Now we know why Santorum hesitated to release his tax returns

[Gutenberg]

$3.6 million in consulting fees in Washington, and a an Audi A6 as a business expense:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/s...story.html

[cbelt3]

"Consulting Fees" for Congresscritters is Beltway-Speak for "Bribe". Or for identifying WHO to bribe.

We need to find a way to make our government folk less susceptible to these legal bribes. Term limits ain't it.... all you end up with is the staff bureaucracy actually running things.

[$tevie]

I love how these guys who claim they are going to go in and fix Washington always turn out to be just as "Washington" as the rest of them.

[OWC Jamie]

those washington consulting fees get around
http://images.nictusa.com/pdf/969/129703...navpanes=0


http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters....paul.html
"Begala is not a paid political consultant for any politicians or candidates for office."

influence and bribes

[$tevie]

I hope that image isn't tragically important because I don't download unidentified pdf files.

[Gutenberg]

What I was trying to present is that Santorum's finances do not match his campaign persona, that of a humble fella from coal mining country out to Change The Way Warshnin Does Bizness. At the moment the race is between two Mitt Romneys.
And seriously, the car? People who want to deduct the cost of a car for business should be limited to the minimum cost--say, a midsize family sedan with power door locks, ABS and AC. About $20,000. The Audi A6 costs $44,500 and up. There is no way we the people should be paying for that.

[Grace62]

I'm not sure these returns hurt Rick Santorum, in some ways they actually help him tell his story. He hasn't gone around claiming to be poor, though relative to Romney and Gingrich both, and with 7 dependent kids, he looks poor. I notice he dumped them on a Friday of a holiday weekend, so his campaign is not asleep.

He paid a tax rate over double what Romney paid. He has an MBA, a JD, and is a former Senator, he makes about what you'd expect that person to make in a return to the private sector.

What needs to be looked at is the sweetheart deal he got in private mortgage financing for his house, something that is against the rules for congressmen. They are not allowed to accept mortgage deals not available to the public. And the way he scammed a state over homeschooling his kids to the tune of about $100K. And the salary he got from some charity, funds for which he earmarked while a Senator.
Other earmarks for donors (some real estate developer involved IIRC.)

[Grace62]

As for the cost of the vehicle and tax deductions - you can't deduct the purchase price of your car or interest on a car loan as a personal, unreimbursed business expense. What you can deduct is gas, maintenance and repairs and depreciation.
So it doesn't matter that much that he has a spendy car. A car not out of line with his occupation I don't think.
Should have been made in America though. Optics, Rick, Optics!

[mrbigstuff]

^ all true, but just the foreign car alone should raise questions about Mr. All-American sweater-vest and his avowed fealty toward American goods


(but, I have to admit, nice choice of car if he was to stray that way...)

[Grace62]

He could've gone for a BMW made in South Carolina or a Mercedes made in Alabama and covered all the bases.