It's been fashionable in Republican circles to say that Barack Obama is an elitist because he has a nice home, or went to good schools, or made a bunch of money from the books he actually wrote himself. For some reason, out there in Wingnuttia, the only way you can relate to Joe Sixpack if you're a Democrat, is to make less than $40,000 a year. But if you're a Republican, you can leave your wife for a heiress worth a cool hundred million, and you're a regular guy.
You're also a regular guy (or gal) if you put a lot of "golly"s and "gosh darn"s and "you betchas" into your speech -- even if you make $125,000 a year as governor and take a ton of deductions off your husband's so-called "self-employment."
And you're also a regular guy or gal if you don't pay taxes on your per diems that you took for staying in your own home:
Sarah Palin is the breadwinner and husband Todd is, well — he takes a lot of deductions for his fishing and snowmachine racing careers, according to 2007 and 2006 federal tax returns released Friday.
Sarah Palin makes $125,000 a year as Alaska governor. Plus, since she took the job in December 2006, she hasn't paid taxes on the more than $17,000 she received in controversial per diem payments for working out of the family's lakeside home in Wasilla — some 575 miles from the capital of Juneau.
For the 2007 tax year, Todd Palin's self-employment brought him $66,893 in gross receipts — $49,893 from fishing and $17,000 from snowmachine racing. But, the returns show, he claimed so many deductions that he reported only $15,513 net profit from the fishing operation and claimed a $9,639 loss from his racing, leaving him with an overall net income of only $5,874.
Those deductions enabled the Palins, who have four dependent children, to enjoy a 15 percent tax rate for 2007 and a rate of less than 10 percent for 2006. Todd Palin also deducted for the business use of their home in Wasilla. A fifth child was born to the couple this year.
An Associated Press analysis of the returns released by the McCain campaign also reveals that the Palins underpaid their estimated taxes with an April extension and likely owe interest.
Todd Palin offset his $17,000 gross receipts for snowmachine racing by claiming $10,858 in depreciation; $2,425 for car and truck expenses; $1,559 for supplies. Another $11,405 was claimed for "other," which included fuel, entry fees, equipment parts, repairs and maintenance, cell phone, memberships, "sponsorship apprec" and "gear."
The governor's husband claimed another $34,380 in deductions for his fishing business — more than two-thirds of the gross receipts. He claimed $12,245 in crew share payments, another $2,953 for car and truck expenses, $5,866 for depreciation, $4,181 for supplies.
When he was on snowmachine duty, he claimed $192 for travel and no deductions for meals and entertainment. While fishing, he claimed $2,194 for travel and another $680 for meals and entertainment, which is deductible at 50 percent of cost.
On the 2006 return, Todd Palin had total receipts from the fishing and snowmachine racing of $48,082, but after deductions his net income was $10,164.
Sarah Palin was only governor for one month in 2006, and Todd Palin earned $102,716 working the North Slope for BP Exploration, a post he says he's temporarily left.
"This is a lady who screams about everyone in federal government taking advantage, and she's taking every advantage she can," said Sheldon Cohen, IRS commissioner in the Johnson administration. "They are milking every possible deduction. They have a right to, if it's legitimate. The question is, is he in the racing business or is it a hobby?"
Because tax evasion, too, is OK if you're a Republican. It's also, in their minds, reflective "Joe Sixpack" values.
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