AUGUSTA, Maine — Maine officials say criminal tax charges against two-time Olympic gold medal winner Seth Wescott have been dropped.
The snowboardcross champion, who lives in Carrabassett Valley, was charged in January with five misdemeanor counts of failure to pay state income taxes and five counts of failure to file state income tax returns from 2006 through 2010.
Wescott’s attorney, Stephen Langsdorf, told the Kennebec Journal the tax problems have been resolved. Court documents indicated Wescott owes about $42,000 in taxes, but Langsdorf said the actual amount is lower.
Assistant Attorney General Gregg Bernstein said the criminal charges were dropped Feb. 17, and the matter is now considered a civil case.
In a statement, Wescott said he takes full responsibility for not being up to date on his taxes.
C’mon Seth, you gotta pay da’ man……millions on welfare depend on it for their butts and booze!
Do you ever drive on a State road? If so, you take advantage of these tax dollars too.
Huh? So do the deadbeats and they aren’t paying for ANYTHING but getting EVERYTHING for free.
Wanna bet that the haters use one hand to type their comments while the other hand is out collecting their own “benefits”? Folks are always so sure that they pay through the nose, but never benefit at all. Next time you need a cop, fireman, school teacher, dog catcher, etc., ask who pays for that.
well said. those haters get benefits off the working class everyday, but I guess that doesn’t count? What do they think this country is suppose to run on???
I personally know two people who are on social security due to early retirement. Both worked long enough to pay a lot into the system. The first was injured in a serious accident (off the job) and has severe pain (daily) that interferes with her ability to hold down a job and sends her into severe depression. The other was injured on the job (manual labor) and simply doesn’t have the skills or intelligence to do anything but manual labor. I don’t resent either one of them. In fact, I count my lucky stars that I am not in their situation.
I don’t know why some people think that everyone on some sort of assistance is a moocher. There are returning veterans who simply cannot handle re-entry into normal life, there are folks who are mentally or physically impaired. If you’re going to complain about being taken advantage of, why don’t you first look and see how much fraud there actually is.
“I don’t know why some people think that everyone on some sort of assistance is a moocher.” They think that because they listen to Faux News and that is Fox’s mantra.
or because we’ve seen it first hand, known people that are on it, or see it’s abuse while we’re working so they don’t have to.
So, you have reported this abuse that so many of you have seen first hand?
No one has a claim on others in the name of “need”. That is the “mooching”, not that some people are genuinely poor for reasons not their fault which may lead to others wanting to help them.
Successful, productive people are not “haters” and do not “get benefits off the working class”. Successful people work to produce more, using their minds in creative intelligence. Pitting the successful against “workers” is the ugly class warfare incited by Marxist fallacies.
Half the population pays NO taxes. We pay for them, evidently. And we pay for fire protection and policing too. But WE are the greedy ones because we’d like to not pay for those who can just as well get up off their welfare-grasping butts and pitch in!
Every working person pays taxes. Turn off Fox Noise for a while and face reality. Your elected representatives set up, modify and continue to add little goodies to a monsterous tax code so you get all those bennies like personal exemptions, home mortgage related deductions, untaxed retirement money, and hundreds more. All those little deductions add up to a Form 1040 that allows a big zero on the tax paid line for 49% of us all.I’m all for taking them all away – but then I’m on the downhill side and pay the minimum. You, on the other hand, might have to pay a whole lot more. I think that I like that idea.
Why do you want someone else to pay more taxes while you pay the minimum?
A lot of people are no longer paying income taxes while a minority is carrying most of the burden. There is no excuse for that. You don’t have a claim on other’s income just because he has more than you do.
Didn’t say that I wanted someone else to pay more taxes while I pay the minimum. I pay what I pay because of the existing tax code. As does Warren Buffett, his secretary, Mitt Romney and you. What I want is for everyone to pay their share based on what they take (or gain) from society. The more you take (or gain), the more you pay. That simply doesn’t happen anymore.
Must admit that I dislike that word “simply”. As Mencken said: “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
You wrote “I’m on the downhill side and pay the minimum” and “You, on the other hand, might have to pay a whole lot more. I think that I like that idea.” You want other people to pay a lot more than you do.
