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Another McCaskill tax problem exposed

May 21, 2012

Sen. Claire McCaskill has made a career out of lecturing others about accountability, oversight, and paying their taxes, but when it comes to paying her own taxes on time, she has a problem following the rules.

This weekend, the Kansas City Star reported on McCaskill’s latest problem: a series of late tax payments on her Washington DC condo—including a late payment just months after McCaskill was engulfed in a scandal surrounding her failure to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes on her private plane.

It’s safe to say what McCaskill claims to be a series of isolated mistakes is really a pattern of behavior.  But in every case, McCaskill has pointed the finger at someone (or something) else.

In the early 1990s, delinquent taxes at a McCaskill-owned property at the Lake of the Ozarks were such a problem that the county published a notice that it would be auctioning off the property to pay taxes.  McCaskill blamed her brother (KC Star, Aug 14, 2004).

After she was forced to pay nearly $320,000 in taxes, penalties, and interest on her private plane, McCaskill blamed a “complicated taxing scheme” for the error.

And now, McCaskill is blaming the fact that DC “bill[s] twice a year” for her late payments.

McCaskill plays the part of a no-nonsense, straight-shooting, hold-me-accountable politician.  That’s why she says things like “if my walk doesn’t match my talk, then shame on me and never vote for me again.” But when it really comes down to it, she’ll do anything she can to avoid taking responsibility for her failures.

“Claire McCaskill talks frequently about her supposed expertise as an auditor and a watchdog, so the fact that she has a history of tax problems going back nearly three decades strikes directly at the heart of her competence,” said Lloyd Smith, Executive Director of the Missouri Republican Party. “Once again, McCaskill has been caught saying one thing and doing another, and yet again, she’s desperate to point fingers and avoid taking responsibility for her own actions.”