Today is the last day to file your federal and state taxes.
I wonder how much the Palins, Heaths, and all the rightwingers hid from the feds.
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Chuck Heath Jr is one paranoid son of a bitch
From Chuck's Fecebook page:
Coincidence? You decide.
My father, who worked multiple jobs and faithfully and honestly paid his taxes for fifty years, had never heard a word from the IRS. In 2008, his daughter was tapped to run for vice president of the United States. Since that time, he has been, in his words "horribly harassed" six times by the agency. They've tried to dig up something on him but he's always operated above board.
Government and politics are ugly. Kudos to the few that are trying to clean it up.
I seriously doubt the IRS is going after some old fart in Alaska. If not they should be considering:
Chuck Sr.'s son in law belonged to the AIP.
His daughter has made incidenary comments about the President and his family.
His daughter nearly got Gabby Giffords killed.
Rumor has it that Chuck Sr left Idaho to come to Alaska cuz of his extreme views.
The Palins and Heaths have made a career of grifting. Sarah and Todd were busted for not paying their property taxes.
It's pretty obvious Sarah got her worldview from Chuck Sr.
Mitt Romney pushed for reduced value on home so he could get a tax cut
From CBS News
As Democrats press Mitt Romney to release a more extensive picture of his tax history, a new report from the Los Angeles Times suggests that Romney and his wife Ann made multiple attempts to have the value of one of their multimillion dollar homes reassessed, which allowed them to save on property taxes on the house.
According to the Times, the Romneys paid $12 million in cash for a beach-front house in La Jolla, California, in 2008. Just seven months later, the couple appealed to San Diego County for the house to be reassessed at a value of $6.8 million. A little more than a year later, they amended that appeal to $8.9 million, after hiring an attorney. In the 2010 tax year, the Romneys requested a reduction in value to $7.5 million.
The value of the house was ultimately valued downward by the San Diego County Assessment Appeals Board, though by much less than the Romneys' initial appeal: In 2001, the board reduced the 2009 assessment to $11.4 million, according to the Times, and in 2010 its value was reduced to $10 million.
In 2011, the county automatically reassessed the house to $8.7 million.
As a result of the multiple reductions, the Romneys saved about $109,000 in taxes over four years.
At the time of the Romneys' appeals, the U.S. economy, along with the housing market, was in turmoil - and property values were dropping all over the country. It's not unusual in such cases that homeowners would request a reassessment, or that the county itself would lead the charge in doing so. According to the Times, 250,000 San Diego County homes have been reassessed since the housing market crash.
The information about the Romneys' activities in attempting to have their house reassessed sheds a glimmer of light on the couple's financial history, as Democrats continue to hammer the presidential candidate over his decision to release only two years of tax returns ahead of the November election.
The Romney campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
As Democrats press Mitt Romney to release a more extensive picture of his tax history, a new report from the Los Angeles Times suggests that Romney and his wife Ann made multiple attempts to have the value of one of their multimillion dollar homes reassessed, which allowed them to save on property taxes on the house.
According to the Times, the Romneys paid $12 million in cash for a beach-front house in La Jolla, California, in 2008. Just seven months later, the couple appealed to San Diego County for the house to be reassessed at a value of $6.8 million. A little more than a year later, they amended that appeal to $8.9 million, after hiring an attorney. In the 2010 tax year, the Romneys requested a reduction in value to $7.5 million.
The value of the house was ultimately valued downward by the San Diego County Assessment Appeals Board, though by much less than the Romneys' initial appeal: In 2001, the board reduced the 2009 assessment to $11.4 million, according to the Times, and in 2010 its value was reduced to $10 million.
In 2011, the county automatically reassessed the house to $8.7 million.
As a result of the multiple reductions, the Romneys saved about $109,000 in taxes over four years.
At the time of the Romneys' appeals, the U.S. economy, along with the housing market, was in turmoil - and property values were dropping all over the country. It's not unusual in such cases that homeowners would request a reassessment, or that the county itself would lead the charge in doing so. According to the Times, 250,000 San Diego County homes have been reassessed since the housing market crash.