You also wrote “What I want is for everyone to pay their share based on what they take
(or gain) from society. The more you take (or gain), the more you pay.” That is not true, you want people to pay based on what they have, you falsely call the take a “fair share”, and gratuitously assume that they must have what they do because they “took” it or “gained” it from society. That is collectivism both in political policy of “soak the rich” forced redistributionism and its more fundamental denial of an individual’s contribution to his own life and what he earns, and his right to keep it. Living in a society trading value for value does not imply that anyone is owned by the collective and owes “it” a so-called “fair share”.
Getting a little convoluted, aren’t you ? If you have a new and revolutionary way to gain wealth that is totally removed from the social structure, please share it with us. Don’t much care what you have (although I did envy the Rockefellers the Aerie and the boats at the compound in Seal Harbor many years ago).
I’m more interested in what you gained or took (as stated above) because that’s what you’re taxed on, for the most part. Of course living in society implies that you owe it a fair share because you took or made a share from it. Dollars don’t come from heaven. But there will always be those who take but don’t want or think that they have to give back. C’est la vie. Some are called hedge fund managers. Some are called other things.
You said you want others to pay a lot more than you and then tried to deny it.
Wealth is produced by real people, not “taken from society”. Living in a civilized society free of coercive controls allows people to work and trade value for value. That is not “taking”. Producing and paying for what you consume is not “taking” from anything.
There is no such entity as “society”; only individuals exist in reality. “Society” is an abstraction referring to individuals in relation to each other. Wealth is produced by individuals, usually in voluntary cooperation with other individuals, not “society”. Other people have no right to seize a “share” of what an individual produces or pays for, and neither does a gang acting in the name of “society”.
Living in society does not mean that “society”, i.e., other people in a tribe, owns us and have a claim on a “share” of what we do. The right to keep what is yours does not depend on the absence of a “social structure”. The concepts of trade, rights, and voluntary associations only have meaning in a social context; they are not annihilated by it.
Your collectivist notions denying the productive actions of individuals and imposing a duty to “society” are evidently so ingrained in your thinking that that they do not permit you to even conceive of a civilized society of individuals voluntarily relating to each other through rational persuasion and trade, free of the kinds of force and fraud practiced by criminals — and the kind of government you demand to rule us. The leftist slogans demanding that we owe a “fair share” to “society”, i.e., to other people simply because they are in “society” are baseless, arbitrary assertions. They are centuries-old fallacies that have been refuted and rejected for centuries but are still exploited by political power-seekers.
You really must make an attempt to recognize sarcasm
I only ask you to produce a successful example of the utopia that you describe. Sorry, but I too can dream of such a society. But I can also dream of winning the lottery and retiring in a civilized society free of criminals. But I’m enough of a realist to understand that it IS a dream. “Centuries-old fallacies that have been refuted and rejected for centuries” must obviously then be unsuccessful. But . . they aren’t.
What else can I say but – – dream on.
I am not interested in what you now try to hide behind as “sarcasm”. You are making ridiculous statements.
The wave of statism and collectivism in the twentieth century is notorious for economic failure and destruction of human life, and continues to be everywhere it is tried. To call it not “utopia” is an understatement of monumental proportions. Your political views are profoundly anti-American and a physical threat to all of us.
working people pay for it, welfare recipients do not.
The local cop, fireman, school teacher and dog catcher do not account for the enormous debt and taxes we pay, let alone the entrenched corruption in government. People who oppose this system are not “haters”.
Wait wait wait. So this guy keeps over $40k in taxes and you turn this into welfare fraud? Do you know how long it would probably take to collect that amount of money on welfare?
This just serves to prove the point that people see what they want to see.
No folks like you are blind and only see the Democrat point of view. That Maine has a Welfare Problem. We have folks blowing their assistance on things that shouldn’t be going for. These programs were designed only for the Elderly and Truly Disabled. We have folks on here claiming to get Lobsters, going to the soon to be Hollywood Casino playing slot machines, spending it on Lottery Tickets (Powerball, Mega Millions, Scratch Tickets). We have folks buying sodas and bottled water dumping it out in parking lots and taking the bottles into the return centers and collecting the money. Maine has a problem and has neglected the problem for years. Those who refuse to see the issues Maine has is contributing to the neglect to the problems that is going on.
