Hypocrite Hijinks... and Dead People Voting

by Libby Sternberg

Poor fellow...still searching
for that US Treasury address...

Warren Buffett, the Oracle Hypocrite of Omaha, is at it again. The Berkshire-Hathaway tax evader (see the company's annual report for info on how much the IRS says they owe, or go to this blog post for more), who wants other people to pay more taxes because he's so torn up about his own low tax rate, can't seem to find the U.S. Treasury address to which he could voluntarily send his millions. (Hint: we've posted it here.)

So he's come up with a new plan--sort of a "matching grant" program. For every dollar a Republican congressman contributes to lower the debt, he'll contribute a buck. And he'll put in even more for every one that Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell throws in the kitty.

Warren, Warren, Warren...you don't need to set up ridiculous plans like this one. As pointed out above, you can send your money -- as much as you like, unfettered by silly gamesmanship -- to the U.S. Treasury.

Oh, all right. Maybe you're too busy to go to that link above. Here's the address for your charitable giving to the U.S. Treasury:

Gifts to the United States
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Credit Accounting Branch
3700 East-West Highway, Room 622D
Hyattsville, MD 20782

Here's a link to how you do the deed: http://www.fms.treas.gov/faq/moretopics_gifts.html

But Republicans aren't keen on raising taxes to lower the debt and deficit. They understand that a) more taxes will just mean more spending; and b) government-funded programs don't always achieve the best results anyway.

Hmm...where have I heard that before? Oh, yes, from Mr. Buffett himself, explaining his huge donations to his family's own foundations:

"I think that on balance the Gates Foundation, my daughter's foundation, my two sons' foundations will do a better job with lower administrative costs and better selection of beneficiaries than the government."

So, keep on giving, Warr (you don't mind if I call you that, do you?)--to both charitable foundations and the government. Just stop asking others who haven't made it to your gajillionaire status yet to pay more, too.

***

On to Voter I.D. laws....liberal groups, mostly funded by George Soros, have been having a field day lately getting their mailing list members in a stew over so-called voter-suppressing Voter I.D. laws now in place or being considered in numerous states, now that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled such laws as legal (a 6-3 decision with liberal justice John Paul Stevens helping explain why Voter I.D. is not voter suppression).

This is a tactic of both left and right -- to get believers all het up -- to raise funds and grow the mailing list, on an issue that could resonate with the base when presented a certain way but which probably won't be going anywhere any time soon.

In other words, there's a good chance that more and more people will continue to support Voter I.D. laws (polls show majorities already do) and, if properly crafted, the laws will continue to be upheld in the courts. But in the meantime, groups like Moveon.org, TruthOut, Signon.org (all offshoots of the same liberal organization tree) will rake in dough, gin up outrage and snag new subscribers.

Is voter fraud a big issue, though? These liberal groups claim it's not. That would come as a surprise to some Troy, NY officials who decided to plead guilty last year to filling out fraudulent absentee ballot forms, or to 11 conspirators in Alabama in 2008 for voter fraud or to Indiana's Democratic Chairman who resigned amidst charges of voter fraud during the Democratic primary in 2008. I could go on...

One of the easiest ways to commit voter fraud is to request the ballot of a dead person. There are a lot of dead people still on voter lists because it often takes a while for these names to be stricken from public records. Local town clerks usually can't just take it upon themselves to remove these names after seeing an obituary or even attending a funeral. There has to be an official communication affirming the death.

Conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe is now out with a video showing deceased persons' ballots being handed out quite cheerfully to fake voters in the New Hampshire primary (NH doesn't require Voter I.D.).

I know liberals and even moderates don't give much credence to O'Keefe, but he's right--you can easily obtain ballots for deceased persons in most jurisdictions.

If you want to make every vote count, you have to ensure that fraudulent votes are not counted. Viva Voter I.D.!

***
Libby Sternberg is a novelist.