I’ve been in one meeting after another all day, and need to run now, so I won’t be doing a Virtual Front Page today.
But as compensation, here’s an Ariail cartoon that alert reader Ralph Hightower brought to my attention.
Enjoy.
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“The Accountant Has No Cred!”
Cartoons exaggerate and that is fine.
This one misleads, and that is not.
Perhaps someday you and Arial will be penurious, Brad, and find what it is like to owe penalty and interest when your best intentions fail to materialize in timely fashion.
Late payment of taxes with interest and penalty is not a crime unless fraud was involved, and absolutely no one has alleged fraud in Nikki’s case.
Now, consider members of Congress, who are even lawyers in some cases, and do not even file tax their returns on time — that, though much, much more egregious than what the Haley’s did, still may not rise to the level of criminal behavior under our U.S. tax code.
Good cartoon; too bad Arial fell for all the hype he has been hearing from deceptive partisans.
Speaking of Haley’s exposed assets, I’d like to urge every one of Brad’s conservative readers to send every dime they can scrape up to Delaware’s Christine O’Donnell, another of Palin’s anointed disciples. She really needs your income. Do the Christian thing and put your money where your mouth is.
I’m wondering if the original said “the accountant has no clothes!” and he had to modify it.
Not sending employee withholding taxes gets one in deep trouble. The worse thing is that it hurts the employees when they file their taxes on time and the IRS or SC DOR says we don’t have your withheld taxes.
That is fraud. If it had been the IRS instead of SC DOR, I think more than tax liens would have happened.
There is no deception on Ariail’s part. Nikki Haley’s problems with filing personal and corporate taxes are well known now that it’s been in the news media.
Late payment of taxes with interest and penalty is not a crime unless fraud was involved, and absolutely no one has alleged fraud in Nikki’s case.
Now, consider members of Congress, who are even lawyers in some cases, and do not even file tax their returns on time — that, though much, much more egregious than what the Haley’s did, still may not rise to the level of criminal behavior under our U.S. tax code.
-Juan
She withheld money from employees and didn’t pass that along to the tax folks. That is pretty much fraud.
Typical conservative reaction, when things get tough just change the subject and start talking about other folks mis-behavior. Your comment about “members of congress” is completely irrelevant to Ms. Haley’s apparent fraud issue.
Yeah, I’m still kinda puzzling over why Juan thinks this “misleads.”
This easily-understood metaphor perfectly expresses what is actually happening. The point it makes is dead-on, and in no way off the mark.
Juan
The cartoon did not state or imply that Haley committed a crime. It makes the point that these tax problems hurt her credibility as an accountant. And they should hurt her credibility. That is the point the cartoon made here. And it is made rather plainly so that to say it is “misleading” is absurd.
And I believe it is also absurd to say that the failure to remit these taxes amounts to “fraud”. That is unless bud and Ralph Hightower have some actual knowledge of this company’s willful or deliberate attempt to evade paying taxes by not remitting them.
Also Ralph should rest easy. The employees are not liable for the withheld taxes their employer did not remit. I’d like to know where he got that from.
Don’t hand me that crap about going after tax frauds by the state or feds.
Know personally of a business owner who purposely, with forethought and intent, did not pay taxes for any employees for several years. The IRS and state tax agencies knew about it and DID NOTHING! It was not a small amount of money either. Well into six figures.
Instead of prosecution, accounts were settled for a few cents on the dollar, he walked away clean. Now, he is back in business, probably doing the same thing all over again.
So, who is the cheating tax fraud here? Haley, who did pay her taxes plus a fine, or the employer who NEVER paid his taxes, settled for a few cents on the dollar and therefore cheated the state and feds out of much needed revenue? Not including the grief he created for employees filing for SS and tax returns.
This is a common scenario for tax cheats. I may not agree with Haley’s late filing and paying a fine but at least she paid. The “fraud” would be if she totally avoided payment by deception and outright criminal behavior.
If you want to go after her, do so on her lack of a record or substance. There is a lot to work with on that level.
Even if none of this rises to the level of criminal behavior it’s still pretty tawdry in my book. How can she expect to gain my respect as a taxpayer who diligently files on time when she seems to have such a problem with it. Crime? Probably not. Disrespectful of our system? Absolutely, and definitely should be a campaign issue.
@David– “That is unless bud and Ralph Hightower have some actual knowledge of this company’s willful or deliberate attempt to evade paying taxes by not remitting them.”
So you’re suggesting she was negligent about remitting the withheld taxes? This makes her better qualified?
She’s the one who has been trumpeting her fabulous business experience and how it qualifies her so well to run our state. As Juan’s much-hated lawyers would say (nice to know he also hates cartoonists), she opened the door to criticism by doing so!
Kathryn,
All I was suggesting was that based on what has been reported I don’t think one can say she is guilty of fraud — which should absolutely disqualify her from holding political office in this state — and accusing her of such is way over the top.
