Late tax file, goodbye

Late tax file, goodbye
February 16, 2008

If state workers face firing over failure to file income tax returns, then the same should be true for elected officials.

After several Oklahoma legislators received notices for failing to file returns, the Associated Press contacted the Tax Commission about the plight of state workers who failed to file. The Tax Commission said it did not have a number, but that many state employees had been let go since passage in 2003 of a law directing agency heads to fire workers who did not resolve tax problems.

Rep. Lance Cargill, R-Harrah, who voted for the bill, was one of those legislators guilty of failing to file in 2005 and 2006.

Cargill said he was embarrassed by his oversight. That’s good. He should have been embarrassed, and he did lose his position as speaker of the House.

But he and other legislators should have lost their office if state employees have been fired under similar circumstances. It’s the height of hypocrisy and a poor statement on leadership for state legislators to require citizens to do something they don’t want to do.

It’s also disturbing to read the comments of Rep. Don Armes, R-Faxon, and Rep. Gus Blackwell, R-Goodwell, who blamed the media and other legislators for their own troubles.

Blackwell’s comment was that everybody in the House was guilty of something and “If the qualification for office is that your property taxes are paid on time, then we're going to have sad leadership in the state."

Unfortunately, we do have a crisis in leadership in this state, but the crisis isn’t from the faults Blackwell pointed out. The crisis is the result of our supposed leaders not wanting to accept responsibility for the mistakes they make.