[MackBranon]

On a Thursday? How're your grades looking?

BTW, mission accomplished. How was she?

[D6b2v1HA]

Okay, once and for all let's get this cleared up.

What's your story, play boy? Straight? Bisexual? Gay?

[YpbWF5Yo]

Drake can't decide who he wants to pretend to be today. Why not just be Drake?

[eljugadordepoquer]

I'm too good for him.

[inmeirulez]

Night out on the town with DaShi?

Why do you assume that it was DaShi? (rimshot... and my sincerest apologies)

[intifatry]

I'm too good for him.

How humiliating for you.

[viawbambutt]

I'm not a big fan of labels.

Then I am left with my own assumptions or guesses about you until you correct me otherwise.

Until then, I say you're a flaming hetero.

[embefuri]

I need to stop going out until almost six...

[jackie Obrian]

Ron Kirk, nominated as U.S. Trade Representative in the Obama administration, owes an estimated $10,000 in back taxes from earlier in the decade and has agreed to make his payments, the Senate Finance Committee said Monday.

The committee said the taxes arise from Kirk's handling of speaking fees that he donated to his alma mater, and for his deduction of the full cost of season tickets to the Dallas Mavericks professional basketball team.

The disclosure made the former Dallas mayor the latest in a string of top-level Obama administration appointees found to have underpaid their taxes, following Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Tom Daschle, who withdrew as candidate for Health and Human Services secretary. Nancy Killefer, Obama's pick for chief performance officer, also bowed out amid tax problems.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090302/...h/kirk_taxes_7

[Peertantyb]

I still can't think of anything funny to say about this. I'm just amazed that we're only a month and change into the Hopenchange era and it's already become completely unremarkable for a President to appoint a tax cheat to higher office.

[TheBest-Host]

He might be dinged. Trade Rep isn't an important enough office to appoint a tax cheat.

[MpbY5dkR]

The committee said the taxes arise from Kirk's handling of speaking fees that he donated to his alma mater ... He donated his speaking fees, and now he owes taxes on them???

[hs6KnlcW]

Yeah, it's a gift. Ever hear of the gift tax?

No, but per Wikipedia:
There are two levels of exemption from the gift tax. First, transfers of a present interest up to (as of 2009) $13,000 per person per year are not subject to the tax. I never give more than $13,000 to anybody, so I'm not in trouble.

[loolitoertego]

If he claims innocence based on the funds being donated, then he's incompetent and needs to be cast out. Out I say!

[jeockammece]

He donated his speaking fees, and now he owes taxes on them???

You only get a deduction for a part of charitable donations. The dipshit was likely tried to assign them an not report them at all, rather than reporting them as income and claiming a charitable deduction.
Gift tax is irrelevant here. Qualifying charitable donations are exempt from the unified estate and gift tax, so you do not even have to get to the annual exemption. Colleges usually qualify as section 501(c)3 charities.
For the tickets, only the 50% times the portion of them and their cost used to advance an income producing business could be a deduction, not any part of them used for personal use.

[provigil]

You're a lawyer and the gift tax doesn't ring a bell? How could an estate tax function without a gift tax to go with it?

I haven't studied or practiced tax law or estate planning. I'm an underpaid government attorney, so I never have to worry about dealing with the amounts of money necessary to get myself into trouble.