Don't Pay Your Taxes, Don't Get Paid in Tax Dollars. Simple.
I love a nice political stunt.
Just in time for tax season, California Senate candidate Carly Fiorina (and former HP exec) is backing legislation that would set up new rules to give the heave ho to any federal employee who hasn't paid their taxes. The bill was proposed by Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)—who goes by the hilarious Twitter name jasoninthehouse—and it stipulates that "persons having seriously delinquent tax debts shall be ineligible for Federal employment."
From Fiorina's press release:
The measure would extend to all federal government employees an existing Internal Revenue Service (IRS) policy that allows the agency to terminate its own employees who do not pay their income taxes. According to the IRS, 447 House employees and 231 Senate workers failed to pay federal income taxes in 2008. House staff owed $5.8 million in unpaid taxes, and Senate staff owed $2.46 million in unpaid taxes last year. The IRS also reports that 276,000 federal civilian employees owed $962 million in unpaid federal income taxes in 2008.
Remember when a passel of Obama appointees didn't pay their taxes either, but then a bunch of them got to hold really important jobs anyway? Good times.