The GOP has you concetrating on the FEW that abuse the system to keep your attention off the MILLIONS that they all steal from YOU daily!!!! Take a look at the amount of money that politicians and CEO’s STEAL from the working class everyday. This amounts to a lot more than some welfare fraud. Go after the big guns and leave the less fortunate alone!! HOW MANY go and do all of the above that you know of? That is an extreme exaggeration!! Welfare was put in place to help those in need. Hopefully that will never be YOU!!!
The only sentence in your naieve comment that is close to reality is: “Welfare was put in place to help those in need”. Indeed true, but should include; and those who help themselves!! Too many like early and permanent retirement. Too much time on their hands gets them in to trouble if you know what I mean?
Please wake up….soon!
There is no shortage of ‘CEOs’ with one foot in business and the other in government, but it is incorrect to classify CEOs in general as “stealing from the working class”. CEOs do work, and honest businessmen are not stealing from anyone. Likewise for “politicians”, though the honest ones not fostering statism are rarer. The rhetoric of “CEOs stealing from the working class” is the fallacy of ugly Marxist class envy warfare.
Most of us realize that we are all being bilked for statist redistribution as we are dragged down to a lowest common denominator, that this is intended to continue until there is nothing left to take, and that we will be the last ones to be “helped” by this system after we have been destroyed.
Unlike you – huh ? You’ve done something about it ? Gone to speak to a legislative commitee ? Had a watchdog assigned to make sure thatsomeone on assistance doesn’t dump a bottle of water out ? Yeh … right. Ever heard about the holier-than-thou concept ?
It would take about a year for most welface recipients to hit 40K when you factor in free healthcare, housing, food, no taxes, etc. For some it may only take a handful of unnecessary E.R. visits. I think it is the welfare class that are privledged. I wish I could just go to the E.R. rather then have to schedule an appointment to see my PCP
Lets see you back that up with something, other than your compleatly incorrect and politically-motivated opinion…
“I wish I could just go to the E.R. rather then have to schedule an appointment to see my PCP” …
Really? You would really rather wait until your condition had deteriorated to the point where you were afraid for your life before seeking treatment, rather than have a place you could go at the earliest sign of trouble, to nip the problem in the bud?
It is only because there has been so much politically motivated hysterical resistance to the sensible idea of single payer universal health care that people like the ones you describe are forced into this wasteful, senseless pattern of behavior.
Lets see , over the course of a few months, 42 women with children on AFDC getting medicaid benefits each bring one child in to the emergency room of any hospital in the state for treatment. $42,000.00 gone !
Get your head out of your butt. You’re a hater of those less fortunate. Stats show MOST people want to work and ARE NOT leaching off YOU!! YOU pay taxes to live in this country NOT to support those less fortunate than yourself. Get off your high horse and realize that if you make a livable wage……………you are one fortunate human being. Put a little love in your heart.
When a liberal is on the losing side of a debate, he always switches over to ‘hater’, ‘racist’, ‘phobic’, ‘mean-spirited’, ‘greedy’, ‘selfish’, yadda yadda. I think it is in their playbook.
I think “a liberal” in this case is correct.
If the shoe fits, you must wear it… it is only because these epithets are accurate that they cause you discomfort.
They are your gratuitous smears. ‘Wear it’ yourself.
Paying taxes for permission to live “in this country” is extortion. Most of the money is redistributed, including to the political class. The problem is far worse than those in genuine poverty.
Yup, but I also pay taxes, I am guessing while Seth owes 40 grand, he has paid taxes well and above that. He just happened to come in below in what he really owed. No excuse for him on my part, but I was stating a fact that people (not those who pay into the system) who have two working legs, two working hands and a brain who don’t work are waiting with hands out for his 40 grand. I have been unemployed and felt really really guilty, but after a while when I thought about things……I shouldn’t. My wife and I have paid close to 30 grand in taxes during the last few years.
The report says that he didn’t even file for 4 years. So I don’t expect he paid in anything for those years.
The article says he didn’t pay to Maine, not that he didn’t file or pay anywhere, including to the IRS. It doesn’t say where he was living and working. Most people don’t know that Maine Revenue Services goes after people living and working out of state. Whatever the actual circumstances of what Wescott did, we don’t know from this very sparse article. Accusations of criminality from MRS have no credibility. The fact that MRS — which has a history of threats, intimidation, and smearing people — has dropped the criminal charges makes the accusations in the article very suspicious.
