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Another Obama Cabinet Official Makes Amends with the IRS
March 31, 2009 7:27 PM
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, President Obama's nominee for to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has amended her 2005, 2006 and 2007 tax returns, the Obama administration disclosed Tuesday, on the even of a major world economic summit in London.
The HHS Secretary-designate asked a CPA to review her taxes before her nomination was officially sent up to the Senate. The CPA found the problems, and Sebelius and her husband wrote a check to the IRS for $7,040 in back taxes and $878 in interest.
The issues were:
* She and her husband could not locate receipts for three charitable over $250, so she re-paid the charitable deduction she had claimed.
* She and her husband misunderstood home mortgage interest deduction laws and claimed the deduction even after she'd sold the home she'd taken out the mortgage for. (She was underwater, having sold the house for less than the amount on her mortgage.)
* She could not locate receipts for some business expenses she'd claimed.
Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont, the Chair of the Senate Finance Committee, expressed support for her nomination nonetheless.
"Congress is going to need a strong partner at the Department of Health and Human Services to achieve comprehensive health reform this year, and we have that partner in Governor Sebelius," said Baucus. "There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Governor Sebelius has the political experience, determination, and bipartisan work ethic to get the job done with Congress this year. She’s the right person for the job and I look forward to hearing from her at the Finance Committee’s hearing on Thursday."
Sibelius follows a slough of other Obama Cabinet Secretaries and would-be nominees who have had tax issues, including Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who was confirmed anyway, and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-SD, the president's first choice to be HHS Secretary, who was not.
-- jpt
March 31, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (62)
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What is it with all the Deadbeat Dems? I dare to think what would happen if we, the "little people" got caught CHEATING on our taxes and then tried to LIE our way out of it. This is getting to be hysterical.....the Obama Cabinet of LIARS, TAX CHEATS, AND OTHER ASSORTED NUTS. HAIL TO THE EMPEROR (until 2012!)
Posted by: Peggy97478 | Apr 1, 2009 11:43:48 PM
All that needs to happen now to fix the economy is for BO to go through every politician for his cabinet.
Once he gets to the end, we'll have a surplus of money. ;-)
If democrats are all about sharing the wealth through taxation, you'd think they would at least lead by example.
Posted by: Phil G | Apr 1, 2009 11:37:03 PM
The real question here is, how many taxpayer dollars are doled out to support H1B contractors contracting with the bailed out banks, the government, and pseudo "small business" companies?
Americans pay more for not-so-real employees on the unaudited books of not-so-real "small businesses" that are "h1b-dependent". Fake workforces as exhibited by companies like Satyam of India and IBM suitor are bilking us all. Regulate the crooks to regain American consumer confidence and end fraud on U.S. taxpayers.
Posted by: Common Senseq | Apr 1, 2009 8:22:16 PM
How is it these people don't use an accountant to prepare their taxes? I shell out $250 to have a professional to prepare my taxes and I am sure I don't make close to what these people make. That's right, they are politicians. it is in their nature to cheat.
Posted by: HobokenJohn | Apr 1, 2009 2:14:37 PM
Another day, yet another crooked, tax-cheating Obama nominee.
Another sortid chapter in life of the "most ehical administration ever."
Posted by: Hope and Change from Crook County, Illinois | Apr 1, 2009 1:49:38 PM
Ok and so?
Posted by: TV | Apr 1, 2009 11:33:09 AM
Sorry, that should have been CBS news.
Posted by: mad | Apr 1, 2009 10:55:57 AM
ABC news:
"She [Sebeleius] also said she mistakenly paid off a home loan that included deductable mortgage interest."
---------------------------------------
I HATE when I do that.
Posted by: mad | Apr 1, 2009 10:44:04 AM
If Democrats would just pay their taxes would not have a budget deficit.
And why aren't these people being penalized or punished for cheating on their taxes?
Posted by: Sally J | Apr 1, 2009 10:24:33 AM
If you people did some proper research and got your news from a real news source you would find that Sebelius sold her house at a loss and continued to pay the balance of the loan that was not covered by the selling price. She mistakenly thought that because this was interest being paid on the balance of a mortgage loan that it was tax deductible.
Posted by: sdube60 | Apr 1, 2009 10:09:01 AM
FAT CHANCE, jb!!
We are toad stools to them. Meant for kicking and stomping on!!
Posted by: American Infidel | Apr 1, 2009 9:50:11 AM
The one item that concerns me is not understanding you can't take a deduction on something that you sold...the rest are understandable.
That being said, I hope every other person that gets audited is treated as forgivingly as the administration officials have been.
Posted by: jb | Apr 1, 2009 8:46:56 AM
WastingtonDC: At least we know that the disloyal Democrat's socialism tax increase bias supports the "truthiness" in government, that our MSM elected Messiah President promised. They support larger and larger taxes, because they do not feel, or understand, or cannot find the correct records to allow their paying taxes. It is odd that the IRS has not referred any of these non payers for criminal prosecution, as they certainly would any Republican who did exactly the same criminal pattern of non payment of taxes.
Posted by: Franklin D. Lomax | Apr 1, 2009 7:01:02 AM
Ok another tax cheat. How many is that now 4 or 5. It looks all the world to me that this administration is full of liars, tax cheats, and lobbyist. Who by the way the president said would not be in his cabinet. So the truth be told Mr Obama and his cabinet is full of cheaters that are defrauding our country. Does that not sound like the same thing AIG and the Banks are doing. Hmmm!
Posted by: Lara | Apr 1, 2009 6:36:54 AM
Amoung the criteria used by Obama to evaluate possible nominees, honesty, integrity and competence don't even make the list. Instead, Loyality to Obama, Loyality to The Party and Ideological Purity are primary.
Posted by: Rasputin3.14 | Apr 1, 2009 6:33:24 AM
This is SO small potatoes. If Sebelius wanted to cheat the IRS, don't you think she would have done a better job of it?
The audit likely cost her more than the back-taxes.
And how could this be part of the vetting process, except to mandate an audit on every candidate (which is what they did)
Does anyone wonder why it's hard to find a perfect person - maybe because there aren't any???
Let's move on to something important.
Posted by: Elcee | Apr 1, 2009 4:37:46 AM
"makes amends"? She downright cheated the government and finally paid her taxes when it became convenient all, to receive a higher position. The Obama administration? The administration of tax cheats and corruption. Now, they are expecting us to pay higher taxes!
Posted by: Mihann | Apr 1, 2009 2:41:59 AM
It's 'slew of', but I like 'slough of', too. It's a clever pun if intentional; if not, it's just plain magical.
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Posted by: kim | Apr 1, 2009 1:05:45 AM
" The undiscovered federal OCS resources currently off limits that could be recovered with today’s sophisticated technology are estimated to be 18 billion barrels of oil..."
So you think there might be a whole 18 billion barrels out there huh? Since the Saudis alone have about 250 billion barrels that they already know about I'm not real impressed.
Posted by: Skip | Apr 1, 2009 12:42:51 AM
While you're busy attacking Joe the Plumber for asking Obama a question...
Let's not lose sight of Obama's answer (which is what the distraction of attacking Joe is really all about).
Obama replied, "And I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
The Obama camp and media minions saw it as a huge gaffe that revealed more about Obama's plans that they wanted made known.
Too bad Obama didn't provide more insight into his plans by adding, "And I think that if there isn't enough wealth, we'll just print up a few trillion more out of thin air and crash the dollar. That will teach those greedy wealth-mongers."
Posted by: marylou | Apr 1, 2009 12:35:29 AM
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