The information about the Romneys' activities in attempting to have their house reassessed sheds a glimmer of light on the couple's financial history, as Democrats continue to hammer the presidential candidate over his decision to release only two years of tax returns ahead of the November election.
The Romney campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Mitt the shit insisted his potential VPs hand over at least 10 years of tax returns
From the Daily Beast
Should the American people be entitled to as full an account of Paul Ryan’s taxes as the Romney campaign?
New information about the vice-presidential selection process may revive interest in the issue as a flashpoint in the presidential campaign. As part of its vetting, the Romney campaign required at least some of the candidates on the short list—including the eventual winner of the GOP veepstakes, Ryan—to submit fully 10 years of tax returns, according to a knowledgeable source. The requirement was consistent with the past practices of both Republican and Democratic campaigns. Indeed, in 2008, Mitt Romney turned over 23 years of taxes to John Mccain’s campaign when he was under consideration to be the Arizona senator’s running mate. But this year, the vetting of tax returns has had particular political resonance because of Romney’s refusal to release more than two years of his own tax filings.
The Obama campaign has waged a withering assault on Romney for his failure to be more transparent about his personal finances, part of a larger narrative seeking to portray the Republican nominee as a privileged plutocrat who has been able to mine the tax code for loopholes and other tricks unavailable to average middle—class Americans. For months, Chicago and its allies have hammered Romney on taxes, suggesting he must be hiding something. In response to questions about the 10-year requirement, Romney campaign press secretary Andrea Saul declined comment. “We do not discuss the VP selection process,” she wrote in an email. But the revelation that Romney aides demanded that its veep candidates be more forthcoming with their own campaign than with the American public drew predictable scorn from Team Obama. “Mitt Romney needs to answer one question: if he needed ten years of returns to decide on a vice presidential candidate, don’t the American people need the same to make their choice for president?” asked Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign. With its populist bent and emphasis on economic inequality, the Obama campaign believes its relentless focus on the tax issue has paid high political dividends. The polls seem to back that up.
A USA Today/Gallup poll earlier this summer indicated that 56 percent of Americans believe Romney should be more forthcoming with his tax information. Leading the double-barreled attack on Romney’s supposed secrecy and privilege, often via Twitter, has been David Axelrod, Obama’s senior campaign adviser. As media attention began to focus on Romney’s search for a vice presidential candidate, Axelrod found a new way to press the tax issue: “Wonder how many years of back income tax returns Team Romney is asking for their VP candidates,” Axelrod asked in a Tweet in July. “Will their Veep release more than Mitt?” Axelrod got his answer the day after Romney selected Ryan to be his vice presidential candidate. In an interview on 60 Minutes, Ryan told CBS’s Bob Schieffer that like Romney, he would release no more than two years of tax returns. When asked during the interview how many years of taxes he’d submitted to campaign vetters, he would only say “several.” That was the same answer given to reporters by Beth Myers, a top Romney adviser who led the candidate’s vice-presidential search. In media interviews after the Ryan announcement, the veep runners-up were vague about the number of tax releases they submitted. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty used the same “several” formulation as Myers, as well as characterizing the number as “a bunch.” In the past, Romney advisers, including Ryan, have dismissed the tax issue as a political sideshow that is not high on the minds of voters. Romney has defended his decision not to release more information on his taxes, noting that he has done everything that is “required by law.”