The “roads” are not the cause of the crushing tax burden and corruption in a system based on and intended to be government redistributionism and social controls over everyone. Vague appeals to “the roads” has become a stock evasion by the left.
They also gotta have their Hollywood Casino, Horse Racing & OTB’s, Scratch Tickets, Powerball, Mega Millions tickets , lobsters and expensive steaks. The Welfare Crowd can’t go without that if we stop paying for them the Liberals in Augusta will go crying that we are hurting them. Emily Cain, Justin Alfond, Phil Bartlett, Cynthia Dill, Peggy Rotundo and the crew will say we are not paying enough taxes, not having shared sacrifice. The typical liberal garbage we hear from them all the time.
So everyone on welfare eats steak and lobster and plays the lottery?
Well we have some folks on here posting the other day about Hollywood Casino saying they take their welfare money and use it at the Casino and on the Lottery. Why should my hard earned money go to to those who claim they need help but it is ok for them to go gambling with it. They also have stated in the past on here it’s ok for them to get expensive lobsters as well. I’m sorry but it is time to put limits on where they can spend their EBT cards, TANF money at. I go to Casinos , Horse Racing for entertainment but you don’t see me collecting handouts.
Practically every thing that you do involves a government handout. Driving on Rt95, riding to Disney World on that comfy airplane through U.S. airspace, eating that produce and meat from U.S. farms, filling up with that gas produced by a U.S. refinery, getting rid of that pain using prescription paid for by Medicare, having a Bangor cop or fireman around to protect your ASSets, etc., etc., etc. You burn up all that tax money, and then boast that you go to Casinos ? Aren’t you lucky.
That’s not a government handout buddy.
We pay for those things through our taxes, fees, tolls, and tickets.
we do our civic duty that keeps those systems in place.
which cannot be said for welfare recipients, as they use those things without paying in, or if they do, they use our money to do so.
Of course it’s a government handout. If there weren’t a government to hand it out it probably wouldn’t exist. And, believe me, your ticket wouldn’t get you to the end of the runway, your toll wouldn’t fill a pot hole, and your fee ? Maybe a large bottle of Tylenol. Welfare is the price of belonging to a civilized society.
But I must agree that if the measure of “civilized” is solely the amount and quality of welfare then Maine is extremely civil. More and better management and control are necessary. If you want to find fraud then you have to pay someone to look for it. There’s the rub. We’re a generous people, we Mainers. We hate to say no to someone in need, and we seldom do. The goober in the gubernatorial mansion needs to stop talking and put his mouth where his money is. Find and hire some decent investigators, clean out those few frauds who contaminate the welfare system and let us continue to feed, clothe and support those who truly need our help.
Redistribution by government coercion is not “generosity” on the part of anyone, and is anything but “civilized”. That we are forced to live and work under statism does not mean that we are getting “handouts” and it does not mean that economic production is only possible under government controls. Quite the contrary. The collectivism of welfare statism is dragging us all down to a lowest common denominator — except for those in power in the political class who run the system and the few who are left who cannot afford to weather it, at least for now.
Huh ? Where did that all come from ? You a PoliSci major in Orono ? Better yet – you got a better system ? Throw out all the government (except that which feeds and protects YOU) ? Or is it rampant total free capitalism without any controls that you want ? Good luck. There may be an island in the Pacific or South Atlantic you can buy to set up your utopia with no welfare and certainly no “collectivism”. You be sure to let us know how that turns out.
Your post is unresponsive to what I wrote.
This country was founded on the rights of the individual with government serving to protect those rights. Collectivism is the opposite of that. Your statism is neither “civilized” nor “generous”. Forded redistribution is not “generosity”. Government social controls are not “civilized”. People forced to work to support it are not living on “handouts”.
You are partially right in that the government served only a basic purpose upon the founding of the country. It protected the rights of the individual to indulge in slavery and restricted political participation by limiting it to land owning white men among other things. Sounds as though you believe that it should not go beyond that.
The first mandatory payroll (income) tax was instituted by the government in 1798. It’s purpose was to provide care for injured and ailing privately employed sailors. Seems that the start of “collectivism of welfare statism”, “forced redistribution”, and “social controls” has a long history. And you believe that it has been dragging us down since then. Well, 214 years and here we are, still.
