Political Insider

By debbie

July 3, 2006 03:06 PM | Link to this

CAGLE DID NOT PAY HIS PAYROLL TAXES

Casey Cagle Chaired Senate Finance Committee, Oversaw Georgia Tax Laws, But Avoided Paying Payroll Taxes on His Own Employees

Monday, July 3, 2006

Casey Cagle chaired the powerful Senate Finance Committee and oversaw Georgia’s tax laws, but official state records show that Cagle did not pay the payroll taxes, including federal and Georgia income and FICA withholding taxes, on employees as the law required. Casey Cagle’s 2001-04 state Senate re-election campaigns and his Lt. Governor campaign paid $35,892.50 to individuals listed as campaign employees.1 However, records show that withholding taxes on these employees were not paid.2

The IRS makes clear its instructions to employers. Employers must withhold, deposit, report, and pay the following taxes: federal and state income tax, and Social Security and Medicare tax (FICA).3

Political campaign committees are not exempt. Campaign committees must withhold income and FICA taxes from their employees’ paychecks.

Casey Cagle’s 2001-2004 Senate campaigns and his Lt. Governor campaign paid $35,892.50 to various employees. Campaigns are required to file quarterly expenditures with the Election Division of the Secretary of State’s office.4 Those records show payments were made by Cagle to individuals listed as “campaign staff,” “payroll,” or “contract labor” on campaign disclosure reports.5

Cagle did not pay taxes on these employees. Federal income and FICA taxes are remitted to the federal government by a Form 941 payment to a bank. Georgia income taxes are remitted directly to the Georgia Department of Revenue. Cagle’s state Senate campaign-finance reports show no such payments.6 His Lt. Governor reports show no payments for portions of wages paid. To fail to pay withholding taxes on employees violates federal and state law.

Elected officials should abide by the laws they pass for everyone else. By failing to pay the payroll taxes on employees, Casey Cagle violated the laws that he oversaw on hard-working Georgia taxpayers.

By Debbie

July 3, 2006 03:08 PM | Link to this

I am sure the Bush Administration is not so thrilled Cagle is trying a guilt by association bit. Abramoff also had connections to the Whitehouse and they did nothing wrong.

By CobbGOPer

July 3, 2006 03:46 PM | Link to this

Hmm. Every campaign I ever worked on where I was paid, I was always paid as a Form-1099 employee. That meant I was responsible for paying the taxes associated with my salary. Campaigns have enough to do without having to spend money and time keeping up with campaign payroll.

Perhaps the reason Cagle’s campaign isn’t showing payroll taxes is because those campaign employees are 1099 employees, and therefore responsible for their own taxes.

Not all campaigns have the money and time, like Mr. Reed, to pay campaign employees as if they were working for Microsoft. Next thing you know, they’ll slam Cagle for not providing health coverage for his campaign staff…

By AndrewC

July 3, 2006 04:01 PM | Link to this

Sen. Casey Cagle, like many other elected leaders, probably uses contracted staff. Of course he does not withold payroll taxes and social security! It is not his responsibility to do so!

By northside elephant

July 3, 2006 04:26 PM | Link to this

This is one hard-hitting ad! Ralph is deceitful and dishonest about his work as beltway lobbyist. This ad quickly and accurately summarizes Ralph’s checkered past.

By Morefoot Shooting

July 3, 2006 05:16 PM | Link to this

All of this is SO “ho-hum” to most Republicans…but, we can be sure the Democrats are taking careful note of all the GOP Foot Shooters say. No need for the NY Times to print all of OUR dirt…our own FS’s are handling it perfectly well.

By Former Cagle Guy

July 3, 2006 05:31 PM | Link to this

Cagle will not be forgiven for this by many Republicans and even if he does win he now guarentees a Democrat will win in November against him.

Reed has not been charged with any wrongdoing, even by the McCain report. This is the worst kind of dirty politics and guilt by association.

This is mud slinging carried to the lowest level and it can only mean Reed will strike back.

I will now redouble my efforts for Reed and even if Cagle were to win, which I still doubt, I will not support him.

By Mark

July 3, 2006 05:41 PM | Link to this

NICE!!! It’s about someone smacked ol’ Ralphie around. GREAT ad.

