The Democratic candidate for governor in the state of Georgia, Stacey Abrams, admitted that she had 200,000 dollars in credit card debt, student loans and back taxes but she argues that shouldn’t disqualify her from being governor. She even goes on to blame it on “The combined effects of discrimination in labor, housing, and education…” Aaron Ford, the Democratic candidate for attorney general owes more than $130,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties dating from 2010 to 2013. Ford claims it was a mistake on his annual withholdings that caused his underpayment of taxes. These two incidents build upon a disturbing trend of hypocrisy and unaccountability that became noticeable when Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner owed back taxes and blamed the error on Turbo Tax.
This highlights a pattern where politicians and the elites often act as though they are above the rules. Even though Democrats haven’t met a problem that can’t be solved with more government and higher taxes, they fail to pay the taxes they impose. When confronted with their errors, they are full of excuses and expect to serve in office anyway. As Abrams said, “But [debt] should not—and cannot—be a disqualification for ambition.”
Ambition is great, but if that ambitious person has significant problems that call attention to their flaws, such as a failure to pay their taxes, voters have a right to be concerned. Personally I would have my life and finances in order before I would call upon strangers to trust me as the head executive or lawyer of the state, let alone the head financial adviser of the country.
People fall down in life and face challenges. I have some medical debt, others have their cars break down, and sometimes things don’t go your way. But the Democratic politicians who have these debts often have lucrative jobs as well. Millions of Americans struggle to work several low-paying jobs to provide for their families, pay their bills and, if they’re lucky, take a small vacation. In contrast, Stacey Abrams had a six-figure a year income and an Ivy League degree while Ford had a well-paid position at a law firm. Both of them have more resources at their command than the average American toiling at a middling position and they have far fewer excuses not to have a solid command of their finances and obligations.
Despite being in arrears, squandering their paychecks, and generally making a mess of their finances and the author of their own misery, it doesn’t stop them from blaming the misfortune on cosmic conspiracies. Ford says that he will fight for families who feel the system is rigged against them. What seems rigged is a politician that can make a quarter million dollars a year, skip out on paying taxes, join the elite leaders of the state or country, and then claim to be a man of the people and pass restrictive laws. Stacey Abrams says that everybody should pay their “fair share” and help the poor get a leg up, and blames her finances at least in part on systematic racism. Liberals like to point at problems in the world from systematic this or that, cycles of poverty, and various excuses. What is lacking is a sense of accountability for their choices and an appreciation of America as a land of opportunity. So that is why politicians can have six-figure jobs, fail to pay taxes, but then claim they are champions of the poor fighting an allegedly rigged system.
It is stories like this that make the average American hate Washington elites and the swamp. The average American wouldn’t imagine failing to pay hundreds of thousands in taxes. If they failed to pay taxes they would be sent to jail. They would be grateful they have comparatively profitable jobs to support their families. Unlike political elites, they certainly wouldn’t scofflaw their obligation and make evasive excuses when caught, even as they want to increase the tax burden on others and claim to be champion of the people. In short, if they want the votes of the people to raise taxes they shouldn’t be tax cheats.