Moreover, Romney officials have argued that his position is in line with other presidential candidates including Sen. John McCain who released two years in 2008. That same year, then-candidate Barack Obama released seven years of tax returns. When Romney’s father, George Romney, ran for president in 1968, he released 12 years of returns. When Romney has given the public a peek at his finances, he has invited charges that he, the wealthiest American to ever run for president, has paid far lower rates than most average taxpayers. Romney shelled out an effective rate of 13.8 percent in taxes on an income of $21.7 million in 2010. The candidate has not yet released his returns for 2011, but he has stated that he expected to pay a rate of 15.4 percent on income of $20.9 million. Romney earned most of his fortune at Bain Capital and as an executive of an investment firm was able to take advantage of lower tax rates through a loophole known as “carried interest.” According to one Romney campaign adviser, there had been considerable debate earlier this summer about releasing more of the candidate’s taxes. In the end, those in favor of more transparency were overruled. The concern was not that Romney had skirted tax laws in any way; rather, it was that his taxes were so voluminous and complicated and involved so many investments and shelters —including offshore accounts in places like the Bahamas and the Caymen Islands—that the campaign would be handing the Obama camp free ammo.
One reason Romney has publicly cited for not making his taxes public is his reluctance to reveal how much he and his wife, Ann, have tithed to the Mormon Church. In an interview with Parade magazine, Romney said that his religious contributions are “a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church.” In August, Obama campaign chief Jim Messina, suggested a compromise of sorts in the ongoing campaign war over Romney’s taxes. If Romney agreed to release a total of five years of returns, Chicago would declare a cease-fire and stop calling for more years of taxes. The Romney campaign rejected the offer.
Should the American people be entitled to as full an account of Paul Ryan’s taxes as the Romney campaign?
New information about the vice-presidential selection process may revive interest in the issue as a flashpoint in the presidential campaign. As part of its vetting, the Romney campaign required at least some of the candidates on the short list—including the eventual winner of the GOP veepstakes, Ryan—to submit fully 10 years of tax returns, according to a knowledgeable source. The requirement was consistent with the past practices of both Republican and Democratic campaigns. Indeed, in 2008, Mitt Romney turned over 23 years of taxes to John Mccain’s campaign when he was under consideration to be the Arizona senator’s running mate. But this year, the vetting of tax returns has had particular political resonance because of Romney’s refusal to release more than two years of his own tax filings.
The Obama campaign has waged a withering assault on Romney for his failure to be more transparent about his personal finances, part of a larger narrative seeking to portray the Republican nominee as a privileged plutocrat who has been able to mine the tax code for loopholes and other tricks unavailable to average middle—class Americans. For months, Chicago and its allies have hammered Romney on taxes, suggesting he must be hiding something. In response to questions about the 10-year requirement, Romney campaign press secretary Andrea Saul declined comment. “We do not discuss the VP selection process,” she wrote in an email. But the revelation that Romney aides demanded that its veep candidates be more forthcoming with their own campaign than with the American public drew predictable scorn from Team Obama. “Mitt Romney needs to answer one question: if he needed ten years of returns to decide on a vice presidential candidate, don’t the American people need the same to make their choice for president?” asked Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign. With its populist bent and emphasis on economic inequality, the Obama campaign believes its relentless focus on the tax issue has paid high political dividends. The polls seem to back that up.
A USA Today/Gallup poll earlier this summer indicated that 56 percent of Americans believe Romney should be more forthcoming with his tax information. Leading the double-barreled attack on Romney’s supposed secrecy and privilege, often via Twitter, has been David Axelrod, Obama’s senior campaign adviser. As media attention began to focus on Romney’s search for a vice presidential candidate, Axelrod found a new way to press the tax issue: “Wonder how many years of back income tax returns Team Romney is asking for their VP candidates,” Axelrod asked in a Tweet in July. “Will their Veep release more than Mitt?” Axelrod got his answer the day after Romney selected Ryan to be his vice presidential candidate. In an interview on 60 Minutes, Ryan told CBS’s Bob Schieffer that like Romney, he would release no more than two years of tax returns. When asked during the interview how many years of taxes he’d submitted to campaign vetters, he would only say “several.” That was the same answer given to reporters by Beth Myers, a top Romney adviser who led the candidate’s vice-presidential search. In media interviews after the Ryan announcement, the veep runners-up were vague about the number of tax releases they submitted. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty used the same “several” formulation as Myers, as well as characterizing the number as “a bunch.” In the past, Romney advisers, including Ryan, have dismissed the tax issue as a political sideshow that is not high on the minds of voters. Romney has defended his decision not to release more information on his taxes, noting that he has done everything that is “required by law.”