Anyone who bothers to read history and the founding documents of this country quickly learns that the country was not founded to support slavery and that the principles of the rights of the individual on which it was founded from Enlightenment ideals led to the abolition of slavery from the semi-feudalist south. Even grade-school children can understand that. Your diatribe against “white men” is racist, which is the most primitive form of collectivism, which in turn is consistent with the rest of your tribalist view of reality and its consequences for morality and politics. All of it is self-caricature of stock radical left revisionism on behalf of collectivist ideology.
What we had in history and have now economically was and is produced and
traded by real people insofar as they have been free to do so and despite the progressively growing restrictions, not given to us by government “handouts” — that is patently absurd. This country was not for collectivism or statist control of the people, but that is what it has been evolving towards since the onset of the European-influenced progressives — beginning over a century ago in the counter-Enlightenment as a reaction against the principles of individual freedom and rights on which this country was founded.
In your ridiculous collectivist claims and frothing reaction when they are rejected you have shown that you have no understanding of fundamentals and essentials, let alone the principles of individualism; you instead grasp at whatever smears and distortions you can throw out as a side-show in your hatred towards the individualism this country is supposed to stand for and your denial of its possibility. The age-old collectivist bromides and slogans in your posts imply that your views are perhaps much worse than what you have explicitly revealed.
Oh come on. At least you could stop copying your ideas and text from Tom Woods and Bakunin. Do I detect a slight tinge of Glen Beck ? There’s a reason that they are considered on the fringe.
In the first place the only rants are from you. Racist ? Are you for real ? Sexist – yes.
When my direct ancestors set foot on what is now New Hampshire in 1642, what you call ridiculous collectivism was the only way to stay alive. Perhaps you yourself should read a little history – that written by those who settled here and survived. Find out how it was done. Tribalist view of reality ? Yes. I’ll admit it. There was probably a Native American in the gene pool. Tell me – how does one have a “view of reality” when one is in it ? I call that experiencing reality. “Real people” ? Are there any other kind ?
Ah – references to the age of Enlightenment. If memory serves me, that took place sometime between 1650 and 17something. Still hanging on to that one ?
Have no understanding of fundamentals and essentials, let alone the principles of individualism ? I felt somewhat alone and individual over Hanoi in the late sixties, but was comforted by the thought that there was a collectivist group, a team if you will, back on the carrier who supported and would have a taut wire raised for me when I returned. But as a philosopher of the Enlightenment you obviously reject the collectivist bent of a team.
Today’s reality is that we exist as individuals, in an environment of collective support. There are too many of us to do otherwise. Rail against it as you will. But, right or wrong, the government provides support to you and most everyone else.
And the only froth you’ll find here is on my Moosehead beer.
Your posts are non-responsive to what I wrote as you continue to engage in rambling, unintelligible sarcastic smears. You cannot defend your ridiculous far left politics.
…and drinks Allen’s, ice fishes all day, and smokes Marlboro’s.
Cigarettes are better for you than fried mozzella sticks!
But together, they’re fantastic !
Probably not,,,,,,,,,,but in any case , ask yourself; would you change places with one of them? No matter how crappy my life gets from time to time, I’d rather be self dependent than have to rely on others to carry me through life. I have had to use public assistance from time to time , but couldn’t wait to get back on my 2 feet and re-establish pride and self reliance. Man it feels good to spend money , live well , and not have to be judged by others!!!!!!!!!!
very well said!!!! Let’s hope those haters out there never need assistance. You can bet they’ll never let us know………..
Hell yeah I’d trade places with them!
get to stay at home, play games, get free food, free or very low rent, free car repairs, free education, free money?
Get to have unprotected sex with some other welfare rat, have more kids and get to stay home with them.
That’s a no brainer!
But, unlike them, many of us are still responsible citizens that believe in making our own way in life.
Oh, and guys – don’t forget to kick some snow on an underfed child or two while you’re in the hate mode. After all, they’re not your responsibility. Someone else will take care of them – using your money. Just go do your own sucking on the government teat while you’re driving on Rt 95, flying through U.S. airspace, enjoying subsidized meat and produce, filling up with that subsidized gas, enjoying your retirement with those unfunded government-provided prescription medicines, and on, and on, and on. Suck away – and just continue to complain about those others. After all, nobody really needs that welfare.
the only “underfed” children that i’ve ever met were ones where the parents worked the butts off to pay bills and keep a roof over their heads but didn’t qualify for food stamps or and state assistance.
