Stan Geiger

Late Taxes: What's the Deal?

Again today, reports about politicians being late on tax filings and payments are all over the place. I must say, I'm very confused.

Reports say politicians that eventually get around to paying their taxes hand over, in some instances, hundreds of dollars in late fees and interest. It seems there is nothing to gain by delaying the inevitable. It seems, in fact, there is something to lose by delaying the inevitable. So why delay? I mean what kind of an idiot would blow off a tax bill only to have to pay it later with penalties?

Don't have the money at the time? Well, gee, legislators in Oklahoma are paid more than the state average wage. And I assume---since being a legislator is a part-time job---most have additional sources of income. If rank-and-file citizens can manage to get their income and property taxes in on time, why can't the people that write the laws?

Reports say some politicians that eventually get around to filing their income tax returns actually get refunds.

Let's see, a guy has money coming from the state, and all he has to do is file some papers to get it. Yet he blows it off. What kind of an idiot is that?

The politicians all claim some kind of boo-boo, an oversight, somebody else's error. It's all cleared up now and it will never happen again, they say.

Hey, mistakes happen. If we were just talking about one politician in special circumstances, maybe I could buy the boo-boo excuse. But we're not talking about one politician. We're talking about something that appears to have been a common practice in the political biz for some time.

Something stinks here. Something stinks to high heaven.

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