Posted by
Brandon O'Neal Wright on Wednesday, February 04, 2009 2:32:41 PM
Spreading the wealth became a household phrase during the presidential campaign of Barack Obama. It became a phrase of hope for the lower income families of our country and one of fear for the upper income individuals and families. Joe Biden made it clear that paying taxes should be viewed as a patriotic duty of the American people. Taxes, Biden implied, was a means by which the wealthy members of society could do their part in helping those who need the financial assistance. Although I vehemently disagree with the notion that paying taxes directly correlates to being patriotic, let's assume that Biden was right. That assumption leads to a very scary realization.
It all started with Timothy Geithner. Geithner was selected by Obama to head up the treasury department. You know, the department that is responsible for heading up the ever-popular IRS. After the announcement of Obama selecting Geithenr, the American public got to know Geither for the man he really is. The man who failed to pay his fair share of taxes on multiple occasions and when he finally decided to pay the taxes that he had "overlooked," he was not forced to pay late fee charges or penalties that the everyday American would have to pay. This is a scary example of how our "change" in government has led to a double standard in the way that we treat "important" people as compared to the way that we treat "normal" Americans. Summing up Timothy Geithner by using Joe Biden's standards, one would come to the conclusion that Mr. Geithner is unpatriotic.
Then there was the Health and Human Services Secretary designee Tom Daschle. The result of the vetting process of Mr. Daschle? Why, unpaid taxes, of course. It was revealed that Daschle, not unlike Geithenr, also failed to pay taxes that he owed for limo services, undisclosed consulting fees and charitable donations. The total of Mr. Daschle's unpaid taxes? 146,000 dollars. That is right, according to Joe Biden's benchmark of patriotic behavior, Tom Daschle is considered Un- American!
The left will say that conservatives are blowing this "tax oversight" way out of proportion. The problem with that assertion is that the Democratic leaders, Joe Biden and Barack Obama, are the ones that implied paying taxes was a way of measuring your patriotism. And, as we all learned during the Presidential campaign, if Biden and Obama say something then it must be true. The Democrats of this country must be very proud of their leaders. The have managed to fill very high level cabinet positions with people who fail to live up to their hype. They say that they want to raise taxes on the rich and spread those taxes to the people of our country that need the help the most. The problem is that they excuse themselves from paying their own taxes. This is hypocritical at best and unpatriotic (according to Joe Biden) as well as ILLEGAL at worst. Timothy Geithner is, according to our tax code, a criminal and he has been entrusted to run our Treasury Department with the highest level of dignity and respect. Barack Obama and Joe Biden are not alone in the blame, however. Every member of congress who voted to confirm Mr. Geithenr should be ashamed of themselves! Man, I am glad that we, as a country, decided to make changes in the way that we ran our country! George W. Bush employed people who paid their taxes and Barack Obama has decided to employ people who do not pay their taxes. Change? Yes, you bet it is! Dishonest, unpatriotic, illegal and immoral? I hope you know the answer to that!