Obama Forgives Tax Cheats... If They Have the Right Stuff

From the April 15, 2009 issue of the Chicago Tribune

The Treasury secretary, who oversees the IRS, didn’t pay all his taxes. Neither did five other top nominees for the Obama administration, or their spouses.Now, as Wednesday’s tax deadline looms, some Americans are wondering why they should comply with the arcane requirements of the Internal Revenue Service when top administration officials failed to do the same.

Even some IRS employees are upset at what they see as a double standard.The most criticized example has been Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who admitted not paying $34,000 in payroll and Social Security taxes, saying his failure to pay was an oversight. Five other nominees disclosed similar tax issues, including one as recently as two weeks ago when Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama’s pick for secretary of health and human services, admitted she didn’t pay $7,040.

“Our members are upset and angry,” said Colleen Kelley, president of the National Treasury Employees Union, referring to concern bubbling up within the IRS over unusually strict rules that can cost agents their jobs if they make a mistake. In some cases, IRS employees have lost jobs for simply filing a late return or failing to report a few hundred dollars of interest income.

In an interview Tuesday, Kelley said the Geithner case underlines the need for a change of the rules governing IRS employees.“My issue is not that I want Geithner or anyone else punished,” Kelley said. “I want there to be a re-examination of the law that holds IRS employees to a separate standard: one in which a simple mistake can cost them their jobs with no right of appeal.”

Editorial comment: That's a union for you. Especially a government union. They don't "want Geithner or anyone else punished" they just want the same consideration for themselves. They could not care less about the the law or, for that matter, the American public.

Robert Schriebman, a California tax lawyer who has testified before Congress, said his clients are seething over the tough treatment they get from the IRS, while some in the president’s Cabinet apparently were able to duck paying their taxes.“Politically powerful people are less likely to get bothered by the IRS,” Schriebman said. “It is more than a question of fairness. Not only is the IRS looking away from confronting influential people, the IRS is getting a lot tougher and nastier toward the little guy.”IRS employees have reported that taxpayers are occasionally citing the Geithner case when they are asked to pay their tax bills. “It’s making the compliance conversation harder,” Kelley said.

Geithner’s $34,000 in unpaid taxes pales in comparison to the more than $128,000 owed by Tom Daschle, Obama’s first choice to run health and human services. But Geithner’s position overseeing the IRS has made his case particularly galling in the public’s mind.

IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman told reporters Monday that there is no discrimination when it comes to tax enforcement.“The American people are pretty smart,” he said. “They understand that people who are nominated for high office are going to be put under a level of scrutiny. They also understand the tax code is incredibly complex.”

End of article.

How can Commissioner Shulman say that with a straight face? Only if, contrary to what he says, he thinks the American people are pretty dumb. Incredible!