Saturday, June 13, 2009

Paul Ryan: Scofflaw

Michael Horne breaks another story:
Paul Ryan, champion of fiscal conservatism and responsible government; the very darling of those hoping to find a future charismatic Republican leader, apparently could not be bothered with submitting his 2009 report with the Clerk of the House by the May 15th deadline. He will face a $300 fine if he files it over thirty days past the due date. Ryan is the only Wisconsin congressman to fail to execute his responsibility -- indeed his legal obligation -- to provide the public with timely access to his financial documents.

FUN FACT!
Although Paul Ryan is too busy with the nation's finances to provide taxpayers with a timely account of his own, his 2008 statement is on file. Perhaps it bears some scrutiny. Ryan lists holdings of Berkshire Hathaway Class "B" [BRK.B] stock in the amount of $1,001 - $15,000. Fair enough -- the stock traded from about $3,500 to $5,000 per share back then.
However, Ryan also lists dividend income on the BRK.B stock in the amount of $1 - $200.
That's crazy! Everybody knows that no Berkshire Hathaway shares pay dividends. Why would the congressman inflate his income by $1 - $200 by this absurd declaration?
But wait! There's more -- Ryan also claims a similar $1 - $200 income from dividends in Cisco Systems [CSCO] stock.
But Cisco does not pay cash dividends either!
This matter demands an explanation, at least for the non-millionaires among Ryan's constituents, and for the decent congressmen who file their reports on time and do so without inventing income for themselves.
Funny, I don't remember reading about this in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. They must have been too busy gushing over him. You can read Mr. Horne's complete story by clicking here.

2 comments:

  1. Umnnnhhh...do either of them pay STOCK dividends?

    That's reportable as income (albeit there may be different IRS treatment than 'income'.)

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  2. Anybody else think the USA has way too much regulation?

    I can't be certain I haven't broken any laws just going through my daily routine.

    ReplyDelete