Greetings! Consti here returning from a short sabbatical where I’ve had to relocate the secrete underground bunker for security reasons. Needless to say it’s a gargantuan task. I haven’t been lax however in my ever diligent monitoring of the situation and bring you this little story that has gone mostly un-reported in the MSM. While sitting in the new bunker’s smoking lounge with a double dirty martini enjoying the vocal styling’s of Charlie Wrangle and the Wrangletts I’d like to share this with you.
Do you know who owes the federal government (you, me, and Uncle Sam) 3 Billion in unpaid taxes? Want to see what that looks like? If you answered Charlie Wrangle you get a D and must move to the back of the class! No kids the correct answer is Federal employees! Yes government workers who ARE NOT fired for failure to pay taxes. In fact they can’t be!
“While some taxpayers may scratch their heads and ask why the federal government doesn’t garnish the wages of these employees, the reality is they can’t. According to federal tax laws, employees are treated the same as any other taxpayer who doesn’t pay their taxes.”
Only employees of the IRS can be fired for not paying taxes. And guess who has the best record for paying? If you answered the IRS you win the award for obviousness. The postal service, government’s biggest employer tops in at 28,913 employees who owe $297,933,756 which is an improvement according to the report. The agency with the highest percentage of delinquent employees is the National Capital Planning Commission, where 10.42 percent of its 48 employees owe $26,947.
Now I find it ironic that federal employees who are in some cases union have failed to pay taxes. Seriously people this makes me giggle. Are we not supposed to hold our government and the people it employees to a high standard? Ask Wesley Snipes about the IRS and taxes, I’m sure you will get an ear full. They wanted to give him 30 years of JAIL TIME! Now you, me, your neighbor, if we don’t pay taxes we are called irresponsible and are subject to jail time. Why is it that a federal employee isn’t? Shouldn’t they have to pay their fair share? Shouldn’t they lose their job if they don’t pay their taxes like the rest of us?
“WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new Internal Revenue Service unit set up to catch rich tax cheats hiding their wealth in complex business entities is rapidly taking shape with the hiring of hundreds of employees.” How much you want to bet there won’t be one (1) federal employee that they look at? They will hound the greedy, evil, money grubbing rich, but won’t even look in their own back yard! I say we start with government FIRST since it’s overloaded with wasteful spending and tax cheats of all levels of public service. Write your congressman and insist that the laws be changed to fire federal employees who don’t pay their taxes. (You should be able to find a mailing list here.) Why should they get special privilege? “”We have drawn top talent within the IRS that have expertise involving wealthy individuals as well as examination of their related entities,” said Mae Lew, an IRS special counsel.” How about special experience with governmental tax cheats? Isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?
To add insult to injury the Democratic congress has put forth in a military spending bill legislation to raise the country’s debt limit by nearly 2 TRILLION! As if we don’t owe China the shirt off of our collective backs now they want to raise the debt limit to a total of 14 trillion. “The economy has been in the dumps for years, but the good times keep on rolling for some favored D.C. employees. City officials have doled out nearly $15 million in bonuses and awards since Mayor Adrian Fenty took office in January 2007, records obtained by The Examiner under the Freedom of Information Act show.” Didn’t the government berate the bailed out banks for obscene bonuses? Didn’t they end golden parachutes? Apparently not for themselves or their friends in government.
“But Consti these are the people who run our country they should be the best and the brightest! That means they should also be the best paid to keep them!” Yeah, that’s a load of Barbra Streisand! Since they ARE federal workers they should be held to a higher standard than the rest of us since they SEEK these positions. They should AUTOMAGICALLY be FIRED for not paying their taxes period. However, since good ol’ Charlie Wrangle can get away with it I am sure the rest feel justified for not paying their taxes. I mean if the head of the House Ways and Means committee can get away with being a tax cheat and Timothy Geithner head of the IRS can do it why shouldn’t everybody?
Enjoy your holiday gift buying, the Government has.
Consti
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
It’s simple; when you make ignorant statments designed to put words into my mouth it becomes about me. Why do you continue to make it about me? Again that red headed temper of yours should be brought under control before you comment.
Why does everything become about you? LOL
Never said they didn’t. Thats your assumption. And you know what it means to assume.
Again don’t try putting words in my mouth it only makes you look ignorant.
