Posted on 07/23/2008 11:13:35 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
It's unlikely U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler curls up on his mother-in-law's sofa, pundits on the Fox News program The O'Reilly Factor said Tuesday night.
Wexler's challenger has accused the six-term congressman of playing a residency shell game, saying Wexler, D-Delray Beach, uses his mother-in-law's address in Delray Beach while flagrantly making his home in a Maryland suburb.
(Excerpt) Read more at palmbeachpost.com ...
Florida ping?
He’s a Dim, so no one cares.
Isn’t it pretty common for Senators and Congressmen to have a residence in the D.C. area and spend most of the year there? I suspect it’s also common for Congressmen to maintain a minimal domicile back home if for no other reason than the expense.
...and precisely how does one “flagrantly” make one’s home anywhere? I suppose he’s been blatantly eating breakfast there every morning...
Colonel, USAFR
I don’t think Wexler could lose his seat unless he is tried and convicted for this.
And that would only happen if he was evading Maryland Income Taxes by pretending to be a Florida resident.
You have to admire a grown man who is still willing to sleep on his mother-in-law’s couch to save on expenses. Those Congressional salaries don’t go as far as they used to.
But even if he was under indictment on tax fraud charges, he could still run and win in his district.
The last time a Republican actually bothered to run against him, Wexler got 73% of the vote.
It’s not his house. It’s his in-laws’.
Wexler is g’damn faker who is lying to the Jews down here about how pro-Israel Obama is going to be. He striving mightily to keep these Jews on the Democrat plantation
It’s OK, he’s a dhimocRAT. Their corruption doesn’t count.
Neat scam. If anything, at best, he’s probably a snow bird. He claims Florida residency to avoid state income taxes and then doesn’t even own a house down there so he can avoid the taxes they have that make up for the lack of a state income tax - high real estate taxes. On top of it all, he got them to vote for him as their representative!
If Wexler is filing a state income tax return from a Florida address rather than the Democratic and therefore high tax Maryland he has committed a violation of law. He may be avoiding taxes and filing a fraudulent tax return.
Of note as well, the Democrat Wexler and pro-public education advocate sends HIS children to private school. “Do as we say.”
Yes, but what Wexler's doing goes far beyond that. The address he claims as his "home" in Florida is actually his in-laws. He has three kids who go to school in Maryland.
So, he's not maintaining a primary home in Florida and an additional home near DC for convenience. He's maintaining a primary residence in Maryland and falsely claiming residence in Florida so he can be elected there.
A Georgia state senator in the Savannah area was disqualified from running for precisely this kind of scheme a year or so ago.
time for Da Nose to face a Committee...justice awaits this scumbag!
Not if he's claiming that Florida is his legal residence, which is usually determined by voter registration. If memory serves, Bush senior maintained Texas citizenship by claiming a hotel suite as his home of residence, and Cheney was able to magically re-establish his Wyoming home of record the day after he was selected as vice-president. This may be a matter of some discomfort with his constituency, but it isn't a legal problem.
At least Wexler was slick enough not to run afoul of Maryland’s tax laws by claiming the family house there as his primary residence. See link: https://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/tax/ViewDetail.asp?RID=3078987
I dont think you can claim to be a Florida resident simply by registering to vote there. If you could, half the country would register to vote in FL to avoid paying state income taxes.
They have some kind of test for who is a resident and who isn’t. IIRC one of the questions is where you return to when you come home from a trip. Obviously, Wexler’s answer is his home in Potomac, not his MIL’s place in FL.
I would guess that he does not meet the residency requirement. If so, I would also expect nothing to be done about it.
It's basically that simple. My wife's uncle has a residence in Ohio where he spends 9 months out of the year, and a house in Florida where he spends 3. His Florida house is where he's registered to vote, so that is considered his legal residence and he doesn't pay Ohio income tax.
I would guess that he does not meet the residency requirement. If so, I would also expect nothing to be done about it.
I would guess you're wrong. Wexler knows the law, he wouldn't be that stupid.
Well your wife’s uncle is breaking the law. You have to spend at least 183 days in Florida to be considered a resident and not pay income tax in your “former” home state. If Wexler doesn’t actually reside in that house or within the district when he is not in Maryland, then he is not within any definition of the word a resident of DelRay. Since it appears that he doesn’t live or reside there then he may be construed as a full time resident of Maryland. If when congress is out of session he stays at his inlaws house, then he is a resident. But that is a big but. Knowing what a sleaze bucket he is, he probably only stays in Florida when he has business there or is campaigning.
If I were you, I would tell your uncle to hire a good tax lawyer in Ohio, because he’s gonna need it.
There is a big difference between the Wexler situation and the scenario you describe. Your uncle in law actually has a home in FL. He actually lives there part of the year. I know there is a provision in the FL law where you can even move out of the state but remain a resident by filing a declaration that you intend to return at some point in the future. We have no reason to believe Wexler has done that. If he has I would think the question of residency closed, although his constituents may be offended by what he is doing.
Does your uncle in law know what the Ohio authorities would say about his arrangement? For ex, if he earns all of his income in OH (like a schoolteacher) and spends his nonworking months in FL, I am not sure they would agree that he is not an OH resident. But no one is going to make it an issue so you could say the point is moot.
Hard to see how he could reside in that house when Congress is out of session. It’s an over 55 community, and Wexler has three kids. He’d have to be in FL only for very short periods of time because children can’t be there for very long.
Nice catch.
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