Moreover, Romney officials have argued that his position is in line with other presidential candidates including Sen. John McCain who released two years in 2008. That same year, then-candidate Barack Obama released seven years of tax returns. When Romney’s father, George Romney, ran for president in 1968, he released 12 years of returns. When Romney has given the public a peek at his finances, he has invited charges that he, the wealthiest American to ever run for president, has paid far lower rates than most average taxpayers. Romney shelled out an effective rate of 13.8 percent in taxes on an income of $21.7 million in 2010. The candidate has not yet released his returns for 2011, but he has stated that he expected to pay a rate of 15.4 percent on income of $20.9 million. Romney earned most of his fortune at Bain Capital and as an executive of an investment firm was able to take advantage of lower tax rates through a loophole known as “carried interest.” According to one Romney campaign adviser, there had been considerable debate earlier this summer about releasing more of the candidate’s taxes. In the end, those in favor of more transparency were overruled. The concern was not that Romney had skirted tax laws in any way; rather, it was that his taxes were so voluminous and complicated and involved so many investments and shelters —including offshore accounts in places like the Bahamas and the Caymen Islands—that the campaign would be handing the Obama camp free ammo.
One reason Romney has publicly cited for not making his taxes public is his reluctance to reveal how much he and his wife, Ann, have tithed to the Mormon Church. In an interview with Parade magazine, Romney said that his religious contributions are “a very personal thing between ourselves and our commitment to our God and to our church.” In August, Obama campaign chief Jim Messina, suggested a compromise of sorts in the ongoing campaign war over Romney’s taxes. If Romney agreed to release a total of five years of returns, Chicago would declare a cease-fire and stop calling for more years of taxes. The Romney campaign rejected the offer.
What you need to know about Paul Ryan
From the Go Back Team
Paul Ryan’s top-down budget plan is a sham
Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney both support trillions in budget-busting tax cuts for millionaires that will result in tax hikes on the middle class and deep cuts in education and other investments we need to grow. Ryan’s extreme budget plan, which Mitt Romney has embraced, would make deep spending cuts now to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, which would weaken the recovery and cost the economy jobs.
According to Harvard economist Jeffrey Liebman, based on Mitt Romney’s own projections on the impact of deep spending cuts on the economy, Paul Ryan’s budget plan could cost the U.S. more than 1 million jobs.
Paul Ryan’s plan would raise taxes on the middle class and cut taxes for the wealthy
Ryan’s extreme budget plan would benefit the wealthy while raising taxes on middle-class families, slowing our economic recovery and hurting seniors and the middle class.
Deep tax giveaways for the wealthy:
Paul Ryan’s extreme budget includes a tax “reform” plan that would make the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy permanent, and give millionaires an additional tax cut worth over $250,000 a year. Paying for these tax cuts for the most fortunate families would require higher taxes on the middle class, gutting investments in our future, and ending Medicare as we know it.
Raise taxes on the middle class:
Just like Mitt Romney’s tax plan, middle-class families could pay thousands of dollars more a year in taxes to help fund tax cuts for millionaires. Ryan would cut or eliminate middle-class tax deductions like mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and health premiums.
Paul Ryan’s plan would gut middle-class investments
To pay for tax cuts for the wealthiest, Paul Ryan would gut investments critical to middle-class security.
This includes cutting Pell Grant scholarships for nearly 10 million students, cutting clean energy investments by 19%, and slowing scientific and medical research by eliminating tens of thousands of grants.
Paul Ryan’s plan would end Medicare as we know it
Paul Ryan’s extreme budget would end Medicare as we know it, turning it into a voucher program which would increase seniors’ health costs by $6,350 a year. Ryan has also proposed a plan that would have privatized Social Security, subjecting seniors’ retirement security to the whims of the stock market.
