The Rochester Post-Bulletin picks up on the story about GOP-endorsed candidate Brian Davis's habitual property tax lateness. This time, Davis excuses himself by saying that everybody does it:
Davis said he didn't think the issue would hurt his campaign.
"Apparently, there are several other candidates running for office in Minnesota who've had a similar problem. I think it's a very human problem, and I don't claim to be anything different from other people in that regard," Davis said.
Since Davis doesn't supply the details, we will. When it comes to property taxes, the issue has been brought up in Minnesota's Sixth. Congresswoman Bachmann missed one payment, while her DFL and Independence Party opponent El Tinklenberg missed two--and his tardy payments came in 1999 and 2005. Both situations are in a different league than the Davis household's eleven late payments, one year after another.
Or maybe Davis is talking about some other candidate with a tax problem. Does his appeal to his own frail humanity signal a coming truce between the parties on this sort of issue? Or is he just finding another way to excuse himself?
The PB reports:
Brian Davis, the GOP-endorsed candidate who is challenging DFL Rep. Tim Walz for Congress, was late in paying property taxes on his Rochester home every year since 2003 and has paid more than $1,300 in fines, fees and interest to Olmsted County, property tax records show.
Davis' property tax delinquency came to light when Politico ran a story Wednesday highlighting candidates who failed to pay their property taxes on time. The story mentioned Davis, who records show paid tax penalties on his house every year from 2003-2007.
The story prompted the DFL Party to obtain Davis' public tax records and discover that Davis had also missed the May 15, 2008, property tax deadline. He paid his first-half taxes on June 17, along with an $86.80 late fee, property records show. The DFL posted Davis's tax records on its Web site.
We have pointed out that Davis's tax tardiness isn't an isolated bookkeeping bungle. His boffo bookkeeping during his abbreviated stint as Olmsted County Republican treasurer (paperwork for $13,000+ in contributions went missed; the mess was still being unsnarled at the time posted) and what looks to be his tardiness in paying a ticket for failure to register a vehicle. The lack of payment resulted in a suspended drivers license.
And then there's the serial exaggeration, use of discredited, dated or dubious sources to make his policy points, and wavering on energy subsidies for renewables.
Why are Southern Minnesotans being asked to support this fresh face? From the picture that's emerging, we'd have to guess that the "foo-foo dust" Senator Day ocassionally mentions in state senate debates might have been at work on the Owatonna Republican's misled pachyderm peers when they endorsed this clown.
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