By josh

July 3, 2006 06:04 PM | Link to this

short sweet and to the point.

By Taylor Wynn

July 3, 2006 06:07 PM | Link to this

More dirty campaign tricks from a desparate candidate. Cagle should learn from the old saying, “those who live in glass houses should not thrown stones at others.”

Cagle is the consumate political insider who has benefited from his time in government. He has thrown in with the liberal media to attack a decent person—Ralph Reed—who has worked for the Republican party and our agenda for more than 25 years.

This latest ad is so beyond the pale that I now know that even if Cagle does win, I will sit this race out this fall. He is unworthy of support.

I will work double hard for Reed between now and the 18th because of this horrible and truthless attack.

By

July 3, 2006 07:25 PM | Link to this

So Taylor, what do you say about the Weekly Standard, Wall Street Journal, David Brooks, Matthew Connettiti, Jim Wooten, and WORLD, the evangelical christian magazine when said negative comments about Reeds scheme. Its your fanatasic belief that only the Liberal media is “out to get” Ralph that is “beyond the pale.”

And by working for our agenda, do you mean attacking 10 republican congressmen (some vulnerable) who did not support internet gambling? or are you talking about the agenda to enrich some casinos at the cost to others? Or maybe, just maybe, it is fighting for special trade status with communist china - the same country that was torturing and killing christians.

You are the one with horrible, and more so, truthless attacks.

By Bowersville

July 3, 2006 08:01 PM | Link to this

Laughable, laughable, laughable. It never ceases to amaze me to what lengths the Reed supporters will go to distort the record of a conservative Republican! Talking about a Democratic win in November, nominate Reed. Cagle’s add was very effective and on target.

By Debbie

July 3, 2006 08:52 PM | Link to this

Check out Cagle’s disclosure form. On the same reporting period, he has consultant/contract and staff/employee. If they were consultants why did he bother to list them on separate lines in the same report?

Stayed tuned, there is much more to come on Cave in Casey….

By Debbie

July 3, 2006 08:54 PM | Link to this

Casey Cagle is the slimiest of the slime. He used his office and influence to become a millionaire and advance himself from selling tuxedos to Bank President.

It will be a rough two weeks for you Cagle supporters…

By Bowersville

July 3, 2006 09:09 PM | Link to this

Heard all that before, more blah, blah, blah from Reed supporters. Why did Reed insist that the $4-5 MILLION to protect gambling interests come through tax exempt entities to Reed, or was that Abramoff insisting the gambling monies come through the tax exempt entities to protect Reed? Who is the slime, Abramoff of Reed?

By Franklin

July 4, 2006 07:31 AM | Link to this

Bowersville,

I assume you are in Hart county. I agree with you Casey Cagle is the man for our time.

Are you involved in the Griffin / Powell statehouse race? It’s time for a change in the 29th.

By Debbie

July 4, 2006 07:44 AM | Link to this

Bowrsville, you are telling an outright lie and you know it. You DON’T care about t e truth.

Reed had no idea that money was coming from sources and their objective was to protect gambling interests. Even extreme left wing Slate.com mentioned that. You saw the article because you post on peach pundit. Another attempt by the Cagle Campaign to distort the truth so Cagle can distract from his lack of ethics and breaking the laws he was elected to uphold.

http://www.slate.com/id/2144601/?nav=tap3

Because I believe in the vengeful God of the Old Testament (and Monty Python sketches), I assume that Ralph Reed, the former executive director of the Christian Coalition, is probably telling the truth about his dealings with lobbyist Jack Abramoff. If Reed did all the things that investigators hint that he did, the Creator would surely have zapped him already. According to a recent report by the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Abramoff paid Reed $5.3 million to tap his network of pastors and parishioners to wage a grass-roots war against gambling. What Abramoff perhaps didn’t tell Reed is that Indian tribes who ran casinos were funding the effort in order to scare away new competition. Reed, a longtime Abramoff friend from their early days in GOP politics, says he didn’t know about the plot. Any devout evangelical who cons co-religionists without begging forgiveness is either innocent or risking a divine lightning bolt to the head.

