01/22/10

from American Thinker

Another Big Democrat Tax Scofflaw

Thomas Lifson

The Mayor of Oakland, California, far-left former Congressman "Red" Ron Dellums, has been hit with a second IRS lien for unpaid taxes. Henry K. Lee of the San Francisco Chronicle writes:

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and his wife, who already have a lien on their property for failing to pay more than $239,000 in taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, are now facing a second lien for more than $13,000, records show.

Dellums, 73, and his wife, Cynthia, 55, who acts as his unpaid adviser, are named in an IRS lien filed with the Alameda County recorder's office Dec. 23 in the amount of $13,638.

Mayor and Mrs. Dellums own a house in Washington, DC assessed at 1.4 million dollars, but somehow can't or won't pay their taxes, which apparently only for suckers.

Dellums is a major figure in the Bay Area Left, coming from a prominent Oakland family responsible for organizing the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters on the West Coast, which was an important pillar of the Oakland black community, and the wellspring of the Civil Rights Movement. He served 13 terms in the House of Representatives, and was replaced by his chief of staff Barbara Lee.

Dellums is a leftist of the very worst kind, one who was caught in the act when documents were uncovered in Grenada, after a Marxist coup there was foiled by a US invasion, under President Reagan (who remains a popular hero in Grenada, whose people did not relish the prospect of Cuba-style life there). David Horowitz provides a concise description of the facts:

Ron Dellums was the head of the House Sub-committee on Military Installations. In this capacity, he had top security clearance and carried on a one-man campaign to thwart the foreign policy of the United States in regard to the Communist dictatorship of Grenada.

U.S. security officials had identified the Communist dictatorship as a threat because of the presence of large numbers of Soviet bloc advisers and their ongoing construction of an airport that could be used for Soviet military planes. As the ranking Democrat member of the House Armed Services Committee, Dellums went to Grenada to conduct his own fact-finding tour. On his return he testified before the House Subcommittee on Inter-American Affairs that "based on my personal observations, discussion and analysis of the new international airport under construction in Grenada, it is my conclusion that this project is specifically now and has always been for the purpose of economic development and is not for military use.... It is my thought that it is absurd, patronizing and totally unwarranted for the United States Government to charge that this airport poses a military threat to the United States' national security."

What legislators did not know at the time was that Dellums had previously submitted his report on the airport to the Communist dictator of Grenada for his prior approval, and subject to any changes he or his military advisers chose to make. In other words, Dellums acted as an agent of the Communist enemy in abetting his hostile designs against the United States. His emissary in this act of betrayal was Barbara Lee.

We know this from government documents retrieved by US marines after Grenada was liberated by U.S. forces.

Is it any surprise that a man like this wouldn't bother to pay his taxes? It is amazing to me that such a man can hold high public office.

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Tax Tip: If you are or have been an elected office holder, it is not necessary to file federal income tax returns.