The liberal actor that has in the past railed against the Bush tax cuts is apparently being targeted by New York City for trying to evade taxation.
Try to not giggle as you read this report about Alec Baldwin from the New York Daily News:
In recent years, auditors have confronted hundreds of super-wealthy New Yorkers over the residency rules - including star Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter.
Facing shrinking revenues, the state has ramped up its pursuit of suspected tax dodgers, hiring 189 new auditors and - for the first time - making filers swear under oath on tax forms as to how many days they "spend in New York City."
If it's more than 183 days and the filer has a residence in the city, the tax bill goes up.
Baldwin, star of NBC's "30 Rock," owns a three-bedroom co-op on Central Park West, a house in the Hamptons and a pad near his daughter in Los Angeles.
He spends lots of time in the city doing the show, but claims the Hamptons as home base. That made him one of hundreds of people slapped with an audit in 2009.
Are you giggling yet?
If not, consider what Baldwin wrote in the Huffington Post four years ago in a piece he titled "Tax Cuts and the Republican Legacy":
These tax cuts are not only to make Bush's wealthiest supporters richer, they are intended to hurt less powerful Americans by killing many of the social programs they depend on. That is the legacy of this Republican-controlled Congress. To hurt those who aren't wealthy enough to write Bush-Cheney a big check. I urge all Americans to keep that in mind during this election cycle. A Republican-controlled Congress is killing important social programs that we all depend on, so that Bush's friends can avoid paying a reasonable share of their taxes.
Help end these horrible and corrupt times in this country. Give your contributions to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.
So, according to the News, Baldwin might be claiming residency in the Hamptons to evade New York City taxes.
But four years ago, the "30 Rock" star encouraged people to give generously to Democrats in the midterm elections so that Republicans could be ousted from Congress and taxes raised.
This will certainly come as no surprise to Peter Schweizer who in his 2005 "Do As I Say, Not As I Do" informed readers of how wealthy liberals talk a good game promoting liberal precepts, but do a horrible job adhering to them.
Yet this wasn't the first time Baldwin was exposed for tax hypocrisy. The American Spectator caught him with his hand in the cookie jar two years ago:
In one of the more ironic interviews in recent memory, Alec Baldwin last week told local cable news host Dominic Carter that Governor David Paterson should keep the current tax incentives for film and television companies that set up shop in New York. "I'm telling you right now," the actor warned, "if these tax breaks are not reinstated into the budget, film production in this town is going to collapse, and television production is going to collapse, and it's all going to go to California."
So, when tax hikes might hurt his industry, Baldwin's against them.
You've got to be giggling now.
What will also be funny is seeing how the Huffington Post reports this matter.
When Rush Limbaugh complained on his show about Paterson's proposed tax hikes in 2009 promising to sell his condo in the City as a result, the Huffington Post published a lengthy piece about it including the full transcript.
The headline was, "Rush Limbaugh to New York: Drop Dead."
Will the Huffington Post come down as strongly on one of its own?
Stay tuned.