Really says a lot about your character.

By HCCitizen

July 4, 2006 08:45 AM | Link to this

Look around, folks. The media game is just a sideshow for political campaigns. In efforts to paint black marks on the opposition, a little smudge is sure to rub off on yourself.

I discount the Cox-Taylor campaigns as lacking substance. They are so busy beating each other’s heads in, neither is providing voters a valid choice.

The Cagle-Reed thing is no different. The only stick Cagle can use is the Indian Casino lobbying “scandal.” And he continues to beat a dead horse. Where’s the beef? Whare are the indictments or even proof of wrongdoing? Smoke and mirrors will make me vote for “the other guy” every time.

Honestly I am skeptical about any candidate who draws support from just about every already-elected politico. The whole insider thing concerns me beause of all the back-scratching in government. Cagle is probably a great guy, but I have seen nothing damning about Reed.

By Larry

July 4, 2006 09:00 AM | Link to this

“nothing damning about Reed…”

Innuendo is most successful when presented to an ignorant electorate: Reed matriculated with co-eds. Reed has a sister who is a practicing thesbian. Reed is a “card carrying….” Reed is a shameless extrovert. Before his marriage he habitually practiced celibacy. These are quotations used by George Smathers against Claude “Red” Pepper, thereby taking Pepper’s Florida Senate seat in 1952. Get the picture?

By Zathras

July 4, 2006 02:32 PM | Link to this

Just as a matter of tradecraft, if you’re discussing Reed’s ethical…ahem…issues for the first time in a campaign ad it ought to be a 60-second ad, and you shouldn’t also be plugging your own candidate.

This works for other kinds of advertising too. Run the longer ads first to establish the message, then run the shorter ads to reinforce it. This assumes, of course, that you have enough money to do both, and this may be a problem for Cagle’s campaign.

The content of the ad is fine; if anything it understates what is known about Reed.

By Darrell

July 4, 2006 04:20 PM | Link to this

Wow the Cagle Smear campaign against Reed must really be working. Reed won the Gwinnett Straw Poll last week by 56% and Reed just won the Cobb Straw Poll by 64%. Keep it up guys and in 2 weeks Ralph will win by 70%.

By Howard

July 4, 2006 06:48 PM | Link to this

Cobb GOP BBQ Straw Poll Over 1075 in attendance from different counties:

Gov Perdue 311 McBerry 40 Lt Gov Reed 333 Cagle 190 SOS Handel 172 Stephens 144 Bailey 30 AG Black 265 Kemp 105 Greer 10 Strickland 20 PSC Eaton 192 Parkman 85 Labor Brown 230 Scheid 52 School Super Cox 234 Carter 77 PSC Weiss 235 Nickle 61 President

George Allen 59 Bill Frist 11 Newt Gingrich 132 Rudy Giuliani 73 Mitt Romney 35 John McCain 31

Questions Do you support the Guest Worker Program for illegal aliens?

Y 168 No 286

Do you think SPLOSTs should only be held in general elections so as to maximize voter participation? Y 289 No 59

Do you support the Fair Tax Plan? Y 315 No 33

Do you think the Cobb School term of office should be decreased from 4 years to 2 years to insure accountability?

Y 175 No 158

By josh

July 4, 2006 07:51 PM | Link to this

Handel has now won the Wild Bill Straw Poll, the Cobb County Straw poll, and is the IA poll had more than a 2-1 advantage over Bailey with Stephens in third. Handel must like the way she’s heading into the last two weeks of the campaign.

By Sane Republican

July 4, 2006 07:53 PM | Link to this

Hey, Darrell, if I were Casey Cagle, I’d be glad that the nuts in the Cobb GOP rigged a straw poll to screw me.

Remember the Isakson race? Most of the local GOP nuts hated him, and he’s now a U.S. Senator.

Of course, the ironic thing is that they all now say they were with him the whole time, but who’s keeping score, right?

The only thing that’s hard for me to figure out is whether the Paulding or Cobb GOP is collectively crazier. Right now, smart money is on Cobb, but Paulding is putting on a valiant run for first.

By Philly

July 4, 2006 09:28 PM | Link to this

There were not just Cobb people there. I spoke to people that had come all the way from Macon just to vote for Cagle.

