If you or I made a mistake on our income tax returns, did not disclose income and then were caught we’d certainly have to pay up, perhaps pay a penalty and maybe face charges. Recently, we’ve seen public officials who not only didn’t pay their taxes, but they got appoinments even though it was revealed that they misrepresented their income on their taxes. In some cases, it involves those who write tax law. Charles Rangel is the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which is House Committee “has the responsibility for raising the revenue required to finance the Federal Government. This includes individual and corporate income taxes, excise taxes, estate taxes, gift taxes, and other miscellaneous taxes.” Rangel was found to have not reported income of $75,000 on rental property. He said it was a mistake. He supposedly made restitution and the case was closed…or was it?

Now, the Wall Street Journal brings to light that the Chairman “amended” his 2007 returns. He somehow overlooked at least a half million dollars in assets and income. It may be as high as $780,000. He somehow forgot about an account with something in between $250,000 and $500,000. He neglected to mention accounts at JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Oppenheimer and BlackRock. He neglected to mention properties own in New Jersey. He failed to mention a fair amount of shares in YUM Brands. He’s under investigation for using his letterhead for fundraising for a project that came to life due to a $1.9 million earmark funding from Congress….gee..wonder how that got in there?

Anyway, is this the guy who you want in charge of writing tax law? Maybe the guy just is a lousy bookkeeper. But, on the surface it would appear that something else is afoot. Do you ever wonder how a guy on his salary can afford all of these investments..if he gained this wealth before or after he was elected to Congress…how a guy says he’w worth between $500,000 and $1.3 million and now he says he made a mistake and his net worth is between a million and $2.5 million? If it walks like a duck…

Weather Bottom Line: The initial front eased into the area on Friday night as expected. In the afternoon, there was a localized cloud burst in Northeast Jefferson county and into Oldham County that supposedly brought up to 4 inches in a short time, but I can only find one rain gauge near prospect that registered over two inches. Snow White called me to tell me that the sunflowers were getting all kinds of great rain yet it didn’t rain where I was downtown. Curiously, when I came home, I saw the results of a heavy rain except in my rain gauge which was dry. Hmmm..a stealth rain. Anyway, the big front comes through today. There may be enough residual moisture to kick off some showers but probably nothing signficant. The real story will be the temperaturess. Look for highs for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the low to mid 70’s. Overnight lows will be in the 50’s with some people I betcha getting into the upper 40’s. The warm up after that will not be quick but only back to the low 80’s by the end of the week.