Paul Ryan is severely conservative
Like Mitt Romney, Ryan’s severely conservative positions are out of touch with most Americans’ values. He would take us backward on women’s health and equal rights.
Paul Ryan would take us backward on women’s health:
Ryan cosponsored a bill that could ban in-vitro fertilization, as well as many common forms of birth control, including the pill. It could also ban all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest. He supported letting states prosecute women who have abortions and doctors who perform them.
Paul Ryan would take us backward on equal rights:
Ryan voted against the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which helps women fight for equal pay for equal work. He voted against repealing the discriminatory policy of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and supports writing discrimination into the Constitution by amending it to ban gay marriage.
There you have it folks. Paul Ryan is an asshole.
Ronald Reagan's 82 tax hike was the biggest ever
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
My theory on Mitt Romney's tax returns
As we all know Mitt Romney only released his tax returns from 2010 and 2011. He did show his last 23 returns to John McCain back in 2008 which may or may not have prompted Gramps to pick Granny Grifter as his running mate, but the returns were pretty bad regardless.
Mitt's wife Ann told Robin Roberts on Good Morning America "We've given all you people need to know and understand about our financial situation". That is rich considering her father in law George set the precedent for releasing financial records and tax returns back in 1968 when he was running for president.
Mitt has even bragged about taking advantage of loopholes and tax money:
I think Mitt was still drawing a salary at Bain in 1999-2001 which would prove the lie he had retired from there, or he never filed at all.
If you are running for office and refuse to release any tax returns within the past 25 years, then you do not deserve to be president.
Sarah Palin says Republicans should vet one another
From Mudflats
Sarah Palin, perhaps politics’ most high-profile vetting escapee seems to have a strong opinion on the matter of vetting when it comes to people who are not Sarah Palin. Despite documentation that proves Palin was never vetted (as John McCain and others claim), she is waving the red flag, encouraging Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and others to continue their public “vetting” of Mitt Romney and the cast of Republican presidential hopefuls.
Palin says that criticism of Romney’s record as the head of Bain Capital is fair and that he should provide the public with proof of his claims that he helped to create 100,000 jobs during his time with the firm.
That's real rich considering Sarah was the least vetted candidate in history. And she is a tax cheat as well.
Sarah Palin, perhaps politics’ most high-profile vetting escapee seems to have a strong opinion on the matter of vetting when it comes to people who are not Sarah Palin. Despite documentation that proves Palin was never vetted (as John McCain and others claim), she is waving the red flag, encouraging Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich and others to continue their public “vetting” of Mitt Romney and the cast of Republican presidential hopefuls.
Palin says that criticism of Romney’s record as the head of Bain Capital is fair and that he should provide the public with proof of his claims that he helped to create 100,000 jobs during his time with the firm.
That's real rich considering Sarah was the least vetted candidate in history. And she is a tax cheat as well.
Taxpayer money was used for Todd to fly in and sit on his ass for the hacking trial
From the AP
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The government paid nearly $2,500 for Sarah Palin's husband to come to the trial of a Tennessee college student who hacked into her email — even though Todd Palin never testified, court records show.
In all, the government paid more than $29,000 to fly members of the Palin family and other witnesses to Knoxville, send a prosecutor to Alaska for research and pay other travel expenses, according to the Department of Justice records obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request. Air travel totaled about $18,600, and hotel bills amounted to nearly $3,300.
The thousands of dollars spent by prosecutors helped them win a conviction on one felony and one misdemeanor charge against David Kernell, who finishes his 10-month sentence on Wednesday. Prosecutors have said that Kernell's punishment for the hacking during Palin's failed 2008 vice presidential bid should deter any hackers who considered targeting candidates in next fall's presidential election.