I think I have been clear on my position on this matter. The Haleys’ and Nikki Haley’s family’s business’s tax problems hurt her credibility in touting her business skills as a qualification for office. I would encourage anyone who would take Haley’s accounting profession as a reason to vote for her to consider these tax problems when it comes to how great of an asset her business skills actually are. At the same time I am not willing to take these tax issues alone and judge her entire career as an accountant of which I know nothing else about. I don’t know what kind of businessperson she is.
I think I have somewhat of an idea of what kind of governor she’d be though. It’s not one I’m excited about. That is all. I’m not sure why my position is so objectionable.
@bud,
There is a difference between criminal, your accusation, and being tawdry.
Another question. Is it being disrespectful of our system if while driving on the highway to exceed the speed limit by a couple of mph? i.e., I-20 or I-77, speed limit is 70 for the most part. Yet, driving the speed limit is ignored by everyone, including state employees, judges, elected officials, and the average citizen. While this may not reach the level of taxes, it most certainly is a reflection on whether we “respect the system” or not. Another example is slowing down in a school zone to 15 to 25 mph. Everyone pays attention to the speed limit except for an occasional jerk. Both present a danger, yet one is obeyed and the other is not. Both have penalties if enforced. ??
@Burl,
In return for your kind request for the following plea – “..I’d like to urge every one of Brad’s conservative readers to send every dime they can scrape up to Delaware’s Christine O’Donnell, another of Palin’s anointed disciples. She really needs your income. Do the Christian thing and put your money where your mouth is…”
I would like to ask every one of Brad’s liberal readers to do the same for Alvin Greene who is running against the “evil” Jim DeMint. Do the Christian thing or does Alvin not deserve the same consideration? After all, he is as much a fringe candidate as Christine O’Donnell is.
If you will send a $50 contribution to Alvin, I will do the same for Christine. Fair enough? And, will email a copy of the check to Brad for verification.
Now, put your money where your mouth is.
Oops, this comment was posted in error under the McConnell story. My bad…
A no-bid contract awarded to a campaign contributor, misleading statements (if not downright little white lies) about who was paying the mayor’s political operatives,um, “temporary” staff since April, and an obscure “consulting” contract w/ a sheriff who has an affinity for grandstanding (think Michael Phelps incident) not to mention already being paid (are we really gonna pay him twice?) by the taxpayers to protect the citizens of Cola & Rich Co. My new and improved City Govt is off to a fine start.
Me thinks this cartoon could also apply to them. Mr Benjamin would be the emperor w/ Wukela & Johnson as his train bearers. City Council and Steve Gantt would be cheering from the sidewalk.
Bart, you’re behind the curve here. We SC progressives are mostly voting for Tom Clements. And he’s a fringe candidate only if you’re not bothered by news items like 1 in 7 Americans in poverty, income disparity at levels unseen since the 1910’s and 1920’s, and indications that the much vaunted socio-economic mobility of the US is sort of a myth, with less class “fluidity” than places like Denmark or Australia or…gasp…Canada. If that all seems hunky-dory and if you’re a millionaire, by all means Jim DeMint is your guy.
@ Phillip,
I known about the Green Party candidate Tom Clements for a long time and progressives will be supporting him. Nothing new there. My friend at Seeding Spartanburg has been singing his praises for a long time.
However, my point was not about Clements but Greene and O’Donnell. Apparently, you failed to understand my point. Greene is the official Democrat candidate as O’Donnell is the official Republican candidate. How did you equate anything I posted with calling Clements a fringe candidate?
Point taken, Bart, I agree you did not call Clements a fringe candidate. As for Greene, he’s truly “beyond the fringe.”
Oh, but Bart, calling Greene the “official Democratic candidate” and O’Donnell the “official Republican” one is misleading, false equivalency. That’s true only in a technical sense. Nobody knew anything about Greene when he ran because he’d never opened his mouth. (He did after the primary). The Democratic party machinery never made the slightest attempt to get behind his candidacy, even trying to overturn it. O’Donnell campaigned vigorously, presumably most people voting for her knew her positions, and the Republican establishment, though initially taken aback by her win, was quickly browbeaten by its angry base into putting at least some support behind her in the general election. When the bully Karl Rove gets bullied himself into issuing mea culpas for daring to say something negative about a TPer, you know there’s a powerful force at work in the land.
Phillip, apparently, what you are trying to impart is the fact that the Democrat party in SC is asleep at the wheel when it comes to vetting their candidates. The fact that Greene was on the primary ballot was not a surprise. And, if you are trying to use the excuse that he never opened his mouth, how do you explain his victory in the primary?
If the ballot was so confusing so it misled the majority of voters to “pull the lever” for Greene, then maybe you need to consider the fact that Democrats in Greene’s district are basically “stupid”. How else can you explain his victory?
No, there is no false equivalency. Greene is “the” official Democrat candidate. Technical truth is still the truth no matter how you try to reason it away.
@ Bart– Please use the proper name: it’s “DemocratIC Party.” I’m sure you do not wish to offend or seem out of touch.