John McCain: Tax Scofflaw

Despite his previous comments that he doesn’t know much about the economy, Republican Presidential nominee John McCain really wants the American people to believe he’s the best man to get our nation’s lagging economy back on track. He’s touted his record on pork barrel spending, and he’s said he’ll cut government spending, but it’s interesting to me that a man who can’t even pay his own taxes on time wants to be in charge of getting our economy back on track. Apparently Mrs. McCain owns a number of properties, including a condominium in La Jolla, California, and for the past four years taxes on that property haven’t been paid:

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.

It’s interesting that it took a Newsweek article to get the McCains to stop being scofflaws and pay their property taxes, but what even more interesting is the fact that Mrs. McCain didn’t even pay the full balance on her taxes:

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.

By itself, this could be chalked up as an honest mistake, but let’s not forget the McCains also have more than $100,000 in credit card debt, a fact that sharply contrasts with Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama, who reported no liabilities and college saving of between $100,00 and $250,000 for each of his daughters. I don’t know about you, but I prefer having the guy who pays his taxes and bills while saving money for his kids at the same time help get the economy back on track as President.