Joe Conason: Shut down Jim Bunning's "charitable" fraud

[babylonsister]

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joe_conason/2010/02/26/bunning

Shut down Jim Bunning's "charitable" fraud
Joe Conason
Filibustering against extended jobless benefits, Bunning cites the deficit. So he should close his tax-exempt scam


Until today, it hardly seemed possible that Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., could be more widely despised than he was, but he has succeeded in diminishing his already low stature. Loutish, eccentric and mean, he says that his filibuster against extended unemployment insurance benefits is spurred by his concern over the federal deficit. The jobless and their children may depend on that assistance for rent and food, but Bunning insists that the Obama adminisration use stimulus funding to pay for unemployment extensions. He doesn’t give a damn that on Sunday benefits will run out for hundreds of thousands of struggling families.

While even Bunning’s fellow Republicans dislike him intensely, none of them cares enough about the unemployed to tell him to sit down and shut up. That has been left to the Democrats, who should make Bunning the poster boy of the right-wing filibuster — a symbol of obstructed democracy and discarded humanity.

Here’s a suggestion for anyone who runs into the former baseball pitcher on the Senate floor. Tell him that if he is truly worried about the deficit, he should stop using the Jim Bunning Foundation to shelter the money he makes from baseball memorabilia.

Ever since he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Bunning has operated this phony “charitable” operation as a front for his business selling autographed balls. As this outfit’s sole employee, working one hour a week, he has paid himself hundreds of thousands of dollars over the past 10 years — considerably more than the amount donated to any actual charity.

Indeed, the only charities to which the foundation gives any significant sums are Catholic churches attended by Bunning and his family (so he gets other people to make his religious donations as well). Perhaps those churches ought to reconsider accepting his generosity in light of his nasty conduct toward the unemployed, whose plight is a matter of grave concern to the Catholic hierarchy.

Clearly Bunning is a man of low character, even for someone who belongs to what Twain described as “our only distinctly native American criminal class.” Not only does he exploit a charitable foundation to avoid taxes and ethics rules while greasing his own palm; he actually put a Washington lobbyist on the foundation board — and then arranged budget earmarks for clients of that same lobbyist, who oversees his self-dealing scam. Someone ought to file an ethics complaint against this dreadful, dishonest man.

[stevedeshazer]

1. +1

[vduhr]

11. I loved this line...

"...right-wing filibuster — a symbol of obstructed democracy and discarded humanity."

[Blue_Tires]

2. kick

[sandyj999]

3. Kick

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Ya know, if we gotta keep Gitmo open...

there are lots of good uses for it.

Just sayin'

[formercia]

5. I agree

It would do him well to be more concerned about keeping Scorpions out of his clothing than worrying about the National Debt.

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

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[spanone]

7. and i thought the democrats were in charge of congress

silly politics

[Plucketeer]

8. I wish I had Bunning's arm.

I'd nail him on the first pitch! :grr:

[lsewpershad]

9. So many of us are all so gullible

We continue to vote for and put pricks like these to make decisions that affect our lives. WHY? On the other hand our govt seems useless as it connot protect us from these pricks.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

10. Sonofabitch. n/t

[sonias]

12. I would love to see this turd become unemployed

Unfortunately he'll get his Senate pension for the rest of his life. :grr:

If there is justice in the world maybe he'll end up in jail.

[upi402]

13. ethics probe, censure at least

Senators are not fans of this monstrous 'DOH!'

[naaman fletcher]

14. I don't understand really...

If he is paying himself money as an employee, he does pay taxes. If it was a regular s-corp or an llc, he would not pay any more taxes than he is paying now.

[Maraya1969]

19. I just read that his "charitable" organization only gives 25% to charity

And he makes about 100,000 a year working about an hour a week. Quite a setup I'd say.

[naaman fletcher]

24. Well yes...

But he pays income taxes on that 100K.

I'm not trying to defend the jerk, but I am just saying there is not too much to this story.

[Maraya1969]

23. I just read that his "charitable" organization only gives 25% to charity

And he makes about 100,000 a year working about an hour a week. Quite a setup I'd say.

[lib2DaBone]

15. Jim Brunning just snapped.... he is not all there...

Not much different from the guy that flew his plane into the IRS.....

Under times of pressure.. people snap..

[Mopar151]

16. Does'nt the IRS pay comissions to whistleblowers? n/t

[suede1]

17. K & R.

[pundaint]

18. Here's a link to the IRS Tax Fraud Reporting site - there's a phone # listed too:

http://www.taxfraudonline.com/the-claims-procedure

[Sisaruus]

20. The 990 is public record.

Here's his last 990 filed with the IRS. He paid himself 20k a year for a self-declared one hour per week and distributed 18k to various charities.

http://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2008/311/469/2008-311469476-04168f8b-Z.pdf

[Joey Liberal]

21. Jim Bunning is an evil GOP bastard. nt

[Fire1]

22. What are the unemployed supposed to do?? The

stimulus funds have already been earmarked by governors, none of which includes unemployment benefits! This is crazy!!!