There were both Reed and Cagle supporters in every part of the voting process. I even saw some with Reed and Cagle t shirts where they were doing the counting. It is almost like they anticipated that the losing side would have some excuse and made sure it was fair.

When you turned in your ballot, you had your finger inked with purple.

I will say the straw poll was interesting. I came to vote for Reed but ended up voting on some other races but not all.

I was a little annoyed that as soon as I walked in the room, both camps approached me at once and I was urged to vote. I did not even have time to catch my breath.

I liked the questions, very engaging.

I had heard differing things on that Scott Hobbs fellow but found he ran a pretty tight show and kept things interesting. He knows how to pump things up. I don’t guess you can not believe everything you read.

By Tony

July 4, 2006 11:36 PM | Link to this

Debbie,

It’s good to see Ralphie is doing nothing but digging up whatever he can scratch up on Cagle. Thank you for spouting out Ralphie’s press release showing a ‘grassroots campaign guy’ doesn’t even know this is perfectly legal and quite commonplace in politics. Is that all Ralphie can do? Dig up endless attack pieces on his opponent? At least Cagle’s are honest and truthful. Reed’s are completely idiotic misunderstandings of reality.

Perhaps if Ralphie was a TRUE campaigner and not so busy laundering money around to his buddies, he would have known this was legal.

And Debbie, this proves you’re not as involved and plugged into campaigns as you say you are.

Truly all Debbie can do is copy and paste and repeat what her master tells her. She and all of the Ralphites need to get a clue and start focusing on just how “wonderful” Ralphie has been in his many failed political campaigns.

By Debbie

July 5, 2006 05:54 AM | Link to this

Typical bs that I have come to expect from Cagle people. Cagle supporters crying about Reed’s negaive campaigning is like the pot caling the kettle black. What hypocrites you all are!!

What was not truthful about the press release? Cagle’s financial disclosures clearly show consultant/contractors and emplyees/staff on different lines. Cagle made a clear distinction. You think and Cagle think he does not have follow the law..

It is going to be a rough two weeks for you guys.

By Michae C

July 5, 2006 08:27 AM | Link to this

I was at the Cobb BBQ yesterday and I must point something that painfully clear. Reed supporters, like Debbie are very arrogant. They had a canned line for everything. “We will appreciate your support in the general”.

Debbie continues to spout that Cagle supporters will have a rough two weeks. This is where she is wrong. cagle supporters are very humble. We were never supposed to be here. Reed should be running away with this, but he is not. Cagle has the momentum that will put him over the top on the 18th.

I will tell you the type of person Reed is, during his speech yesterday, He said a reason to vote for him was because he was “skinny”. An obvious jab at Mark Taylor. I found it tasteless and silly. Why even say that?

By Tony

July 5, 2006 09:25 AM | Link to this

Debbie,

Since you’re sooooo plugged in and know so much about campaign law and tax law, what tax law was broken? Surely you know what a 1099 is? Ever heard of it?

The entire release is an allegation without pursuing the truth. It is sleaze in its purest form. It is innuendo and conjecture. It is an assumption. It is a lazy move designed to malign someone KNOWING the truth is far different.

So yes Debbie, there is a difference and nothing about pot calling kettle black. You see Ralph has been portraying himself as this good Christian guy so focused on himself and all of his WONDERFUL accomplishments, he should be harping on those instead of mudslinging. You see if Ralph truly was what he says he is, he’d be above the mudslinging and signing his own praises. But since he has none, all he can do is sling mud.

By Tony

July 5, 2006 01:37 PM | Link to this

Debbie,

Ask your boss why he did the same thing he slammed Cagle for. It seems that Ralphie forgets to hold himself to the same standards he holds everyone else to. It helps to not be a hypocrite when accusing someone else of doing something you yourself are doing. I guess Ralph just isn’t as pure and moral as he pretends to be.

Now watch this. Instead of defending their guy and rebutting with something to make Ralph look good, Ralphites will respond with attacks on Cagle. They CANNOT defend their guy with credibility. All Ralph can do is attack and try to make the other guy look more corrupt than him.