Richard Nixon at Brave New Films

Will tax evasion disqualify Sarah Palin from Constitutional Office?

2008-10-04T13:08:38Z

Item from Unbossed.com (hat tip to Buzzflash):

In an overview of Sarah Palin's tax returns for 2006 and 2007, which she has finally released, the Associated Press reports that Palin neglected to pay the taxes due on $17,000 she received in per diem payments as Governor of Alaska. A McCain campaign official claims, falsely, that Palin owed no taxes on those payments.
Sarah Palin makes $125,000 a year as Alaska governor. Plus, since she took the job in December 2006, she hasn't paid taxes on the more than $17,000 she received in controversial per diem payments for working out of the family's lakeside home in Wasilla...
Regarding the per diem dispute, [McCain-Palin spokeswoman Maria] Comella said Juneau is the governor's home base and therefore whenever she works elsewhere, she is entitled to charge the state. Comella contended the per diem payments are not taxable.
[Former IRS commissioner Sheldon] Cohen said it was fine for the state of Alaska to determine it was okay to reimburse Palin to work out of her home, but the state's decision didn't mean those benefits were not taxable by the federal government. "One has nothing to do with the other," said Cohen.
It's very clear that taxes were due on these per diems. This is tax evasion by Sarah Palin, pure and simple. It doesn't quite rise to the level of Richard Nixon's utter failure to pay any taxes for a few years while he was president. But what a standard to be flirting with.
Palin's per diems are themselves controversial. She billed the state of Alaska nearly $17,000 for 312 nights she spent at her house in Wasilla. Because the governor has a mansion in Juneau and is supposed to reside and work there (though she is in fact absent far more than she's present in the capital), she may be permitted technically under state regulations to claim a per diem for lodging while she's staying at her own home. But it looks pretty cynical to claim to be a reformer while seeking payments for living at home. That's particularly true since Palin also billed the state to fly her husband and children around the state, to the tune of more than $43,000. Once Palin brought one of her daughters with her at great expense to a Women and Leadership conference in New York City, where they stayed in an extremely luxurious hotel.
Asked Monday about the official policy on charging for children's travel expenses, [Alaska state finance director Kim] Garnero said: "We cover the expenses of anyone who's conducting state business. I can't imagine kids could be doing that."
But [Palin's spokeswoman Sharon] Leighow said many of the hundreds of invitations Palin receives include requests for her to bring her family, placing the definition of "state business" with the party extending the invitation.
The revelations about her per diems suggest that Palin plays fast and loose with rules in order to enrich herself. The same impression is given by the AP's analysis of Palin's tax returns. She and her husband have managed to take so many deductions, some seemingly dubious, that they've avoided paying taxes on much of their income.
For the 2007 tax year, Todd Palin's self-employment brought him $66,893 in gross receipts - $49,893 from fishing and $17,000 from snowmachine racing. But, the returns show, he claimed so many deductions that he reported only $15,513 net profit from the fishing operation and claimed a $9,639 loss from his racing, leaving him with an overall net income of only $5,874.
Those deductions enabled the Palins, who have four dependent children, to enjoy a 15 percent tax rate for 2007 and a rate of less than 10 percent for 2006.
This family, with assets worth between about 1 and 2 million dollars, is not struggling just to get by. Instead, it's working to figure out every angle it can exploit.
I have to say I've been awaiting the day when Palin's tax returns were released, expecting that it would turn out that she'd neglected to pay taxes on her controversial per diems. She did not fail to disappoint.

To use that tried-and-true(?!) GOP meme in seeking President Clinton's impeachment, "So where's the outrage?"

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THE MCCAIN NIXON BUSH TANGO

2008-11-22T12:52:43Z

Would you buy a used car from this man?
Same lemons the last guys were selling too.

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Authors@Google: Daniel Ellsberg

2008-10-22T18:49:46Z

Daniel Ellsberg visits Google's Mountain View, CA headquarters to discuss his book "Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers." This event took place on August 22, 2008, as part of the Authors@Google series.

Daniel Ellsberg is a former American military analyst employed by the RAND Corporation who precipitated a national political controversy in 1971 when he released the Pentagon Papers, a top-secret Pentagon study of government decision-making about the Vietnam War, to The New York Times and other newspapers.

Richard Nixon made attempts to prevent anymore extracts from the Pentagon Papers being published. The Supreme Court ruled against Nixon. Ellsberg's trial, on twelve felony counts posing a possible sentence of 115 years, was dismissed in 1973 on grounds of governmental misconduct against him, which led to the convictions of several White House aides and figured in the impeachment proceedings against President Richard Nixon.

Since the end of the Vietnam War he has been a lecturer, writer and activist on the dangers of the nuclear era and unlawful interventions. In 2002 he published Secrets.

Link to Ellsberg's official site: www.ellsberg.net

This event took place on August 22, 2008, as a part of the Authors@Google series.

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Re: Nixon "I'm not a crook" press conference

2008-10-29T03:30:53Z

Video Cam Direct Upload

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Rep. Waxman on EPA Docs: We Haven't Seen this Since Nixon

2008-10-27T09:30:32Z

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, June 20, 2008

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Scott McClellan's Book Reminds Dick Cheney of Watergate

2008-10-31T03:29:54Z

At the National Press Club today, Monday, June 2nd, 2008, Dick Cheney couldn't help but mention Watergate when asked about Scott McClellan's book.

Something on your mind, Dick?

