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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

RISC "disturbed" by tax delinquency and more Bits and Pieces

RISC founder
Harry Staley
Pot calls kettle black; three strikes and you’re out; no contact from space aliens; too much contact from orange guy 
By Will Collette 


Shocked, shocked, I say.” Charlestown-headquartered RI Statewide Coalition (RISC), never misses a chance to piggy-back on a silly story. RISC told Channel 12 News they were shocked at the Channel 12 “expose” that 38 RI state legislators had been late in paying their local taxes. Although all of the legislators are now paid in full, having paid the back taxes, interest and penalties, RISC still finds it “disturbing” that this happened. Channel 12 did not name any local legislators in their expose. 




What I find shocking is that RISC would bring this up, given the history of some of their own founders and benefactors. For example, RISC Founder Harry Staley’s close friend and confidant Finn Caspersen killed himself at Shelter Harbor as the IRS and FBI were closing in on him for millions of dollars of tax evasion. Casperson gave thousands of dollars to RISC to help it get started.

And Frederick Whittemore of NY, another RISC former board member and major donor, was #47 on New York State’s 2010 list of top tax deadbeats, owing $1.3 million. Whittemore, a retired Morgan Stanley banker, didn’t pay his NY State taxes until after his name was published on the state list. 

And then there’s RISC’s Founder Harry Staley himself. According to records in the Westlaw database, his business, StaleyRobeson in Mystic CT was hit with a $3,934 IRS tax lien on July 26, 2010 which took four months to get released. 

Maybe the reason RISC was so shocked at the late tax payments by state legislators is that the amounts were so small scale. 

Interestingly, RISC hasn’t said a word of either support or denunciation at the apparent failure of Charlestown Town Council member Lisa DiBello’s apparent flouting of state and federal non-profit tax and accountability laws. Harry Staley was a regular fixture at Charlestown Town Council meetings, leaping to attack Lisa DiBello’s only public ally, Jim Mageau, when Mageau ran the Council. 

Rev. Harold Camping
Three Strikes and You’re Out. Harold Camping has retired. Striking a terrible blow to end-of-the-world fans worldwide, the Christian Post reports that Rev. Harold Camping, 90, is giving up control of his family’s bible radio network and according to his wife, has officially retired. Camping’s third prediction of the end of the world, October 21, didn’t pan out any better than his May 21st prediction, or his first such pronouncement over a decade ago. Camping suffered a stroke after his May 21st prediction did not come true. 

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH), right
Or is he the one on the left?
President Obama has NOT been contacted by the galactic overlords. That’s the official word from the White House. There has been NO contact between the US government and space aliens, according to a report in Monday’s New York Daily News. A White House space policy staffer also said the US has no evidence that extraterrestrial intelligence exists, nor any evidence of any visitation or contacts between humans and aliens on earth. He went on to note that this does not mean that extraterrestrial intelligence does not exist, simply that we don’t have any evidence of it. 

Yet, how do you explain this. The leader of the House Republicans, Rep. John “Mr. Orange” Boehner (R-The 1%) once again blasted President Obama for wanting to initiate “class war by promoting legislation to repair America’s crumbling infrastructure and put unemployed Americans back to work – paying for it in part by (drum roll, please) taxing the rich! 


''I understand that we have differences in America,'' Mr Boehner said. ''[Republicans] are not going to engage in class warfare. The President is out there doing it every day. I, frankly, think it's unfortunate … because our job is to help all Americans, not to pit one set of Americans against another.'' 


Meanwhile, Senate Republicans have the bill tied up in that chamber with a filibuster that prevents the much-needed measure from coming to a vote.