Almost every blogger or reporter (myself included) has at some point jumped the gun on a juicy story without first nailing down the underlying details. The key is to acknowledge the mistake when this happens. But in the case of the local conservative blog Illinois Review, their response is to hit the delete key.
For instance, when we recently caught "IR Editor" Fran Eaton peddling a debunked smear regarding Michelle Obama, the post in question suddenly disappeared from the site without any correction or clarification. Poof! Gone! Nothing to see here!
Eaton provided another case study today, with a post suggesting Rep. Rahm Emanuel doesn't pay his fair share of taxes. After failing to initially find Emanuel's property tax records in the Cook Co. Assessor's database, she went ahead and published this serious charge, going so far as to put forth a theory for how the congressman was dodging his tax bill and bringing up the specter of the Obama-Rezko property purchases in Hyde Park.
When someone from the assessor's office wrote in and pointed out that Emanuel actually paid over $13,000 in property taxes last year, his comment was deleted from the site -- though not before Rich Miller managed to copy-and-paste it over to his blog. Once Miller highlighted IR's bogus story and their attempt to cover-up the mistake, Eaton got cracking on an update. She posted it this afternoon, acknowledging that Emanuel does pay taxes, but saying that the whole matter "seems to raise more questions." Of course, her questions were either irrelevant or easily answered by a bit of cursory research. Miller posted the assessor's incredulous response to the whole affair here. Oof.
Meanwhile, if Eaton is so concerned about the property taxes paid by our local congressmen, maybe she should take a gander at my post back in June on GOP Rep. Mark Kirk's tax bill. As I reported, while his property is worth more than $450,000, he pays under $1,000 in property taxes each year, thanks to a very shrewd -- and entirely legal -- use of the historic preservation tax credit program here in Illinois. (And just to be clear, I spoke at length with the Lake County Assessor's Office on several occasions before posting that article.)
Comments
Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 11/06/2008 - 17:28
How dare you do research before posting something on a blog!
;)
ttj (not verified) on Fri, 11/07/2008 - 09:11
Hi Josh....does that somehow explain how Obama got a $300,000 discount on his property on the same day that Rezko paid market price to the same seller for a similar adjoining property? Is that some kind of excuse?
I haven't seen any explanations for this so far over the past 10 months that the story was first reported and the details seem to be tied up in the Rezko court case.
You seem to have an inside line on this. Could you explain exactly how Obama managed to get the discount when Rezko did not? I mean, a convincing explanation, not just "Obama already said that the buyer desired to close the deal as quickly as possible"...or anything like that...
Josh Kalven on Fri, 11/07/2008 - 09:43
TTJ:
There's no evidence that Obama got a "discount."
The key difference between the house and the sidelot -- one often overlooked -- is that there was apparently an individual who held an option to purchase the lot at the full price of $600,000. So unlike Obama -- who, after three tries, managed to bid down the price of the house -- the Rezkos would have had a tough time bidding down the lot.
http://progressillinois.com/2008/03/20/mcqueary-repeats-bogus-obama-clai...
Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 11/07/2008 - 12:32
TTJ -
Why do conservatives suddenly have a problem with fiscal responsibility just because Barack Obama was able to negotiate a reasonable price for his home.
What kind of dolt pays the asking price on a home unless there's some sort of market pressure to do so?
Besides, the home sellers have already told the media who looked into the sale that there was another bid on the house that was even lower than the Obamas' offer.
Try taking a little less spin in the morning. You won't get so dizzy.
Anna (not verified) on Sun, 02/22/2009 - 19:28
I am getting emails about Rahm Emanuel's property taxes. I never pass on information like this unless I know it's true, and I report back to the sender when I recieve incorrect information.
A very brief search indicates that there is some confusion about this matter. Emanuel has paid his RE taxes, apparently...but how much were they? According to sources online, he's named his home as the headquarters of his charitable trust, which exempts him from paying property taxes, or at least, he has much smaller bill than the ordinary Cook County homeowner (of which I am one) does. This may be legal but it sure smells bad.
Does anyone know the whole story? I frankly loathe half truths and shaded truths, no matter which end of the political spectrum it comes from. Can you explain it a little more fully?
Anna (not verified) on Sun, 02/22/2009 - 19:44
I wish I could take down the post above. I did a little more digging and uncovered the whole story. Turns out to have been nothing. The foundation doesnt affect the taxes due, and he did pay his property tax bill.
I hate it when when disinformation is deliberately spread.
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