McCain Fails To Pay His Taxes

The McCain's appear to be horrible at managing their own finances. Why should we let people like this take control of the country's economy during a time like this?

You already know that the McCain's have racked up about over $100,000 in credit card debt.

And now, thanks to Newsweek, we learn that they haven't paid property taxes on one of their homes for over four years:

San Diego County officials, it turns out, have been sending out tax notices on the La Jolla property, an oceanfront condo, for four years without receiving a response. County records show the bills, which were mailed to a Phoenix address associated with Mrs. McCain's trust, were returned by the post office. According to a McCain campaign aide, who requested anonymity when discussing a private matter, an elderly aunt of Mrs. McCain's lives in the condo, and the bank that manages the trust has not been receiving tax bills on the property. Shortly after NEWSWEEK inquired about the matter, the McCain aide e-mailed a receipt dated Friday, June 27, confirming payment by the trust to San Diego County in the amount of $6,744.42. County officials say the trust still owes an additional $1,742 for this year, an amount that is overdue and will go into default July 1. Told of the outstanding $1,742, the aide said: "The trust has paid all bills shown owing as of today and will pay all other bills due."

Dan McAllister, treasurer- tax collector for San Diego County, said that about 3 percent of San Diego's approximately 1 million property owners default on their property taxes each year. The county assesses a 1.5 percent penalty for each month that goes by unpaid and puts houses up for sale after five years. "We do hear an awful lot of excuses for why people don't pay," McAllister said. "Under the law, the property owner is responsible for keeping the address current. We're only as good as the information we are given."

First of all, I'm shocked that a La Jolla condo could have such low property taxes. But as I've learned from Redfin, the McCains are benefiting greatly from Proposition 13, which keeps home valuations almost flat no matter what happens with real estate prices. So the McCain condo is valued at a mere $140,855, even though the unit next door sold for $998,000 in 2004, and another condo on the property sold for $1.1 million just this year.

So even though the McCains are required to pay 1/6th the taxes that a new buyer to this condo would have to pay, they still failed to even pay those discounted taxes for the last four years.

Already it looks like the media is overlooking this story. What a disgrace. If Barack Obama had huge credit card debts or had failed to pay his taxes for four years, you'd better believe it would become an issue. But when multimillionaire John McCain does it, all you hear is a big yawn.