U.S. Sen. John Edwards, an N.C. Democrat and presidential candidate, paid $11,000 in Washington, D.C., property taxes Thursday -- four months late and after inquiries from a newspaper.
Edwards, a multimillionaire former trial lawyer, and his wife, Elizabeth, also have been tardy paying property taxes on their house and cars in Raleigh more than 30 times over the past decade, including eight times in which they had to pay interest.
He also has paid two late bills and interest since 1989 on his property and house on Figure Eight Island, an exclusive, private island off of Wrightsville Beach.
In the case of the Washington house, the Edwardses bought a four-story home in the Georgetown area of Washington last year for nearly $4 million and planned to renovate it. Recently they said they plan to stay in the house they're renting in northwest Washington and are considering selling the Georgetown house. The $11,092 tax bill on it was due March 31 but wasn't paid until a Washington Times reporter asked about it earlier this week.
"The Edwardses never received a bill from the D.C. city government," Jennifer Palmieri, Edwards's campaign spokeswoman, said Thursday. "As soon as they got a copy of it, they paid it. The check was delivered today. He's happy to pay his share."
D.C.'s tax office likely got confused by Edwards' multiple housing deals, according to Tony Bullock, spokesman for Washington Mayor Anthony Williams.
"(Edwards) sold his house in Woodley Park, bought a house in Georgetown and moved into a third house he was renting," Bullock said. "More than likely what happened here is that the tax bill got lost in the swirl of those movements. Our tax office is pretty good but we can't guarantee that we sent the tax bill to the right address. Clearly Senator Edwards had every intention of paying his bill."
Republicans quickly contrasted Edwards' late tax payments with his campaign rhetoric about exhibiting responsibility, not creating tax breaks for the wealthy and serving as a champion for "regular people."
"Senator, those `regular people' that you claim so nobly to be running to represent pay their taxes," said Linda Daves of Charlotte, interim state GOP chair. "The hypocrisy of your words versus your actions is simply overwhelming."
The late tax payments in Raleigh, in Wake County, were on the Edwards' house in the Country Club neighborhood and several cars over the years. N.C. counties allow a grace period of a month after car taxes are due before charging interest on delinquent payments.
Most of the payments arrived a few days beyond the grace period, but the image of a millionaire paying his taxes late could be politically problematic for Edwards. He boasts of a working class empathy drawn from his mill town roots in Robbins, N.C., and regularly bashes President Bush for catering to the rich.
"We need to make sure," Edwards said in the text for a speech last November to the Fortune Global Forum, "that businesses and wealthy investors are held to the same standard as ordinary Americans when it comes to following our tax laws."
Remarkably nasty of the Observer (useless fishwrapper!) to print this quote. It almost makes Edwards sound like an in-your-face hypocrite!
And I don't think we're talking about "carelessness" here with their tax bills - I think they're hoping that if they don't pay, the authorities just won't bother to collect.