I know many people who work their butts off like at Walmart but still need food stamps to feed their family. We need to stop subsidizing Walmart and others who do not pay a livable wage.
And i know plenty that can’t get assistance because they “make too much” but after paying for their home, heat, bills, car repairs, taxes, health care, etc. there isn’t a lot of money left over for other necessities.
Think of your fellow man, put a little love in your heart. Your comment was very hateful. MOST folks don’t want a hand out!! With the lack of LIVABLE wage jobs…….thank GOD for social services!!! You could be the next one in line so you may want to watch your HATRED for those less fortunate than yourself. the GOP has you putting your efforts right where they want them to be, to keep the limelight off their own THEFT out of sight!!!
“most folks don’t want a handout”
I think you need to get your eyes checked.
unfortunately we live in a system where there is now an entire generation of people that EXPECT a handout from the government.
Whether they play the race card, the disability card, or even the “drug addict, need help” approach.
Want proof?
go visit wal mart sometime around the first of the month
And it isn’t just handouts to the poor. The pressure group warfare of the dog-eat-dog welfare statism mentality it so prevalent that much of the country is caught up in a system of get what you can from government while trying to minimize what it takes from you or be eaten alive.
Best comment I ever read!!
He should have known that only Politicians can get away with that.
Could you stay on topic rather than stray from topic?
An olympic champion does not file taxes for years and you can’t (don’t/won’t) fathom the context.Please get real, get an original thought……
Ouch. Really stupid Seth. This could cost you in endorsements. Wonder what Norway Savings will do when they see the story.
Most of these high line athletes have one or all of the following; an agent, PR person, business manager, accountant or wife. Someone in that group should be paying attention if he isn’t. An endorsement deal with Chevrolet won’t last long for someone who cheats on their taxes. The average guy driving a Silverado pays his fair share.
Most people driving cavaliers don’t.
Chevrolet hired this guy to appeal to the up scale ski crowd demographic . You are correct, that’s more than likely not the Cavalier crowd. However- I’m not sure I’d make that sweeping generalization connecting what someone drives to whether or not they pay taxes. Bernie Maddoff had everyone fooled didn’t he?
Bernie Maddoff “made off” with a lot of cash!
What about smoking Caveliers?
Maybe Obozo could demonize him too while he’s campaigning?
He was just pulling a Geithner and Rangel.
Or a Romney, or a Gingrich, or a Koch, or a Walton.
People not paying more taxes than they have to is not “pulling” anything. This has nothing to do with the article. We know what liberal hypocrites like Geithner and Rangel did, but that isn’t related to the article either. The article doesn’t tell us what happened between Westcott and MRS.
Romney paid 3 million last year, what did YOU pay?
The facts are fairly simple–our State government has collected a tremendous amount of money over the past 30 years (including repeat years as the highest taxed state in the nation) and has little to show for it in terms of addressing the fundamental issues and challenges facing Maine’s less fortunate citizens.
Maybe he’s a republican so he thinks he doesn’t have to pay his fair share.
There is no such thing as the collectivist “fair share” for redistribution. That has nothing to do with the article. We pay taxes because we have to, not out of alleged moral duty to sacrifice tot he group. The article provides no facts on what Wescott has been paying where, what happened with MRS, and why they accused him of criminality. Most people don’t know, for example, that MRS taxes people living and working out of state. But we don’t know the circumstances of Wescott’s tax problem and the article does not report it. The article sensationalizing alleged “criminal” behavior, which MRS had to drop, but does not tell us what Wescott did or why. Lefist smears against “Republicans” who reject the left’s collectivist “fair share” mentality are irrelevant to the article.
Mitt Romney, at 15%, still paid 200 times what a $50K earner would @ $30%….so you are a fool!
YOU ARE A ROLE MODEL AND HAVE TV AD’S SHAME ON YOU, DID YOU PAY THE TAXES ON THAT NEW CHEVY TRUCK?
He’s evidently paying a lot more in taxes than those who envy him.