We all know by now fiscal cliff talks are at a stand still, but before President Obama asks those making more than $250,000 per year to pay more in taxes, he should first ask his own aides in the White House to pay their back taxes.
A few dozen people who work for President Obama are having some trouble paying their taxes.
The IRS has released its Federal Employee and Retiree Delinquency Inventory, and it shows that 36 of Obama’s aides owe a total of $833,970 in back taxes.
And what about employees of government agencies outside of the White House? They could chip in too.
Other government employees owe a lot, too. At the Environmental Protection Agency, 413 people owe more than $19 million; at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which is supposed to “maintain stability and public confidence in the nation’s financial system,” 185 employees owe more than $3 million; and five people at the U.S. Tax Court owe $62,508.
And on Capitol Hill?
Capitol Hill employees owed $9.3 million in overdue taxes at the end of last year, a sliver of the $1 billion owed by federal workers nationwide but one with potential political ramifications for members of Congress.
The debt among Hill employees has risen at a faster rate than the overall tax debt on the government's books, according to Internal Revenue Service data. It comes at a time when some Republican members are pushing for the firings of government workers who owe the IRS and President Obama has urged a crackdown on delinquent government contractors.
The IRS information does not identify delinquent taxpayers by name, party affiliation or job title and does not indicate whether members of Congress are among the scofflaws. It shows that 638 employees, or about 4 percent, of the 18,000 Hill workers owe money.
The average unpaid tax bill is $12,787 among the Senate's delinquent taxpayers and $15,498 among those working in the House.
Before the President and Democrats preach to small business owners about "paying their fair share," they should ask the cheaters in Washington to do the same.
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