The former Alaska governor, her daughter Bristol and an aide were among the witnesses called to the stand, but the chief prosecutor said he decided Todd Palin's testimony wasn't needed. Sarah and Bristol Palin told jurors that they felt harassed and their lives were disrupted after Kernell hacked into Sarah Palin's Yahoo! email account and made screenshots public that included personal email addresses and cell phone numbers.
Records show Todd Palin received $2,244.30 as reimbursement for airfare from Alaska to Tennessee, along with $122 for meals and incidentals and an attendance fee of $120. He was listed as a fact witness.
"We subpoena a lot of witnesses that we think we might need," Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Weddle said, adding that about a dozen witnesses in all were subpoenaed. "We decided his testimony was no longer necessary for purposes of trial."
An attorney for the Palins, John Tiemessen of Fairbanks, Alaska, said in an email that Todd Palin was under subpoena and flew to Knoxville prepared to testify. Tiemessen declined to make Todd Palin available for comment, and an email seeking comment sent to Sarah Palin's political action committee wasn't immediately returned.
The 34 pages of Justice Department expense documents obscured the names of witnesses 58 times, making it impossible to discern how much in travel expenses was incurred by Bristol and Sarah Palin and the other witnesses. It also wasn't clear if any other witnesses who flew in from Alaska wound up not testifying.
But one three-page form that authorized reimbursement of unusual expenses showed payment was made to Todd Palin. The section of the form where Weddle provided justification for the unusual expense was blanked out.
Records also show it cost $2,461 for the prosecutor to take a September 2009 trial preparation trip to Alaska.
Weddle said Todd Palin received the "same allowance anybody else would be entitled to," based on a contract rate of $40 per day. The form specifies that attendance days include travel.
"There's no bonus because you've written a book or you are married to a former vice presidential candidate," Weddle said.
Several former prosecutors who weren't involved in the case said it's difficult to compare the cost of a case with the gravity of the charges or the outcome.
"You don't know exactly how things are going to take shape," said former Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble of Chattanooga. "It's just the nature of trials. Unfortunately you have to bring witnesses in from a long way."
He said there are cost-benefit analyses after some cases but: "There's a lot of subjectivity in that and it's a hard line to draw."
Still, Humble described the felony conviction as a "complete win."
Aside from travel expenses, the Justice Department said there were no records for the overall cost of the trial.
J. Tom Morgan of Decatur, Ga., a former district attorney, said that when former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis made a comment about sunshine as the best disinfectant "he wasn't talking about the federal court system."
"It sounds like a lot of money on a hacking case, but once you go to trial you've got to be prepared for anything and everything," he said.
Morgan said prosecutors have discretion in spending and typically if they have a family member tag along they will also have them testify to justify it. Though Morgan couldn't speak to the circumstances of the Palin case, he said sometimes family members do get a "free ride."
Kernell, 24, who was a University of Tennessee student when arrested, was scheduled for release Wednesday after getting credit for good behavior. He was tried on four felony charges. Jurors acquitted him of one, deadlocked on another and reduced a third to a misdemeanor illegal access charge. He was convicted of obstructing an investigation by trying to hide his computer activity.
Defense attorney Wade Davies declined to comment about the trial expenses. Kernell's father, state Rep. Michael Kernell, D-Memphis, said an appeal of the conviction is pending and declined comment.
Davies contended during the trial that Kernell had no criminal intent and that the hacking amounted to a prank. Kernell tapped into the Alaska governor's widely publicized Yahoo! email account by correctly answering a series of personal security questions. He didn't testify at the trial.
Sarah Palin told jurors that the hacking disrupted the lives of her family and close friends when their e-mails and phone numbers were publicized on the Internet. Bristol Palin testified that she received harassing calls and text messages.
Palin has remained highly visible since she and running mate U.S. Sen. John McCain lost the 2008 general election. That star power was on display at the trial in 2010, when she attracted smiles from jurors on the way to the witness stand. The first questions from Weddle was, "May I call you Governor Palin?"
Palin, who quit the Alaska governorship in 2009 midway through her term, was considered a possible GOP presidential candidate this year until — with polls showing her popularity with voters had waned — she announced that she was passing on the race.
