The Hypocrisy Coming Out of Washington

"Say hello to my little friend."


I almost spat out my morning coffee this morning as I perused the Orange County Register and saw the story about how President Obama and the Treasury Department are going after corporations that use overseas countries as tax shelters-thus, paying a lower tax rate than they would in the US. Now Obama and the Treasury Department are going to change the laws to ensure that US corporations "pay their fair share".

Of course, this is just the latest government tactic to take away more money from those that earn it. But what is especially galling is to see Obama's picture with Treasury Secretary Tim (Turbo-Tax) Geithner standing over his right shoulder. This is the same guy who had to cough up $34,000 in delinquent taxes in order to ensure his cabinet post. Now he's going to be the guy charged with rounding up all that "delinquent" tax money.

How do you spell H Y P O C R I S Y ?

Of course, Geithner is not the only Obama aide who has had problem with his/her taxes. Ask Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor, who also has a bit of a conflict of interest since she is a staunch union supporter. The failure to pay taxes also kept lobbyist (sorry, consultant) Tom Daschle from being in Obama's cabinet. But in Obamaland, "do what I say" doesn't quite match up with "what I do". His Secretary of State (Hillary Clinton) is running around the world talking about peace in the Middle East while she and her husband rake in millions from Middle East royalty and oil sheikhs. (Taxes? Silly me. It's a charity.) No conflict there, of course. Besides, everybody knows Hillary will be an honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians, right? Then there is Attorney General Eric Holder, he of the Marc Rich and FALN pardons under Clinton. He is likely going to be tasked with bringing those "war criminals" who water boarded Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to justice. He may even decide to prosecute them for hate crimes since their motive was-gasp- to save American lives.

But I digress. What we witnessed yesterday was the President, flanked by a tax scofflaw (Geithner) talking about how they are going to go after those "evil" corporations for taking advantage of tax laws that were hereto permitted. If President Obama wants to recoup lost revenue, he can start with Geithner and several of those whom he sees every day during his cabinet meetings.