Posted on 08/22/2009 9:52:50 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
Washington, D.C. (AHN) - The Senate Finance Committee on Monday revealed that President Barack Obama's nominee for U.S. Trade Representative, Ron Kirk, had failed to pay $10,000 in taxes over the span of three years beginning in 2005. The panel report comes after several other nominees faced controversy over tax issues.
Kirk, a former Dallas mayor, failed to report as income $37,750 in honoraria collected for 16 speaking engagements at Austin College, his alma mater, for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. He also deducted NBA Mavericks tickets worth $17,382 as entertainment expenses in 2006, 2006 and 2007, but has substantiated only $9,900 of the expenses.
The Senate Finance panel said Kirk had agreed to pay approximately $9,975 for the issues in question, following additional information submitted by the former mayor and a meeting with committee members on Feb. 19.
The panel holds a hearing on Kirk's nomination next Monday.
Kirk is the fifth Obama nominee to face tax problems.
Two nominees of President Barack Obama, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle and Nancy Killefer, pulled themselves out of consideration in February due to tax issues. Treasury Sec. Tim Geithner had to overcome a controversy about back taxes before he was confirmed, while Labor Secretary Hilda Solis faced concerns about her husband's payment of tax liens.
Nevertheless, Finance Committee chair Sen. Max Baucus (D?MT) issued a statement on Monday making clear his support for Kirk.
"Mayor Kirk is the right person for this job and I will work to move his nomination quickly. I am confident he can successfully restore the confidence of Congress and the American people in a balanced international trade agenda," said Baucus. "I look forward to his testimony before the Finance Committee next week."
Why are they making a big deal out of this? Haven’t they figured out yet that is a requirement of an obie nomination?
This is no surprise at all...leftists believe that everyone should pay taxes for their programs but themselves.
I'm surprised that obama was willing to nominate someone who is behind by so little. He usually prefers bigger cheats.
Does anyone on Capital Hill pay taxes?
They should have been thinking bigger to be qualified for an 0bama Chicagoland type job.
This is a very old story,
To be fair, he donated this "income" right back to the college, and did not realize he still had to report it as income.
I don't know if ~$2,000 is Austin College's standard honoraria or not.
Not if they have a (D) after their name...
Obama sure seems to make sure all the “right” people get the sugar-plum jobs...of course they are all the “most qualified”. LOL, it just doesn’t get more obvious than this.
Is dishonesty one of the qualifications for a person to be appointed by Obama?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.