If the Palins had any decency and class (wishful thinking on our part, I know) they would reimburse the feds for any costs incurred. Especially since Sarah and Bristol perjured themselves shamelessly. And the judge and jurors did not pick up on that.
Grifters all around.
Sarah hates taxes but yet has no problem having tax money spent on her
ABC News
Sarah Palin is set to tour national monuments around the country this summer, and one congressman wants to know how that will affect everyone else.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) sent a letter to the National Park Service today asking how federal resources were used for the northeast leg of Palin’s “One Nation Tour,” which traveled from Washington, D.C. to New Hampshire last week. His concern: press accounts of the tour “which provided personal and political benefits to former Gov. Palin, suggest that National Park Service resources were made available to an extent beyond that which an average American family would receive.”
“I opened my paper this morning to hear about cutbacks in state parks around this country,” Blumenauer told ABC News. “We have a serious backlog of maintenance in the National Park Service. And it looks like Sarah Palin’s little political cavalcade gets this amazing VIP treatment – I’m scratching my head. If it’s a private family vacation, what in the world are we doing getting people in with preferential early admission and having an entourage of public employees? It looks like a political stunt, and Palin Inc. ought to pay for it.”
Palin was surrounded by park rangers and, at times, police officers during her tour stops. Last Wednesday, she and her family were accompanied by approximately 10 authorities as they toured the Statue of Liberty.
David Barna, a Park Service spokesman, told ABC News that with the exception of the Statue of Liberty visit, it was business as usual at all the sites Palin saw. (With the exception, of course, of dozens of spectators and press following the former Alaska governor.)
“
We recognize she is not a government official, she is not a candidate for public office, so we treated her as any other celebrity that might come in,” he said. He compared the Park Service’s treatment of Palin last week – organizing private tours, opening specific monuments early – to what they might do “for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie."
“If there was any cost, it might have been for the park police at the Statue of Liberty,” he said. “Right now, I don’t know the answer to that."
Barna is seeking answers to Rep. Blumenauer’s question about how much money went into hosting Palin. As far as planning for Palin’s potential visits to other national monuments – she said she plans to visit the West Coast, Iowa and South Carolina this summer – he said, “We haven’t done anything, we’re not involved in anything. We’re just like everyone else, waiting to see what happens.”
While the congressman isn’t necessarily a fan of Palin – he noted, “This is the woman who called my bi-partisan end of life care ‘death panels’” – he said this inquiry “isn’t a vendetta against her.”
“I want to find out what’s going on,” he said. “It shouldn’t be the case with anyone, celebrity or otherwise, that we use resources needed to protect these jewels of the American outdoors and the employees who guard them to give special treatment to VIPs.”
Aides for Palin declined ABC News’ request for comment.
If Sarah really cared about the deficit she would reimburse the National Park Service and the local police departments that were involved in her Bus Tour. She is a cunt of the highest order. And I don't want any of my tax dollars spent on a cunt liker her.
Sarah Palin is set to tour national monuments around the country this summer, and one congressman wants to know how that will affect everyone else.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) sent a letter to the National Park Service today asking how federal resources were used for the northeast leg of Palin’s “One Nation Tour,” which traveled from Washington, D.C. to New Hampshire last week. His concern: press accounts of the tour “which provided personal and political benefits to former Gov. Palin, suggest that National Park Service resources were made available to an extent beyond that which an average American family would receive.”
“I opened my paper this morning to hear about cutbacks in state parks around this country,” Blumenauer told ABC News. “We have a serious backlog of maintenance in the National Park Service. And it looks like Sarah Palin’s little political cavalcade gets this amazing VIP treatment – I’m scratching my head. If it’s a private family vacation, what in the world are we doing getting people in with preferential early admission and having an entourage of public employees? It looks like a political stunt, and Palin Inc. ought to pay for it.”
