SwiftVets.com

[Mary Ann Parker]

Related in the sense that the Dems have power to FIX problems
for their puppets!!

Where is the outrage?? I understand that the focus is Kerry/Bush
for the media..
However, this is IN YOUR FACE STUFF.Make

Make it a I am MAD day.
Mary Ann Parker
(If it is elsewhere please delete Admn. the search tool hates me)
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Daschle Staff, DC Officials Replace Homestead Tax Document Following Investigative Report
By Jeff Gannon
Talon News
October 26, 2004

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- A staffer for Sen. Tom Daschle (D-SD) admitted last week that a difficult situation caused by an affidavit signed by the senator when he applied for Washington, DC's "homestead tax exemption" was secretly "fixed" following a Talon News investigative report.
The original August 13, 2003 story raised questions about a property tax break claimed by Daschle for a home he and his wife purchased for $1.9 million in April 2003.

Last week, Steve Hildebrand, campaign manager for the Senate minority leader provided a document to the Sioux Falls (SD) Argus Leader that had been signed by the senator's wife, Linda Daschle, and submitted to the District of Columbia Office of Tax and Revenue (OTR) on August 14, 2003. But last year, neither Hildebrand nor Tony Bullock, director of communications for DC Mayor Anthony Williams, acknowledged that a substitute affidavit was executed by Mrs. Daschle to replace the one signed by her husband on April 30, 2003.

Both officials responded to press inquiries that Mrs. Daschle qualified for the tax break because she was a resident of the city. They also made statements to "Roll Call" that dismissed the Talon News report as a baseless partisan attack.

Neither of the officials indicated that an error had been made when Sen. Daschle signed the affidavit on April 30, 2003, declaring Washington to be his "primary place of residence." Such a declaration would have an effect on his qualification to hold elective office representing South Dakota and his ability to vote there.

Bullock, who left the mayor's office in September 2004 to join Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, told Talon News on Monday that he didn't know the reason Mrs. Daschle executed the replacement document. He reiterated that he believed the senator's wife qualified for the homestead tax exemption, regardless of who signed the original affidavit. He previously told "Roll Call" that it was customary for situations like this to be "quietly resolved."

But the concealment of the replacement document and the accusation of partisanship directed against Talon News suggest a political cover up. Democratic elected officials and appointees dominate the Washington, DC government.

A Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Talon News on September 29, 2004 did not result in the release of the replacement document or acknowledgement of its existence. It was only when Hildebrand produced a copy for the Argus Leader that the 2003 deception was revealed.

The FOIA request instigated a flurry of activity at OTR. The same day as the request was filed, Carl Piggott, an OTR auditor, rescinded the homestead exemption. The following day, the OTR legal staff reinstated the credit. The agency also faxed a letter to Daschle's Washington office on Monday, October 18 asking that a new application be executed. Douglas Schauss, acting director of communications for OTR told Talon News last week that the matter was "under review with the legal staff" and that a "resolution was expected soon."

But so far no additional documents requested by Talon News have been released. Other questions remain as to the eligibility of the Daschles to claim the homestead tax exemption. A call to Mrs. Daschle's office at the lobbying firm of Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell, and Berkowitz for comment or clarification was not returned on Monday.

The controversy over the tax break has been a public relations nightmare for Sen. Daschle, who is fighting for his political life against former Republican congressman John Thune. It has served to reinforce the image of Daschle being "out of touch with South Dakota" and "too much a man of Washington."

Since Mrs. Daschle is involved, it has highlighted a subject, her career as a high-powered lobbyist, which the South Dakota senator has tried to downplay. Campaign rhetoric Daschle uses against Thune for being too close to special interests, particularly drug companies, rings hollow considering his wife has represented several pharmaceutical companies among her many clients.

Additionally, the Daschles have become a Washington power couple, an image that is not in sync with the folks back in South Dakota. Few actually believe the pair to be residents of the state despite the fact that they hold title to a home occupied by the senator's mother. The couple lists that address on their voting registrations. Both cast absentee ballots last week.

Copyright © 2004 Talon News -- All rights reserved.

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[bergstrom79]

Hopefully Daschle won't be going back to DC next January. That election's gonna be a tight fit.

His speech the night we went into Iraq should be played over and over in S.D....He was a disgrace.

p.s... the search tool hates me too!