed to take office or be appointed to an important cabinet post. If there was any doubt that we needed more oversight and ethics in Washington, DC after this year it should be very clear.

Almost weekly as President Obama was tapping his cabinet members they were being bounced out or in the news over tax problems.  The interesting thing is that, either none of them were vetted by the administration or the administration does not think it is important that you pay your taxes.

Take Nancy Killefer she was tapped to be President Obama's "Chief Performance Officer," overseeing compliance, organizational effectiveness and waste management across every federal agency. But the former Clinton Treasury official and head of the prestigious Washington office of the management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, Inc., couldn't be bothered to manage her own household help effectively. She failed for a year and a half to pay employment taxes and had an outstanding tax lien on her home. The lien was worth less than $1,000 far less than the tax liability Timothy Geithner owed.

Over several years, Treasury secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner failed to pay Social Security taxes, even though he was advised by his employer to do so, signed an agreement indicating that he understood that such payments were his responsibility and received extra pay from his employer specifically for that purpose. Mr. Geithner "came clean" only when he was caught, first by an IRS audit that found he owed Social Security taxes for 2003 and 2004 and then when additional tax liabilities for 2001 and 2002 were discovered after his nomination. At a time when the nation needs a reliable, respected voice on financial issues at the Treasury Department, the best the Obama administration could do was tap a tax cheat.

Health and Human Services Secretary designee Tom Daschle finally bowed out after aggressive rehabilitative efforts failed. His chummy Senate pals on both sides of the aisle may have been willing to forgive his failure to pay longstanding back taxes owed on limo services, undisclosed consulting fees and dubious charitable donations worth an estimated $146,000, including interest and penalties. But the American people were not. (And an interesting postscript: He may have apologized and dropped out of the administration, but Daschle still owes Medicare taxes equal to 2.9 percent of the personal value of the car service he received from Democratic donor and crony Leo Hindery Jr.) Questions about Daschle's judgment have lingered for years. Ask GOP Sen. John Thune, who defeated Daschle the Dodger in 2004 after news broke of his bogus property-tax homestead exemption claim on his $1.9 million D.C. mansion -- which he listed as his primary residence despite voting in South Dakota and claiming it as his primary residence in order to run for re-election.

Then Obama tapped Kathleen Sebelius to take the position Daschle had to bow out of however, she came along with tax problems too. She was made to correct three years of tax returns and paid more than $7,000 in back taxes after finding "unintentional errors"

Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis paid about $6,400 to settle numerous tax liens against her husband's his business dating back to 1993.  Solis and her husband, Sam Sayyad, said they were unaware of liens against his auto repair shop until USA TODAY asked about them. Once confronted and only then did her husband Sayyad go to the Los Angeles County tax office and paid what he was told he owed about $6,400  to settle outstanding liens.

Ron Kirk, nominee for U.S. Trade Representative owes about $10,000 in back taxes for speaking engagements and for deducting the cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks.

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Fremont), dean of the California congressional delegation, has claimed his Maryland home as his principal residence to qualify for a $3,770 tax break, even though it is thousands of miles from the Northern California district he represents and where he is registered to vote.

House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel is going to face an ethics committee investigation for, among other things, failing to report income on rental properties and supporting a tax law change favoring a big donor to an institute named after Rangel

Commerce Secretary-nominee Bill Richardson's withdrawal due to a pay-for-play probe in New Mexico and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's "tax goofs" involving his failure to pay $43,000 in federal self-employment taxes for four separate years -- until, that is, he was nominated for the Treasury post. Thorough vetting, it seems, is an inconvenient process -- a pesky "distraction," if you will -- in the Land of Hope and Change.

Amid all of these reports that were circulating about all these cabinet appointees, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs did his best to bat down a rising chorus of questions about his boss's judgment not only on the nomination "glitches," but also on an ever-growing list of exemptions to Obama's no-lobbyists pledge. Echoing Bill Clinton's "most ethical administration ever" and Nancy Pelosi's "most ethical House ever" mantras, Gibbs defensively asserted: "The bar that we set is the highest that any administration in the country has ever set."

The Bar is set the highest? Can you imagine what we might be in for if the bar for them is leveled at tax cheat status? What can we expect next, prison parolees on the payroll next?

For all of the Obama supporters who never accept he can do any wrong and always fall back to the "Bush made this mess Obama is left to fix it" that won't work.  In fact "Bush gets an A on the transition into office. He survived his truncated 40-day transition with only one major mistake Linda Chavez, who withdrew her nomination for Labor Secretary after the flap over allowing an illegal immigrant to stay in her house.

Now as far as active investigations go it is much more balanced between the parties. There are equal amounts of corruption and crooked business. These members of Congress are currently under investigation by the congressional ethics committees, or under investigation, indictment, or conviction by law enforcement authorities

Senators
1.1 Sen. Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey)
1.2 Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska)
1.3 Sen. Roland Burris (D-Illinois)
1.4 Note
2 Representatives
2.1 Rep. Charles Rangel (D-New York)
2.2 Rep. John Doolittle (R-California) - Retiring
2.3 Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Florida)
2.4 Rep. Bob Filner (D-California)
2.5 Rep. Jane Harman (D-California)
2.6 Rep. William Jefferson (D-Louisiana) - Indicted
2.7 Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-California)
2.8 Rep. Gary Miller (R-California)
2.9 Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-West Virginia)
2.10 Rep. Tim Murphy (R-Pennsylvania)
2.11 Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Arizona) - Indicted and Retiring
2.12 Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska)

America this is the only reason we need to look at term limits seriously. These never ending terms breed corruption. Our politicians after so long become so embroiled by special interest groups and their money that they lose sight of right or wrong.  The corruption in Washington has to be stopped, we have to demand that our elected officials be held to a higher standard.  We need to raise the bar way higher than the current administration has it.

Contact your elected officials America, tell them you want to see more oversight and more ethics in Washington. Get involved America, together we can make a difference! Stand up and be heard!

Join with us America to protect your rights, your country, and your money. We are ready to defend our rights and tell the truth the liberal main stream media won’t tell you.  Comment here and email us at YourVoice@speaknowconservatives.org. Help us and be part of bringing our Great Christian country back.