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Obama's use of foe's tax records reviewed

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
A federal inspector general is looking into whether the Obama administration used confidential taxpayer information in an effort to attack a political opponent, Koch Industries.

The review was revealed Tuesday by Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, two weeks after he and a handful of other top Senate Republicans called for the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax issues to look into the matter, saying either administration officials had illegal access to taxpayer information or were inappropriately speculating in public about the company's tax status.

Charles and David Koch, brothers who control the Kansas-based company, are libertarians who have used some of their wealth to fund conservative groups and causes that oppose much of President Obama's agenda. Mr. Obama has singled out the company for criticism in speeches.

In an Aug. 27 briefing with some reporters on calls to restructure the corporate tax code, an unidentified administration official cited Koch Industries, a major privately held energy company, by name, and then seemed to indicate that the company didn't pay any corporate income tax, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"In this country, we have partnerships, we have [S corporations], we have [limited-liability companies], we have a series of entities that do not pay corporate income tax," said the senior administration official, according to press reports. "Some of which are really giant firms - you know, Koch Industries is a multibillion-dollar business."

The Weekly Standard, which first questioned whether the comments crossed a legal line, has reported that the unidentified administration official "appears to have been" Austan Goolsbee, named last month as chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers.

A White House official said Tuesday that the administration will not use the Koch example in the future, but that the comment was "not based on any review of tax filings." Other White House officials have told reporters that the information was publicly available, including in testimony to the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board and on Koch's website.

But an attorney for Koch said in a statement last month that the company does pay corporate income taxes and that information about its structure and tax liability are not publicly available.

Mr. Grassley and his fellow Republicans pointed to that statement in their request for an investigation.

"The statement that Koch is a [nontaxable] pass-through entity implies direct knowledge of Koch's legal and tax status, which would appear to be a violation of Section 6103" of the Internal Revenue Code, the senators wrote. "Alternatively, if the statement was based on speculation, it raises the question of whether the administration speculating about any specific taxpayer's liability is appropriate."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/oct/5/obama-use-of-foes-tax-records-reviewed/
 

Texan

Well-known member
No comments on this thread? A question for you Obama supporters:

If the Bush Administration had done something like this, would you be as silent?

After all of President Obama's attempts to portray himself as another Lincoln, he has quite obviously turned himself into another Nixon instead.

Hopefully, when Republicans take back control of the House next year they can get to the truth about some of these Obama dirty tricks.
 

Texan

Well-known member
Texan said:
No comments on this thread? A question for you Obama supporters:

If the Bush Administration had done something like this, would you be as silent?
Nobody on the Obama team with the integrity to speak out? Just pretend you didn't see it?
 

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
Larrry said:
Another free pas for obama

They'll just claim it is BS, name call and forget all about it until a Republican administration does it and then scream and yell that their Constitutional rights are being violated.

Does that about sum it up?
 

Texan

Well-known member
And the Koch family isn't just 'Big Oil' - they've owned the Matador for over 50 years:


Matador Ranch, which is owned and operated by The Matador Cattle Company, is a 130,000-acre working cattle ranch that covers parts of Motley, Floyd, Cottle, Crosby and Dickens counties. Matador Ranch lies primarily on the Rolling Plains of Texas, although the western edge touches the Caprock or High Plains escarpment. Its terrain includes mesquite, cedar, rolling hills, rugged canyons and open pastures.

The ranch supports more than 3,000 head of cattle, as well as Quarter horses and diverse wildlife. Cattle carry the flying V brand, while the horses are marked with a “50.” Both brands were acquired by Fred C. Koch, when his company purchased the ranch in 1953.

Koch companies such as The Matador Cattle Company utilize a business philosophy, Market-Based Management®, which encourages employees to be principled entrepreneurs.

The ranch’s management goal is to improve the long-term health and productivity of its renewable natural resources to profitably sustain domestic livestock and wildlife. To achieve this, the ranch has implemented innovative water and grazing management practices. Much of the ranch lies above the Seymour Aquifer, whose springwater is pumped by windmill to manmade tanks. The Middle Pease and Tongue rivers cross the ranch, along with various wet-weather creeks; the Middle Pease feeds into the North Pease River, while the Tongue River empties into the South Pease River. Earthen tanks supplement the watering capacity for wildlife and livestock. The ranch also has a pipeline system to move water to portions of the ranch. Precipitation, mostly rainfall during summer thunderstorms, is about 19 inches annually. Through the use of rest-rotational grazing systems, the ranch has worked to manage the soil and grasses, to ultimately increase the quality and quantity of forage produced.

In the early 1980s, ranch management began experimenting with seeding improved grasses – specifically Ermello Weeping Lovegrass – to supplement the natural grasses available. In the late 1980s much of the Matador’s farmland – primarily cotton fields – was converted to improved pasture, specifically W.W. Spar bluestem. The ranch is experimenting with high-density, short-duration grazing cells, using about 3,200 acres of improved grasses to rest native grasses. An additional 440 acres near the headquarters seeded to Ermello Weeping Lovegrass also provide the rest-rotation options.

Matador Ranch is active in the Matador, Texas, community, supporting the Motley County Chamber of Commerce, the Motley County Livestock Show Association, and the Motley County Volunteer Fire Department. The ranch is also a member of American Quarter Horse Association, Ranch Horse Association of America, Ranch Cutting Horse Association, Stock Horse of Texas Association, Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association, Texas Cattle Feeders Association, National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Texas Department of Agriculture’s GoTexan program, Texas Deer Association and North American Deer Farmers Association.

The Matador Cattle Company is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc., and operates ranches in Texas, Montana and Kansas that cover about 440,000 acres.



http://www.matadorranch.com/about/default.aspx
 
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