And look at his salary. He makes $60k more a year than those in Congress…
Cause the GOP NEVER line their own pockets… here’s a tidbit about Michael Steele that is even raising the eybrows of his own…
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts1040
Consti,
Any money any Federal employee makes from second jobs like speaking or writing is money they make for their willingness to do extra work, just like anyone else who does freelance jobs or part-time work for extra pay. Money from a second job doesn’t qualify toward claims that they are “overpaid”- it has nothing to do with their salary, as it woudn’t apply to how much a CEO is paid by a company when he takes speaking engagements, book deals, etc outside his corporate job. How much money do they make for the job that they are hired to do in comparison with others who perform the smae level job elsewhere in the marketplace-that’s the point. Compare apples and apples. Go on Salary.com-I did-and look at what people make public versus private sector for the same jobs or the same level of responsibility. To do public work, you really need to feel strongly enough about working for the public or like the power that comes with the job to take less money and put up with more grief. Then there are those like you who say that they shouldn’t have the same rights as everyone else when it comes to prosecution of offenses. My question is why anyone would go into public service at all?
Given the amount of mistakes that get made by the IRS, NO ONE should automatically lose their job or be persecuted unless they have been shown to be guilty of tax evasion or abuses. I thought that in the United States of America that the law is blind and that we are all equal in the eyes of the law. For a guy that’s supposed to be so gung ho for protecting the rights of Americans, discriminating against Federal employees simply because of who they are employed by seems a might hypocritical. And please remember, that would apply to Republicans who are Federal employees as well. But we all know that Republicans NEVER play fast and loose with ethics, taxes, or finances, so…
Laura,
Obviously they are being treated differently since the IRS now has a special task force to look at their books. They are constantly hounded by people like you who think they should pay more than their fair share. And the numbers you quote are only for their government positions. Even Stevie Wonder can see that they make alot more than just that in business deals and power brokering. Nice try, but you still haven’t answered the question.
Oh, and a retired president receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration’s cabinet secretaries, which is $191,300 as of 2008. A president who is now obligated to do absolutely nothing makes more than a Senator or Congressman. But unless you think a president does not deserve any pension for doing work that he was severely underpaid for and risked assasination for for 8 years in most cases, then don’t you think that $174,000 for a Senator or Congressman who has to pay for two residences and work is at the very least fair? Average TV stars make that kind of pay for only one or two episodes. Sports stars make that for less than a month of work. But I don’t hear anyone complaining about how much they make because that’s what the market allows…
I happen to think that most high level paid positions are overpaid, both public and private sector, but that’s the free market and capitalism for you, so if you want free markets then you have lost the right to complain about executive compensation in any sector, since public sector jobs have to be competitive with private sector in order to encourage any candidates to subject themselves to the fishbowl, stress and danger that go with it.
They aren’t being treated any differently- that’s the point, as it even states in your own article. And since when are all Federal employees rich?
The rich are always treated differently just because of the power and prestige of being rich. That’s the way it is and if you don’t like it, then you need to devalue the prestige of money. But money is what makes capitalism go round, so…
Instead of taking the average salary of Federal employees, maybe you need to look at the mean. I think you will find most Federal employees are far from rich. Still, look at the President for example. The man only makes $569,000 including salary and expense accounts for his job as CEO of 290 MILLION people and gets no perfromance bonus. When adjusted for 2009 dollars, the president makes less today in salary ($400,000 vs. 569,000) then George Washington did. What head of a multinational corporation would work for that kind of salary, let alone that kind of salary without a performance bonus? Um, none.
Senators and Congressmen need to hold 2 residences as a matter of doing their job. They have to have a residence in Washington to be able to perform their duty and they are legally obligated to hold a residence in the state they represent. What senior management of a multinational corporation with the level of responsibility and authority as a Senator or Congressman only makes $174,000 with no performance bonus while having to maintain 2 households?
How are these snakes at the top, both within Congress and the Executive Branch, going to, with a straight face pass laws pursuing their underlings for the same crimes they were excused of.
In the 80′s I had a $287K IRS lean (more than 1/2 penalty/interest), and they terrorized me as a young businessman. Late night visits to my home to inventory furnishings and look for assets with no notice. Threatening to send me to prison should they find any irregularities.
They attached my 12 year old step daughters $80.00 personal account.
When I asked them why me, why not the fat cats, they laughed and said that the court costs and legal bills and time made it a hassle. People like me know we had no choice but to comply in as an expedient manner possible.
Now I hear the average fed is overpaid 30% from the private sector equivalent, and the average salary is $73K, with one of 5 at 100K up.
Obama just authorized the highering of 700-1100 fed agents to locate and fine yard sale, church bizarre and eBay offerings of recalled toys.
Help Mr. Wizard, the libs are coming!
Interesting.
Tell you what Laura I will answer your queastion with a question. Why should the rich be treated ANY differently? You answer me that and you will jhave the answer to your question.
Yeah I tell you why in the article. Maybe you should read it again.
“According to federal tax laws, employees are treated the same as any other taxpayer who doesn’t pay their taxes.”
Why should they be treated any worse than anyone else?