tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-925554478570184425.post6650996274310931776..comments2023-06-30T02:43:23.381-07:00Comments on GOP For Liberty!: Rahm Emmanuel's Rent Is Only Part Of His Ethical DebacleValeriehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13403094729529634477noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-925554478570184425.post-44605901642073059302009-02-20T11:28:00.000-08:002009-02-20T11:28:00.000-08:00Bint COME ON!!!Are you seriously saying that dinne...Bint COME ON!!!<BR/><BR/>Are you seriously saying that dinner from family or a birthday party cake from coworkers is the same thing as living with a fellow senator for 5 years free of charge??<BR/><BR/>I don't care so much about the taxes. Its the fact that just about any moron off the street could see this is something that should have been disclosed but yet Rahm never seemed to have thought that through.Valeriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13403094729529634477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-925554478570184425.post-30551511847831914392009-02-20T08:26:00.000-08:002009-02-20T08:26:00.000-08:00Valerie,how would one measure the value of this gi...Valerie,<BR/><BR/>how would one measure the value of this gift/hospitality/potentially financially beneficial whatchamacallit? If his mother-in-law had him over for dinner on the first Friday of every month, is that a gift that he's supposed to disclose? What about if his staffers buy a King Cake for the office? Is that a financially beneficial gift that should be disclosed? After all, if he had to buy the King Cake himself, it would have cost him money.<BR/><BR/>If this house-sitting thing is taxable income, then it is applicable to all citizens. Maybe we wouldn't mind sticking it to Emanuel, but it would be cutting off our nose to spite our face.bint alshamsahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00658169355503798587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-925554478570184425.post-51713009967504993182009-02-19T12:35:00.000-08:002009-02-19T12:35:00.000-08:00Bint,I get what you are saying but I think the pro...Bint,<BR/><BR/>I get what you are saying but I think the problem started here when Emmanuel didn't disclose the "gift" or "favor" or "someone else's hospitality that he benefitted financially from" or whatever you want to call it really, on his congrssional financial disclosure forms as he was required to by congressional ethics rules. That's what raised the red flag. <BR/><BR/>The fact that he may have missed some obscure tax, which when given the recent tax scandals by our lawmakers is very minor, does not trouble me as much as the fact that he failed to follow ethics rules and disclose something that pretty obviously should have been disclosed on his forms. Which leads me to believe that he didn't disclose it for a reason. Let's face it. Rahm Emmanuel is not some aloof inexperienced college kid. He was a member of The House of Representatives and is now the right hand man of the leader of the free world. To think that he doesn't know the rules is an insult to his intelligence.Valeriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13403094729529634477noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-925554478570184425.post-9129275383747514072009-02-19T09:39:00.000-08:002009-02-19T09:39:00.000-08:00I'm no fan of Emanuel; His ties to Israel are espe...I'm no fan of Emanuel; His ties to Israel are especially troubling to me. However, this claim seems a bit dubious to me. How many nights is someone allowed to spend at another person's house before it's considered a taxable gift? What about house-sitters? What if you let your friend's college student children live in your summer home during the off-season months so they don't have to pay dorm fees? Are those kids supposed to report this on their taxes as some sort of gift? Or is it just showing sensible hospitality to your friend's kids?<BR/><BR/>How could we even begin to establish some sort of objective guidelines for this?bint alshamsahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00658169355503798587noreply@blogger.com