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The Daily Muck
Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said Friday that she owes more than $500,000 in legal fees to her Anchorage-based lawyer Thomas van Flein for work defending her on ten lawsuits, which she did not name. But Palin specified that the lawsuits start with "the politically motivated Troopergate probe," in which Palin was accused of pressuring a state official to fire a state trooper embroiled in a personal dispute with the Palin family. Palin also said that she could not use public funds to pay her lawyer because "to do so could itself violate state law," but she might establish a legal fund to help pay the debt. (Anchorage Daily News)
JP Morgan Chase will spend $138 million to buy two luxury jets and an aircraft hanger, even after receiving $25 billion in TARP funds, ABC News reports. The Gulfstream 650 jets are described by their manufacturer as the "fastest," "widest," and "most comfortable" aircraft ever designed. Though JP Morgan says that no TARP funds will be used, corporate watchdog Nell Minnow called this a "remarkably boneheaded decision" and "completely tone deaf." (ABC News)
The civilian trial of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri, the alleged "enemy combatant" who was held by the Bush administration for five years without charge, will begin today in Peoria, Illinois. Due to the high-profile and controversial nature of the trial, the U.S. District courthouse has heightened security measures and increased law enforcement on site. The security precautions include banning cell phones and laptop computers and setting up overflow seats in a separate room hooked up to a closed circuit television. Al-Marri has been charged as an al-Qaeda operative who came to the United States to help foreign terrorists. (Peoria Journal Star)
A report by the an independent watch group indicated that the IRS significantly decreased the number of audits performed for individuals with incomes exceeding $1 million between 2007 and 2008. The IRS acknowledged that the number of audited individuals in this income bracket dropped 19 percent during that period but the TRAC report said that the correct number could be as much as 36 percent. This auditing decline occurred in the midst of the real estate boom, as the number of individuals who made more than $1 million increased sharply. The agency had previously vowed to crack down on the very wealthy. (Newsday)
Federal investigators react too slowly to whistleblowers reporting improper government activity, a report by the Project on Government Oversight found. Compiling the input from 64 federal federal investigative offices, POGO specifically criticized the accessibility and design of inspector general websites. Telephone services, said POGO, are also insufficiently staffed by college students who must also handle the telephones of private companies. (Washington Post)
Josh
Zachary
Methinks Palin should cozy up to the bar of personal responsibility.
The inconsistencies in her language and the actuality of her behavior are what put her in debt to her attorney, not "frivolous" accusations.
Had she been willing and able to walk her talk, demonstrate the transparency she has so often touted, avoid the suspicious looking behavior that incurred as yet un-named ethics violations, she would not be facing legal defense and a mountain of legal bills.
The audacity of whining about it in public and the sheer effrontery of her thinking that she deserves help from anyone of us to pay her mounting legal bills is extraordinarily offensive to me.
I say suck it up Sarah and take responsibility for your own bills, we the taxpayers are on the hook for bailing out institutions that have brought America to it's knees. Why not show us what responsibility looks like and accept the consequences of your actions?
March 23, 2009 11:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sarah Palin's entire public life is a study in inconsistencies, contradictions and blaming games.
From the "WalMart mom" image that she was trying to project while doning $5,000 Valentino jackets (with others footing the bill) to her complaints about Couric's mistreatment and "tough questions" (like what newspapers she read). Not to mention preaching abstinence while her unwed teenage daughter is six months pregnant and bragging about her role on a gas pipeline that was never built, among many other things.
If she and Jindal are the GOP's rising stars, we're in for a permanent Democratic majority for the next 10 years. It must be so tough for Karl to watch his beloved party self-destruct before his eyes...
March 23, 2009 2:17 PM | Reply | Permalink
Newsday and the TRAC report missed the hey fact -
"I.R.S. to Cut Tax Auditors"
By DAVID CAY JOHNSTON - [NY Times] July 23, 2006
"The federal government is moving to eliminate the jobs of nearly half of the lawyers at the Internal Revenue Service who audit tax returns of some of the wealthiest Americans,"
...
"The administration plans to cut the jobs of 157 of the agency’s 345 estate tax lawyers, plus 17 support personnel, in less than 70 days."
...
"But six I.R.S. estate tax lawyers whose jobs are likely to be eliminated said in interviews that the cuts were just the latest moves behind the scenes at the I.R.S. to shield people with political connections and complex tax-avoidance devices from thorough audits.
Sharyn Phillips, a veteran I.R.S. estate tax lawyer in Manhattan, called the cuts a “back-door way for the Bush administration to achieve what it cannot get from Congress, which is repeal of the estate tax.”
So the IRS needs to hire more Auditors - collect a ton more taxes from the wealthy who were not audited during the bush years.
That should fill up the Treasury pretty fast.
March 23, 2009 1:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
"19 percent drop in the audit rate" from the linked article from TPM.
But if the number of millionaires exploded, the total number of audits could have increased even if the percent audited decreased. So what are the actual numbers of auditors, audits, auditees, and target population size?
Lousy half-actual reporting...
March 23, 2009 7:58 PM | Reply | Permalink