Help make a bed for Dick to sleep in at www.michaelmoore.com

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CNN Nudges Clinton Out the Door Ever So Gently

2008-10-15T09:29:54Z

Segment on CNN's Situation Room, May 7, 2008

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Experience Counts!

2008-02-20T01:28:24Z

Richard Nixon Thought Fred Thompson Was "As Dumb As Hell"

2008-10-21T21:30:20Z

We might have posted this before--it seems familiar--but I don't recall. Yet, it's worth mentioning again.

And it's fun agreeing with Nixon for once.

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CNN YouTube Debate Question From The Ghost Of Richard Nixon

2008-03-22T21:54:45Z

Bwa haha!!

USA Today/Gallup Poll: Bush Officially Worst President Ever

2008-10-22T15:30:50Z

While Bush has been incapable of besting Osama bin Laden (assuming he even cares about finding one of the biggest mass murderers in American history), a new poll by USA Today/Gallup reports that Bush has managed to score a victory against another (though already deceased) villain: Richard Nixon. That’s right, Bush is officially the worst, most unpopular president EVER:

Bush reached an unwelcome record. By 64%-31%, Americans disapprove of the job he is doing. For the first time in the history of the Gallup Poll, 50% say they "strongly disapprove" of the president. Richard Nixon had reached the previous high, 48%, just before an impeachment inquiry was launched in 1974.

On FOX and in the fevered minds of many republicans, “history will decide” if Bush is a good president or not. That’s just a generous way of saying, “almost everyone currently living thinks Bush is a horrible president. But maybe when all those people are dead…”

Personally, I don’t think you can be considered a good president if you lose one of America’s greatest cities, lie a country into a war with no end, fix an election and STILL need the Supreme Court to make you president, make the US one of the most hated countries in the world, destabilize the Middle East, piss yourself for minutes reading a kids’ book on goats when you should be springing into action to defend the country against a terrorist attack you were warned would happen weeks before, take away healthcare for millions of poor children, and are nearly assassinated by a pretzel. But I’m no historian.

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Bush Less Popular Than Nixon At His Lowest

2008-01-12T20:33:20Z

Ouch.

According to the latest Gallup Poll, 50% of Americans now say they strongly disapprove of President Bush's performance as president, setting a record previously held by President Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate crisis in 1974.

Champagne, noisemakers and paper hats at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue tonight!!!

Bush Has Caught Nixon!

2008-10-23T09:31:20Z

President George Bush has caught Richard Nixon in the Polls when he resigned. Watch the entire show at www.theyoungturks.com

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Headzup: Richard Nixon On Fred Thompson

2008-10-24T03:29:19Z

The Ghost of Richard Nixon returns from the grave to discuss Fred Thompson.

Read more about Nixon's comments about Fred Thompson here--
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19675541/

Download daily Catch and Release Comedy™ political cartoons to your mobile phone or iPod at www.headzup.tv

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More From The Dump Dick Contest: The History of Nixon and the Future of Cheney

2008-10-25T15:29:24Z

Some interesting parallels, no? In a sane cultural, media and political environment Dick Cheney would get to see firsthand what transpires daily at Guantanamo.

There is this thing called the constitution. He has rendered it meaningless. The same should be done to him.

(find more videos from this contest at democrats.com)

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Nixon's question for the YouTube Republican Debate

2008-10-25T15:29:38Z

The Ghost of Richard Nixon has a question for the Republican Presidential Candidates.

Download daily Catch and Release Comedy™ political cartoons to your mobile phone or iPod at www.headzup.tv

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War Made Easy - TRAILER

2008-03-22T21:54:31Z

Wow is all I can say. WOW.

Watch the different presidents, from LBJ through Bush, and the media personalities, for the patterns, the similar language of mendacity. It makes you wonder what it will take sometimes to take this country back for the people.

(h/t Paddy)

UPDATE: There are screenings happening all over the country. Check out Brave New Theaters, and consider hosting your own.

Headzup: Dump Dick Contest- Ghost of Nixon

2008-10-26T03:29:48Z

The Ghost of Richard Nixon visits Vice President Cheney in the middle of the night.

If you like the video, please rate it 5 stars for the Dump Dick Contest!

Download daily Catch and Release Comedy™ political cartoons to your mobile phone or iPod at www.headzup.tv

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Dump Dick: Nixon v. Cheney

2008-03-22T21:54:30Z

Here's a video submission from the "Dump Dick" video contest. Thanks to Crooks and Liars for the link.

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When history repeats to we notice? and more importantly do we do anything about it? Cheney may be a Vice President while Nixon was the President, but the parallels between Cheney and Nixon cannot go ignored. This video was quickly made for the "Dump Dick" video contest. I've been extremely busy working on the documentary and haven't had much time to make videos but threw this one together in a few hours. Please vote for this video in the contest by rating it five stars and help support it by linking it to your blog, myspace, or website and sending it to your friends and family. All the prize money that would be won if this video wins the contest will go towards funding the documentary. Our funds are running low and we still have more filming and editing to do so please help this video win.

Olbermann: Bush, Cheney should resign

2008-10-15T15:31:02Z

'I didn't vote for him, but he's my president, and I hope he does a good job.' SPECIAL COMMENT By Keith Olbermann Anchor, 'Countdown' MSNBC

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Headzup: Ghost Of Nixon

2008-10-16T21:29:39Z

The ghost of Richard Nixon visits President Bush in the middle of the night. Download daily Catch and Release Comedy™ political cartoons to your mobile phone or iPod at www.headzup.tv

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