'Politician Passed on Paying Pesky Taxes for Private Plane'

From their Variety-themed headline onward, Deceiver.com has a little fun with Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Learjet):

Sen. Claire McCaskill, the esteemed Democrat from Missouri and one of Congress’s richest members with a personal net worth north of $15 million, is finding herself in serious shiz over how she made taxpayers foot the bill for her use of a private jet to commute to Washington.

Politico.com outed her earlier this month after reviewing public records:

Sen. Claire McCaskill has been aggressive in promoting oversight and transparency for congressional travel, introducing a reform bill that cracks down on overseas travel for lawmakers.

But when it comes to her own domestic flights, the Missouri Democrat has enjoyed friendly skies: She’s spent nearly $76,000 in public funds since 2007 to fly on a charter plane she co-owns with her husband and other investors, a POLITICO analysis of public records show.

Whatevs, no big. That’s pocket change for McCaskill. She cut a check to the Treasury and hoped the story would go away.

Except it hasn’t, as it turns out she’s evaded paying property taxes on the jet to the tune of $287,273 over the past four years.

Just for a change of pace from the PJ, let’s take McCaskill on a walk down Memory Lane to February 2009, when it came out that her fellow Democrat Tom Daschle wasn’t 100% up to date with the IRS, owing $140,000 for travel expenses. (Note that’s less than half what McCaskill herself rang up on the taxpayer dime.)

As Variety might put it, hix in stix could give Clair the deep six by punching her opponent’s tix in 2012. Even the far left Talking Points Memo admits “Poll: Sen. McCaskill Looks Vulnerable For Defeat In 2012″ — and that was from March 8th, the day before the airplane scandal broke wide open. (At least searching on plane” brings up nada in the TPM article.) And speaking of far left talking points, the New York Times helpfully reminds their party, given the number of Senate seats they must defend next year, “Democrats Can’t Afford Mistakes Like McCaskill’s Plane.”

Besides, think of the leftists obsessed with binge flyers and teeny-tiny carbon footprints!