Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

Willie got hammered by a crooked manager. *

Ah, yes...the typical defense of the left - "It's someone else's fault!"

Well, in Willie's case, his manager made the Bobby Orr/Alan Eagleson
relationship look downright sweet and innocent. Willie's manager
absconded to south america with all his bucks when it came out that
he'd not been paying Willie's taxes.
Frank Reid

Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

On Tue, 3 Feb 2009 19:09:59 -0800 (PST), Frank Reid © 2008
wrote:

Willie got hammered by a crooked manager. *

Ah, yes...the typical defense of the left - "It's someone else's fault!"

Well, in Willie's case, his manager made the Bobby Orr/Alan Eagleson
relationship look downright sweet and innocent. Willie's manager
absconded to south america

Oh, sure...blame it on the banana republicans...

with all his bucks when it came out that he'd not been paying Willie's taxes.

And if Willie had been acting like a responsible adult, he would have had at
least an idea that something wasn't, um, kosher...

Seriously, I like Willie Nelson, but at the end of the day, he got himself into
the mess, and I'd bet big that he'd tell you the same thing. And to his credit,
he got himself out of it. The whole idea that supposedly responsible people
such as Geithner, Daschle, etc., etc., have folks making excuses for them (and
are making excuses themselves) on stuff like taxes and the like is ridiculous
and IMO, a large part of the problem.

TC,
R

Frank Reid

Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

wrote in message
...
Right - "it's someone else's fault!"

HTH,
R
...."It's a vast right-wing conspiracy..."

"It's the Liberal media"
Tom

Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

On Wed, 04 Feb 2009 07:38:53 -0600, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

wrote:

... The whole idea that supposedly responsible people
such as Geithner, Daschle, etc., etc., have folks making excuses for them (and
are making excuses themselves) on stuff like taxes and the like is ridiculous
and IMO, a large part of the problem.

The taxes don't bother me much. The tax code *is* complicated
and byzantine. Where is the line between, "borrow my car when
you're in town" and "this is salary, here's a W-2, don't forget
to change the oil" ?

Er, nope. Hindery wasn't just a friend, he was a million-dollar-a-year
employer. If it had been merely a friend who "loaned" him the limo to take his
wife to a yearly anniversary dinner and a coupla-three Broadway shows, it would
have been a non-taxable event.

The bigger problem is that Daschle earned
$5 million influence peddling two days after being ousted from
the Senate. And he wasn't even a lobbyist.

Um, well, apparently he wasn't _registered_ as one...OTOH, his wife is...

I don't know how to fix that "problem".

Well, you could write a letter to yer boy and tell him to quit letting his mouth
write checks his ass can't cover...hell, he promised no lobbyists, signed
something, and then, immediately started doing "exceptions"...

I think Daschle is eminently qualified to be health czar, probably one of the most
qualified people in the country.

And you say this because...?

In some ways lobbyists get a bad rap. The Sierra Club hires a lobbyist and I hope they hire
a good one and pay whatever a good one costs. What is lobbying
other than having a voice ?

Ah. You obviously have no idea whatsoever about lobbying or how the system
works.

The problem as I see it is Republican lobbyists.

Ah. You REALLY have no idea whatsoever how things work - trust me or don't, but
there ain't no such thing as a "Republican lobbyist"...at least, not one getting
into a limo...well, unless they are driving it to make ends meet...

We ought to allow lobbying only for liberals and not fat cat Republicans. That'll fix it. ;-)

Well, I've no doubt that the limo divisions of the US automakers would
appreciate it...

HTH,
R

Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

On Wed, 04 Feb 2009 10:08:21 -0600, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
The taxes don't bother me much. The tax code *is* complicated
and byzantine. Where is the line between, "borrow my car when
you're in town" and "this is salary, here's a W-2, don't forget
to change the oil" ?

Er, nope. Hindery wasn't just a friend, he was a million-dollar-a-year
employer. If it had been merely a friend who "loaned" him the limo to take his
wife to a yearly anniversary dinner and a coupla-three Broadway shows, it would
have been a non-taxable event.

The line between "loan of a car" and "taxable income" is murky.

In this case, no, it isn't. Just like airline miles, etc., it's considered part
of taxable compensation. And again, this wasn't the occasional "loan of a car,"
it was the regular use of an employer-provided limo.

I doubt it would have ever come up if Daschle hadn't caught it
on his own and reported it to the IRS.

From what I've heard, he didn't "(catch) it on his own and (report) it to the
IRS," he got caught by "friendly forces" and was forced to address it.

I don't know how to fix that "problem".

Well, you could write a letter to yer boy and tell him to quit letting his mouth
write checks his ass can't cover...hell, he promised no lobbyists, signed
something, and then, immediately started doing "exceptions"...

That's what I'm talking about. It's easy enough to say during a
campaign but after the campaign you want experienced people.

Like John McCain...?

The
chances of good, experienced people leaving $5 mill on the table
between stints of government "service" is somewhere between Splork
and VangMu.

Shades of "Say hello to my leet-le friend..."

I think Daschle is eminently qualified to be health czar, probably one of the most
qualified people in the country.

And you say this because...?

Because it's true. Duh.

Uh, yeah...care to cite a reason or three?

In some ways lobbyists get a bad rap. The Sierra Club hires a lobbyist and I hope they hire
a good one and pay whatever a good one costs. What is lobbying
other than having a voice ?

Ah. You obviously have no idea whatsoever about lobbying or how the system
works.

Yeah, yeah, I know. The only people who have a clue are yourself
and your fellows of the tinfoil hood. But I'm talking about lobbying
on this planet, not your home planet. Lobbying in its essence is
petitioning government

Yeah, and knocking over a liquor store is in its essence, um, a redistribution
of wealth...

and you can't make that illegal without changing the constitution.

Again, proving that you have no concept of what "lobbying" is...

HTH,
R

Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

Ken Fortenberry wrote:

The line between "loan of a car" and "taxable income" is murky.
I doubt it would have ever come up if Daschle hadn't caught it
on his own and reported it to the IRS.

I'm glad Daschle withdrew. I think he did it gracefully and out of a
sincere desire to avoid political trouble for Obama.

Howard Dean would be a natural choice for HHS if only he and Rahm
Emanuel didn't hate each other.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Willie and Wesley and the boys...
 

rw wrote:
Ken Fortenberry wrote:
The line between "loan of a car" and "taxable income" is murky.
I doubt it would have ever come up if Daschle hadn't caught it
on his own and reported it to the IRS.

I'm glad Daschle withdrew. I think he did it gracefully and out of a
sincere desire to avoid political trouble for Obama.

I agree that he made a graceful exit and that he really didn't have
a choice. But I think he was the best guy for that job and I wish
the Senate would have confirmed him by now instead of letting this
thing dominate the news and the late show comics for the next two
or three weeks.

Howard Dean would be a natural choice for HHS if only he and Rahm
Emanuel didn't hate each other.

The two names most often mentioned are Donna Shalala and Kathleen
Sebelius. He could pick both making one HHS Secy and the other
the White House Health Care adviser.

--
Ken Fortenberry