The Secretary of State has the returns as they come in, now that the polls are closed.

In addition to the budget slate on the ballot we have US House district 32’s primary election to replace Hilda Solis, who was nominated by the President to be Secretary of Labor.

There’s also the general election for State Senate district 26, to replace Mark Ridley-Thomas, a former LA City Councilman who has now gone on to win a seat on the LA County Board of Supervisors.

Open Thread.

8:19PM Pacific Update: I’ll get in one update before bed: early returns looking excellent (as always… sigh). Only SF County is passing 1A. Only 1F is passing, because it’s the only one that isn’t part of the Democrat shell game. Now I just need those results and the Lakers to find a way to win tonight…

Recently, we wondered aloud how anyone could expect a Secretary of Labor that has had a long history of being a member of various Big Labor groups can be expected to administer an agency that is supposed to deal equally and evenly with both labor and business? How could we not expect Obama’s choice for Sec. of Labor, Hilda Solis, to be a shill for Big Labor since she has been one her whole adult life? And not just a shill for Big Labor, but an actual employee of Big Labor.

At any rate, the business community must realize that their new Washington boss is their enemy. It simply can’t be any other way given her ideology and history.

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The DC Examiner noted that there could be another, even more serious issue with Hilda Solis. Recall that she was on teh board of Americans Right at Work (ARW), serving as its treasurer, a position with fiduciary responsibilities, in violation of House ethics rules. However, this 501(c)4 also filed electioneering documents with the FEC:

But ARW also spent thousands of dollars on television spots described by the group in its report to the FEC as “electioneering communications.” Since as treasurer, Solis is required to approve all ARW spending, she must have signed off on the spots. This may well put her and ARW in violation of the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act of 2002. Among the Republicans targeted by ARW were incumbents Norm Coleman, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Gordon Smith, and John Sununu. The anti-Sununu ad, for example, cost ARW $169,225 to air in New Hampshire, while another $69,105 paid for airing an anti-Coleman spot in Minnesota. So ARW clearly spent funds, with Solis’ knowledge and approval “in connection with an election for federal office.” Again, as treasurer, Solis could hardly have been in a ceremonial or passive participant.

It appears that this was clearly illegal.

So Obama’s nominee violated the law and House ethics to participate in an organization. She is also closely linked to the most demonstrably corrupt union in America. And her husband doesn’t pay his taxes.

Clearly, these are very solid grounds to reject her for a position in the Cabinet.

(Cross-posted from The Next Right)

He was merely first in the queue:

Despite the fact that Geithner sailed through the confirmation process—while Daschle went up in flames—Geithner’s tax troubles were actually far more egregious. People tend to give Geithner a pass, because the overall amount he owed was smaller and it just involved Social Security and Medicare, rather than income tax. But Geithner actually acknowledged years ago that he owed the taxes—but didn’t pay them until he was nominated for the Treasury job. That hardly counts as a mistake.

Daschle, for his part, failed to count as income the value of a car and driver he received from a New York private-equity firm, InterMedia Advisors, during 2005-2007. He also overstated charitable contributions and understated income from InterMedia, which paid him $1 million a year. Daschle filed amended tax returns last month reporting $128,203 in additional taxes and $11,964 in interest. The revised tax returns were submitted after President Obama announced that he intended to nominate Daschle to be secretary of Health and Human Services.

Geithner’s situation was nonetheless a bigger ethical lapse. As an employee of the International Monetary Fund in 2001 and later years, Geithner was responsible for sending a check to the IRS to cover his own payroll taxes. He didn’t do so. What he did do was submit a request to the IMF for reimbursement of those taxes. And he collected.

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LA Times blogger Andrew Malcolm seems determined to point out that, yeah, there are still opportunities for political humor in this country, even if Obama did get elected. His spoof of the flight 1549 tapes (utilizing Obama’s latest exercise in flubbed vetting) is a case in point. We join the narrative as Hilda Solis explains her tax situation to the White House:

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Link:

The husband of President Obama’s Labor secretary nominee paid about $6,400 Wednesday to settle tax liens that had been outstanding for as long as 16 years against his business, the Obama administration told USA TODAY this afternoon.

The disclosure came shortly before a scheduled 2 p.m. meeting of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which will vote on Rep. Hilda Solis’ nomination as labor secretary. The hearing was postponed; no reason was immediately revealed.

At a press conference, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said of Solis: “I read the story in USA TODAY and it quotes somebody who works here. Obviously we know about the story. We reviewed her tax returns and her tax returns are in order.Her husband had an issue.”

“She’s not a partner in that business,” Gibbs said. “We’re not going to penalize her for her husband’s business mistakes.”

Gibbs said he thought Solis’ husband, Sam Sayyad, paid the liens back because he owed the taxes, not because of White House pressure. “The White House believes that if you owe taxes you should pay them,” Gibbs added.

Well, that’s a relief. Of course, if Solis and her husband pay taxes separately, it would be unfair to blame Solis for her husband’s tax problems. But after l’affaire Geithner and l’affaire Daschle and l’affaire Killefer, I would not be in the least bit surprised to find out that the predominant reaction to this story in the Obama Administration is something along the lines of “Oh no. Not again.”

It’s a freakin’ epidemic. Hilda Solis, a congress critter and Obama’s nominee for Labor Secretary, is married to Sam Sayyad. He has tax problems.

Geez.

Los Angeles County records showed 15 outstanding state and county tax liens against Sam Sayyad and his auto repair business, totaling $7,630. Two other liens worth $981 were released in 1999 after Sayyad repaid the taxes owed, according to county records.

Solis’ financial disclosures list Sayyad’s business, Sam’s Foreign and Domestic Auto Center, as one of the couple’s main assets, worth between $50,000 and $100,000. The disclosure form Solis filed after her nomination also lists bank accounts containing between $250,000 and $500,000.

Solis and Sayyad were unaware of the liens until USA TODAY asked about them Tuesday, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said. He said Sayyad paid about $6,400 to Los Angeles County on Wednesday to settle the liens, but he plans to appeal.

How the hell are you unaware of tax liens? Seriously. You get notices. You get bills. And you are not aware?

What is it with these people? Are there any Democrats who pay taxes? Bueller? Bueller?

Nota Bene: And still we will not hear a single Democrat talk about simplifying our tax system. Oh wait, this wasn’t a complicated tax system. This was a flat out failure to pay an assessed tax. Nothing hard here.