In the “jaw-dropper of the day” category, another prominent leftist Democrat has been caught owing taxes:
Mayor Dellums, wife owe $239K in back taxes
San Francisco Chronicle | November 5, 2009(11-03) 15:20 PST OAKLAND -- Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and his wife failed to pay more than $239,000 in taxes over a three-year period and have had a lien slapped on their property by the Internal Revenue Service, public records show.
Dellums, 73, and his wife, Cynthia, 55, who acts as his unpaid adviser, are named in an IRS lien filed with the Alameda County recorder's office Oct. 14. A lien naming Ron Dellums was also filed Oct. 22 in Washington, D.C., where he lived for more than 30 years as a member of Congress and a lobbyist.
The Alameda County lien says the couple failed to pay $124,198 in federal income taxes in 2005, $66,554 in 2006 and $48,246 in 2007, the year Dellums took office as mayor.
The tax lien was imposed on all the couple's personal property, meaning they cannot pocket proceeds from any transactions without first paying off the IRS.
The Dellumses own a house in the Foxhall Crescent neighborhood of Washington, which was assessed at $1.4 million in 2007, public records show. They rent a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home with 3,200 square feet on Skyline Boulevard in the Oakland hills.
Yeah yeah yeah, another Democrat politician didn’t pay all his taxes. But Dellums isn’t your typical “the rich aren’t paying their fair share!” Democrat. He was among the luminaries of the 60’s New Left and was the first traveled in April to Cuba to meet with their hero Fidel Castro.
Now that’s its been discovered that Dellums has owed taxes for three years, let’s see what the good mayor has been up to since taking office in January 2007:
Oakland audit finds millions misspent in payroll fund
Oakland Tribune, Nov 30, 2007 | by Kamika DunlapOAKLAND — The first citywide performance audit released Thursday identifies more than $3 million in city funds that were improperly paid out or violated city rules around spending.
The report, which investigates the city’s payroll system and compensation practices, raises strong concern about the spending of taxpayer dollars. …
The main findings from the audit include:
-The city pays an average of $1.5 million every year in management leave awards, with a significant number of the awards exceeding collective bargaining agreement provisions or city rules.
-During the three-year period, city employees sold back at least $3 million more in leave than they should have been allowed to, including $2.5 million in vacation leave.
-Bonuses and recognition awards totaled $388,000 over the three-year period, with auditors saying that little criteria existed for such payments.
-$700,000 per year was spent on car allowances for roughly 238 city employees. …
I guess the mayor couldn’t be reached for comment?
Ron Dellums Living Large While Oakland Budget Bleeds
June 15, 2008 / Updated: August 20, 2008OAKLAND, Calif. -- A 2-month investigation into the expenses of Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums has found a pattern of what appears to be extravagant spending at taxpayer expense, even as the mayor suggests shutting down City Hall for a dozen days and raising taxes.
The expenses include stays at 5-star hotels in Washington D.C. such as the Four Seasons and Ritz Carlton, on his many travels away from Oakland, although Dellums owns a luxurious home in the nearby exclusive enclave of Georgetown. The data obtained though the California Public Records Act also shows expensive meals, limousine services and even hundreds of dollars in flowers – all at taxpayer expense.
Oakland is facing a $14.5 million deficit in the next financial year. Dellums is calling for furloughing city workers for 12 days in the next 12 months – all without pay – and severely cutting back already stretched city services.
He is also recommending a $12 million tax hike to deal with the city’s notorious crime problem that has many Oakland residents in an uproar.
Oh I get it; Dellums and city employees throw Oakland citizens’ tax dollars around like rice at a wedding. And then when they realize the city is facing a deficit their solution is to ... raise taxes! But Dellums clearly never thought he should be responsible to pay his own taxes. It’s so fun to be a socialist.
So it looks like Dellum has been a busy beaver. It’s no surprise thing he’s been running Oakland, which was already in dire straits, deeper into the ground. That’s what liberal/Democrat political figures do: turn their cities into complete crap.
It’s also no surprise that a Castro-adoring socialist/Communist lives in a $1.4 million house in D.C. and and 3,200 square foot home in Oakland Hills. (Although, it’s pretty bitchin’ he has a wife almost 20 years his junior. Go Ronnie! Go Ronnie!)
And now it turns out this garden-variety leftist owes six figures in back taxes.
Remember: One set of rules for them, another set of rules for the rest of us. Isn’t socialism great?
P.S. Anyone heard from Charlie Rangel lately?
UPDATE 11:30 AM: Here’s a Liberal Media Bias addendum to this story. Lachlan Markay at NewsBusters noticed that in the SF Chronicle article (the one I link to on top) does not mention Dellums’ party affiliation. This is in stark contrast to the Chron’s coverage of an Orange County Republican politician caught up in an adultery scandal, in which case his party affiliation is sprinkled throughtout the article from top to bottom.
Nope, no liberal media bias here!
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