As US Representative John F. Tierney and Richard R. Tisei gear up for their first debate on Thursday in a bruising congressional campaign, each is facing potentially embarrassing questions about his personal tax returns.
Tisei, the former Republican minority leader of the state Senate, paid no federal income taxes in 2006 or 2008, after reporting losses from his Lynnfield real estate firm and two rental properties, according to 10 years of tax returns he provided at the request of the Globe.
Comments
Well...this is too bad. I have liked John Tierney and supported him in the past...but this kind of arrogant stonewalling makes me think that he has completely forgotten for whom he works. Interesting...that just always seems to happen if you stay in elective politics past a certain number of years. I am not fond of the Republican Party...but I am going to have to think about this more carefully.
Good point. There needs to be term limits. If it wasn't seen as a job for life there would be a lot less money involved, politicians would be able to act more boldly and there would be less taking advantage of "perks" that exist for lifetime pols. Being a Senator or Representative was never supposed to have been a career. Have to get the foxes out of the hen house.
When the Globe gave broad coverage to the Eremian brothers charges, including the claim by Robert that he had documented proof of his charges, that was a big headline. The Globe then sent reporters to Antigua, knocked on Robert’s door and asked to see the proof. They were turned away. Was that a headline? No. It was buried half way through another story. I don’t blame Tierney for being guarded about dealing with the Globe.
In 1966, The Philadelphia Inquirer asked Governor Milton Shapp during a press conference, if Shapp if he had ever been a patient in a mental hospital. Having never been in one, Shapp simply said "no". The next day, a five-column front page Inquirer headline read, “Shapp Denies Mental Institution Stay.” Not exactly “high journalism.”
I love the Globe. Reading it is the first thing I do every day. But the coverage of Tierney has been very unsettling to me and I am concerned that there is something moving in the wrong direction on Morrissey Boulevard. To echo what happened to Ray Donovan, Reagan's Labor Secretary, will there be a place at the Globe where John Tierney can go to get back his reputation back.
Gotta love Philly.
The ONLY question that could, or should, loom here is...who in their right mind would vote for that crook Tierney. Remember folks, you deserve what you vote for.
Vote for Tisei if you want the U.S. House of Representatives to have a majority of Republicans do nothing but try to stop the U.S. Government from operating efficiently and effectively.
"try to stop the U.S. Government from operating efficiently and effectively"? Really? Not to be a jerk or anything but you do read newspapers don't you? Even a Democrat couldn't say that our government is run efficiently or effectively.
Ok, other than being in a lot of company in the tanking of the real estate market, what exactly is "embarrassing" in Tisei's returns. As a Democrat, albeit one who does not live in this district, I find the headline and the sub-head extremely misleading as it suggests wrondoing on Tisei's part when the story merely mentions business losses. And no one, not even the Tierney camp, is claiming such.
Michael Rezendes wrote an excellent piece. It was a Globe editors' and headline writer's decision to make the Tierney and Tisei tax issues somehow, ridiculously, connected.
Absolutely correct. Typical Globe nonsense when it comes to Republican candidates. What a disgrace!
As Barbara said, the reporter writes an excellent article highly damaging to Tierney, and, if anything, sympathetic to Tisei, and the headline distorts it completely. Does the Globe have an ombudsman? He/she should look into this. That headline is, even by Globe standards, shockingly bad journalism.
NO - the Globe doesn't have an Ombudsman: the paper has gone rogue! An article that appeared on the Editorial page (9/26/12) was so poorly written and bias that the Editor who wrote it could have been disciplined or 'let-go' by other papers. But enquires revealed no "Ombudsman & minimum oversight of Globe staff.
Cantabrigian01, sounds like the state's crime lab! Who needs oversight? What bad could come from it!!
I'm voting for none of the above!
I realize that you don't write the headline but it's very deceptive to state 'Tax Questions Loom for Tierney, Tisei". How exactly will Tisei be embarassed by his return? Why does it say "GOP rival didn't pay federal taxes for two years", like there was something nefarious going on when you plainly point out that it was a result of his real estate business losing money, as most did during this timeframe? Tierney's the one who was caught with his hand in the cookie jar. This sort of deception will cause the casual reader browsing headlines to think Tisei is as dirty as Tierney.
The U.S. is known as a totally capitalistic country, due to early settlement & the Constitution, so what is the big deal with submitting personal tax returns. For god's sake, there are 47% of U.S. residents NOT PAYING TAXES!!! The percentage reflects the number of people benefiting the most from government programs. Incidently - for those who can not add the dots - the government programs are financed by those of us who do pay taxes.
I guess the embarrassment for Tisei is that for a couple years there the poor fellow was beneath Mitt Romney's contempt. No taxes paid? One of the 47%?
But then again, he's a gay guy who's a Republican...not a party known for welcoming gay people. I notice from the press coverage that he has a "life partner." At least he hasn't transgressed the Defense of Marriage Act. What if had married his "life partner?" Would he then have been drummed out of the GOP? His bio says he comes from a devoutly Catholic family. Does he believe his sexuality is "disordered" as understood by the Bishops? I come from a "devoutly Catholic family" too...but Mom and Dad were devout enough to ignore the Bishops and comfort my gay cousin lovingly in a day when gaybashing was the norm among the devout.