Palin was surrounded by park rangers and, at times, police officers during her tour stops. Last Wednesday, she and her family were accompanied by approximately 10 authorities as they toured the Statue of Liberty.
David Barna, a Park Service spokesman, told ABC News that with the exception of the Statue of Liberty visit, it was business as usual at all the sites Palin saw. (With the exception, of course, of dozens of spectators and press following the former Alaska governor.)
“
We recognize she is not a government official, she is not a candidate for public office, so we treated her as any other celebrity that might come in,” he said. He compared the Park Service’s treatment of Palin last week – organizing private tours, opening specific monuments early – to what they might do “for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie."
“If there was any cost, it might have been for the park police at the Statue of Liberty,” he said. “Right now, I don’t know the answer to that."
Barna is seeking answers to Rep. Blumenauer’s question about how much money went into hosting Palin. As far as planning for Palin’s potential visits to other national monuments – she said she plans to visit the West Coast, Iowa and South Carolina this summer – he said, “We haven’t done anything, we’re not involved in anything. We’re just like everyone else, waiting to see what happens.”
While the congressman isn’t necessarily a fan of Palin – he noted, “This is the woman who called my bi-partisan end of life care ‘death panels’” – he said this inquiry “isn’t a vendetta against her.”
“I want to find out what’s going on,” he said. “It shouldn’t be the case with anyone, celebrity or otherwise, that we use resources needed to protect these jewels of the American outdoors and the employees who guard them to give special treatment to VIPs.”
Aides for Palin declined ABC News’ request for comment.
If Sarah really cared about the deficit she would reimburse the National Park Service and the local police departments that were involved in her Bus Tour. She is a cunt of the highest order. And I don't want any of my tax dollars spent on a cunt liker her.
Reason #53 not to vote for Sarah Palin for anything
Her reality show Sarah Palin's Alaska was politically motivated
From Palingates:
Sarah Palin's Alaska received a 1.2 million dollar tax credit from the State of Alaska, however since it was politically motivated they were ineligible to receive the credit but did so anyway. Several examples of Palin injecting politics into the show were her comment about Michelle Obama and eating sweets, Joe McGinness, asking Todd about taxes, how the Grizzly Bears do not depend on others for food, the price of gold.
You can read the bill regarding tax credits here
Sarah thinks she is above the law. Time to give that $1.2 million back to the AK taxpayers.
From Palingates:
Sarah Palin's Alaska received a 1.2 million dollar tax credit from the State of Alaska, however since it was politically motivated they were ineligible to receive the credit but did so anyway. Several examples of Palin injecting politics into the show were her comment about Michelle Obama and eating sweets, Joe McGinness, asking Todd about taxes, how the Grizzly Bears do not depend on others for food, the price of gold.
You can read the bill regarding tax credits here
Sarah thinks she is above the law. Time to give that $1.2 million back to the AK taxpayers.
Today is Tax Day
No one likes Tax, I'm a Democrat and I don't like it either. But taxes are like death, everyone has to deal with it. Taxes though can be a benefit to society, who do you think pays for our military, police departments, schools etc, the tooth fairy? Santa Claus? Nope, we do!
If we want a good quality of life we have to pay taxes, deal with it. I am willing to pay for nice roads than crappy ones.
Then there are people like the Republican Sarah Palin who make millions of dollars yet will not pay their fair share. People like Schaeffer Cox, who thinks he is a sovereign nation and does not have to pay federal or state taxes and tries to kill a judge who enforces the law.
Bristol Palin if you are reading this I did send the article about you making $262,000 in 2009 from Candies to the IRS.
If we want a good quality of life we have to pay taxes, deal with it. I am willing to pay for nice roads than crappy ones.
Then there are people like the Republican Sarah Palin who make millions of dollars yet will not pay their fair share. People like Schaeffer Cox, who thinks he is a sovereign nation and does not have to pay federal or state taxes and tries to kill a judge who enforces the law.
Bristol Palin if you are reading this I did send the article about you making $262,000 in 2009 from Candies to the IRS.
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