Disingenuous politicians | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's Note: Jim Bispo's weekly column appears in the Beaufort Observer.

    They say that time flies when you are having fun. And so it has been with my relationship with the Beaufort Observer. It has been interesting; it has been positive; and it has been enjoyable.

    This article started out to be a "good-bye. My bride of almost 40 years and I are moving to Florida in the next few weeks. I thank all of you who have taken the time to read my weekly rantings; that would include both those who agreed with them as well as those who didn't. I appreciate you all - and I thank you all.

    But then I heard about Congress beginning to make noises like they are going to exempt their staff people as well as themselves from Obamacare. WHAT???? (So much for my thank you and good bye.)

    And then we hear what is probably the poorest bit of rationalization ever heard in support of this assault on the intelligence (and sensibility) of the tax-paying public. They tell us that their lowest paid employees cannot afford Obamacare and they are simply trying to "take care" of them. Are there any among us who do not believe that it was their (senior) staff with their $150k and up annual salary who dreamed up this travesty to begin with and now are looking to be "taken care of" (i.e. exempted). To Hell with the American Public that is paying their salary. To Hell, indeed!!

    It surely was not the congressional staff (aided and abetted by the our Representatives and Senators) who coined the old adage about "charity beginning at home", but it sure looks like they believe it - to the detriment of the tax paying public.

    It wasn't long ago that we also heard that Congressional folks and their staffs were also exempt from "Insider Trading" regulations which certainly explains how so many of them arrived in D.C. as middle class citizens and a few years later depart as wealthy Patricians. So much fuss was kicked up about that travesty that Congress was virtually forced to do something about it. Reportedly, Congress made insider trading into the same no-no as it was to the rest of the population. And now here they come again,. We hear they are covertly loosening the restrictions against congress and their staff people buying and selling securities on the basis of "inside information". That is almost as good as being allowed to buy and sell "futures" after the market is closed for the day (i.e. after you know where the price went) as Hillary was alleged to have done during her rein as the First Lady. For any of the rest of us, that would have surely resulted in jail time for the perpetrator as well as the broker who allowed (or caused??) it to happen. Hmmm...

    Of course, we can only wonder why the Clintons would even think of doing such things. Surely the money Bill would get paid for his speeches and the revenues from their books, would certainly make them more than rich (they have). Add to that their clever use of the tax laws as it related to the deductibility of their contributions. I cannot remember which year it was, but it was the third year of the three years of the Clinton's tax returns they made public (when she was running for something - the senate I believe). In any case they showed quite a large amount of contributions (enough to put Joe Biden to shame several times over). It was the year that they changed from a DC Accounting firm preparing their tax return to a NY Accounting firm. In any case, the first two years (prepared by the DC firm) showed their contributions lumped together (as in "various charities"). Apparently the new tax person didn't quite have the picture that first year because he listed the contributions individually. It was a very short list perhaps with two or three items.. Guess where somewhere around 90% (I actually think it was more) of their charitable contributions went. If you said "to the Clinton Foundation", go to the head of the class. They contributed their money to themselves and got a great tax deduction out of the deal. Wow!! It may have been legal (probably was); but ethical?? Likely a different story. But then, what else would you expect from the Clintons?? Hmmm...

    But then it isn't only the Clintons who are so generous. We find folks right here in Washington, NC who are also generous. That would be the Washington (NC) city council. They are looking at taking almost $10.00 from every man, woman and child in Washington and handing it over to so called "outside" agencies. Those figures are based on 2011 population as found at http://www.city data.com/city/Washington North Carolina.html and 2013 budget numbers reportedly being considered. The Council seems to be swayed by the "impact of the stated purposes that the outside agencies fulfill in the community" - whatever that means. (Emphasis added.) The rationale is that these agencies do good things. The matter of quantifying those good things and assessing the return on investment is another subject for another day.

    The first concern is trying to figure out how the town got authority to steal (yes, steal) from the taxpayers so they could bankroll their favorite outside agencies (i.e. charities). Perhaps they got the idea from the County commissioners who do the self same thing year after year - with no end in sight. I am not suggesting that there is anything wrong with the stated purposes of any of the outside agencies being bankrolled. What I am suggesting is that it is not (or should not be) a function of city government (or any other government for that matter) to be funding these activities. Individual people should be the ones who decide to whom their contributions are to be distributed.

    The members of the City Council (and County Commissioners) seem to be painting themselves as generous. It might be interesting to take a look at Schedule A included in their last several tax returns (not the entire tax return - only schedule A) to see how much of their own money they contribute to the outside agencies they seem to be so fond of in their official capacities.

    Whadda 'ya say gang?? Show us Schedule A??

    What I say is, "Don't hold your breath waiting for that to happen."; but look for their official charity to continue.

    D'ya think??

    P.S. And thank you again for taking the time to read my Beaufort Observer column over the last several years.

    P.P.S. Note to the folks manning the black Suburbans (with the darkly tinted windows) parked in the street in front of my house: You can leave now. I'm done...Hmmm...