The Rangel Rule...
There seems to be a big problem in Washington, these days. It's not a lack of lobbyists, Code Pink protesters, or Streetwalkers (That's three kinds of whores in one sentence!).If those things were in short supply in D.C., perhaps our elected officials would get something done properly (entirely by accident, I assure you). Oh no, Washington DC., Sodom-On-The-Potomac, shall never want for these things, since those who have been elected always draw such creatures as surely as a pile of shit shall draw flies. The Cardinal Rule of Human Relations: uninteresting, stupid people don't get any attention -- but really super-uninteresting, stupid people with the ability to hijack billions of tax dollars suddenly become the sexiest people. Ever.

Anyway, back to that problem I was about to complain about.

It seems that democrats, and their hangers-on, have problems paying taxes. See: Rangel, Daschle, Geitner. It also turns out that they have problems paying for a lot of things, as well. Like parking tickets (Rangel), or for chauffeurs and limousines provided by a 'very good friend' (Daschle). Even when informed by accountants, given written instructions on what to do, and even given a separate check to cover the expense (Geitner), these guys, for whatever reason, can't seem to stick a crowbar in their wallets and do what Joe Biden called 'your patriotic duty' (i.e. pay your taxes).

And what's amazing is the amounts of taxes owed! Rangel owed 75-grand, Daschle over 140,000 large, Geitner, a mere pittance, at 40k. These guys must be very rich, indeed. They seem to owe more in taxes than some people earn as a pre-tax salary. I thought it was axiomatic in democratic circles that rich people were evil parasites, sucking the lifeblood from 'the underprivileged' whose 'fair share had been 'stolen' by those with enormous wallets. Certainly, no one who has been financially fortunate could ever have come by that sort of money honestly. That's on Page 1 of the democratic (small 'd' intentional) party handbook. Why, the entire point of the so-called progressive tax system was to ensure that the rich paid their fair share. I think these guys would qualify as 'rich', and it's apparent they haven't paid their 'fair share'.

Of course, if you have a 'D" next to your name and are either the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, responsible for writing the tax laws of this nation, or you are to be named to some important post (like, you know, being the guy who will run the freakin' IRS!) by the Savior of the Universe in Mortal Form. Then there is no criminality, no hypocrisy, no act of sheer audacity that can't be forgiven. In this case, you can just pay what you owe -- quietly, if you can -- and then the little people can just ignore the screaming hypocrisy. That's right...go back to watching Oprah and American Idol...good peasant...good...nothing to see here.

Except the Peasants actually noticed this time. Ooops.

Not only did these three men not pay their taxes, like the rest of us must (in fact, most of us have our taxes taken directly from our paychecks so that that we can't make the kinds of 'mistakes' these guys do), they then, mystically, have avoided the payment of interest and other penalties that you just absolutely know they would hit you and your neighbors with. Not a peep about interest and penalties, not a mention of possible criminal proceedings, no garnishing of wages or freezing of accounts. The dreaded Audit Beast was apparently put back in it's cage and given a sedative.

The IRS would have made life an unmitigated hell for the average person who did what these guys did, and very often does for a lot less money.

The people who scolded GM executives for flying in private jets to attend a meeting Congress itself told them to come to, while they looked the other way as $350 billion dollars simply vanished into the darkest recesses of the banking system, have a bigger issue that they'd better solve before any other;

They are sorely, incredibly, painfully out of touch with the real world. The next time one of them says 'for the American people' or 'working families' someone should step out of the crowd with a 2-by-4 and whack them right across the forehead. These people don't know jack shit about working families or the American people.

Neither working families nor the vast majority of the American people could get away with "I made a mistake on my taxes" when they've been helping to write the goddamned tax code for a quarter of a century. Working families don't have friends who lend them limousines and chauffeurs, while they collect a $83,000-a-month paycheck from him as well, or have their employer provide them with a check to pay their taxes separate from their salary. These people have a credibility gap that's wider than the gap between Nancy Pelosi's ears, deeper than the black pit of Henry Waxman's nostrils, more hazardous than the open ground between Chuck Schumer and a TV camera.

Our political class, and their satellites, cannot be trusted. They make up the rules as they go along, and then alter them as they see fit or are required to for political purposes. They do not obey the laws they pass, and often, exempt themselves from them. They feast at the public trough, all the while taking backdoor paychecks-by-other-euphemism from private industry, citizen's groups, labor unions, those seeking their favor in terms of government contracts or legislation, and even each other.

A Congressman from Texas is about to submit a bill in the House of Representatives this week (assuming Nancy Pelosi lets him, since alas, he's a Republican) that would allow any American who owes taxes this April 15th to simply write "Rangel Rule" on the bottom of his/her tax form, and thus, claim the same privilege enjoyed by Rep. Rangel so that they don't have their life turned upside down by the IRS. I hope he succeeds.

One of the founding ideals of the American Experiment is that all people, regardless of wealth, position, race, religion, and especially political affiliation, are considered equal in the eyes of the law, and that no matter what that law will be equally and fairly enforced. Apparently, it's not. We've known it for a very long time, but didn't want to admit it. Now it can no longer be hidden or ignored, and seems all the more disgusting when people in this country are losing jobs; robbed by their businessmen on the one hand, cheated by their political leaders on the other. We have no one to blame but ourselves as shareholders and voters.

These are the people to whom we're about to entrust the spending of one trillion dollars. It's a fucking disgrace.

Update: More on this from American Thinker here and here. Now, the woman who was supposed to the Chief Performance Officer (some sort of super-efficiency guru) has had to bow out here. Professor Hanson agrees with me.