Julius Caesar had his ides of March. I had my ides of April, and I think it would have been cheaper for me this year to have just fallen on my sword (or pen, as the case may be) instead of filing mountainous tax penalties, which will take me quite some time to make right. I sure wish I had someone like Bob Dole as a friend right now.
It didn’t help my attitude much to sit in a Maryland bankruptcy court and hear Pocket Communications Inc.’s creditors wrangle over which loans would be the most lucrative to pursue-payback-wise-and which they should just overlook. Knowing what I know about tanking businesses and their aftermath, those involved in this one will walk away with tax writeoffs due to capital losses, a few bruised egos, a long vacation before the next venture is explored and few personal funds expended.
On the train back from Baltimore, I found myself sitting behind former Clinton family insider Web Hubble. It took all the strength I had not to strike up a conversation with him (we reporters never sleep) but I swear I would not have brought up the Whitewater thing.
I just wanted to know if he had any of the half-million left for a small loan. And if he didn’t, I wanted to know how I could motivate my “friends” to support me in my time of need.
NextWave’s gutsy move to ask the FCC to set aside its penalties, at least temporarily, for breaking Communications Act laws also gave me pause.
Okay, I admit that I failed to pay estimated taxes last year but is there any way for me to claim “public interest” because I used the funds from a cashed-in retirement account to pay my kid’s college tuition? He’s going into teaching. Maybe he’ll end up in the inner city, in a rural area or on an Indian reservation. Can’t I claim a waiver for that?
The FCC has made great strides in recent years to fine licensee scofflaws and to make an example of them in print. However, many of these rulebreakers never pay up.
The reason? The Justice Department, to which the commission has the authority to turn over non-payers, will not expend the manpower to collect what it considers to be small-potato fees, like those hovering in the $10,000 range. Why can’t the Internal Revenue Service operate like that?
So I’m thinking about hosting a coffee klatch, and I can guarantee that the president will not appear.
Or I could explore the foreign arena. Buddy, can you spare a won?
