Oh craps!

As old as McCain is, I'm sure he finds this whole campaign to be incredibly taxing.

Dr.Zom: Oh craps!

Damn you.

I think McCain is just holding out for the river in this election

Well, did he walk away from the tables a winner, or did he win enough to need a tax form filled out?

Flat Broke and busted
Just don't seem fair
The man in heaven
Won't hear my prayer

And these dice are loaded
Yet I still can't win
Flat broke and busted
crapped out again

I'm sure you'll all name this for what it is: "a distraction designed to divide us."

UGH....there are about a million things more important than this regarding John McCain.

Hope people aren't distracted from the real issues with nonsense like this.

The massive losses resulting from the Palin gamble more that offset a lifetime of winnings.

Did he go for the Hi-Lo Yo?

subby obviously didn't read the article. The dispute is whether gambling winnings need to be reported as "earned income" on Senate financial disclosure forms.

There's absolutely NOTHING to do with the IRS.

thenateman: subby obviously didn't read the article. The dispute is whether gambling winnings need to be reported as "earned income" on Senate financial disclosure forms.

There's absolutely NOTHING to do with the IRS.

It would if he didn't report them as taxable income on his tax returns..

Truckin' got my chips cashed in
Keep Truckin' - like the doodah man

Gambling winnings shouldn't be taxed in the first place.

/The government is like that ex-friend you only hear from when you come into some money.

"He had no gambling winnings in 2006 or 2007," McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said in an e-mail. "If he had, they would have been disclosed on his tax returns."

UPDATE: A McCain campaign official contacted Politico and contends that winnings don't have to be reported in disclosure forms.


This is the only reason this issue has any importance at all, as a little taste of Senator McCain's true "maverick" character: His initial, reflexive denial of doing something he's accused of, followed by a staffer chiming in with "Plus, even if you eventually prove it, it doesn't really matter." All of you still claiming that you were more offended by Clinton's lying than his blowjob take note.

I head to Vegas 2 days after the election, maybe I'll see McCain crying at a craps table.

/Hope

Monica denied first that she blew Clinton. He was just defending her honor. He was a real stand up guy.

thenateman: There's absolutely NOTHING to do with the IRS.

Not in that article, but it is an issue. (new window)

suebhoney: I head to Vegas 2 days after the election, maybe I'll see McCain crying at a craps table.

/Hope

War hero and a multi-millionare... I'm pretty sure he's going to be okay...

RandomExcess: Monica denied first that she blew Clinton. He was just defending her honor. He was a real stand up guy.

B-b-b-but Clinton!!1!

xtragrind: suebhoney: I head to Vegas 2 days after the election, maybe I'll see McCain crying at a craps table.

/Hope

War hero and a multi-millionare... I'm pretty sure he's going to be okay...

I like how McCain supporters have to throw "war hero" in every time they talk about him.

Like somehow the fact that he is a "war hero" makes whatever he does ok.

Know what else he is other than a war hero. An ass and a liar.

Sounds a little dicey to me...

Darconix: Actually, winnings are deducted against losses to determine tax liability. It used to be straight winnings, and the shaft on your losses, until a gambler petitioned the IRS to change the rules that effectively create the "net winnings" rule. If McCain is as big a gambler as he's reported to be, I doubt $2500 in winnings on a trip would outstrip his losses for that year. But if you guys can prove it have at it.

That doesn't seem to be the gist of the argument they're making, though:

UPDATE: A McCain campaign official contacted Politico and contends that winnings don't have to be reported in disclosure forms. The campaign contends that neither the House nor the Senate has ever required disclosure of gambling winnings on financial disclosure reports as "earned income."

That sounds a bit more like "He won, but we don't have to tell you how much"

I confess, I didn't realize McCain was such a dedicated gambler. I wonder what the self-righteous social conservatives think about that.

Darconix: Actually, winnings are deducted against losses to determine tax liability. It used to be straight winnings, and the shaft on your losses, until a gambler petitioned the IRS to change the rules that effectively create the "net winnings" rule. If McCain is as big a gambler as he's reported to be, I doubt $2500 in winnings on a trip would outstrip his losses for that year. But if you guys can prove it have at it.

THIS.

It's not "income" if you don't make more than you spent, is it?
Certain games of chance contain enough skill to make coming out ahead
arguably a long-term possibility.
Craps ain't one of them.

//What's the difference between a Professional Poker Player and an X-Large Pepperoni Pizza?
//.........?
//The Pizza can feed a family of four.

mksmith: I wonder what the self-righteous social conservatives think about that.

I'm sure Bill Bennett is fine with it.

Anything past a few hundred dollars won at a casino is reported to the IRS for you, so I imagine this can be quickly translated from blind conjecture and aspersions into actual facts. I'm interested to see.

I also wonder if a proclivity toward gambling would cost him any baptist support.

More importantly, there is a very dubious assumption at the root of these accusations that he wins an appeciable amount more than he loses. And in a game like craps that is almost purely luck, that is less likely, and the attack group famous for this kind of thing has provided not a single shred of evidence.

It's gonna be funny if McCain takes heat for this and gets attacked, and then it turns out he donates all his winnings to a for Mother Theresa's Bangledesh Charity.

/More likely (if there are any actual winnings) it's counted under Cindy's money.

BojanglesPaladin: Anything past a few hundred dollars won at a casino is reported to the IRS for you, so I imagine this can be quickly translated from blind conjecture and aspersions into actual facts. I'm interested to see.

I also wonder if a proclivity toward gambling would cost him any baptist support.

More importantly, there is a very dubious assumption at the root of these accusations that he wins an appeciable amount more than he loses. And in a game like craps that is almost purely luck, that is less likely, and the attack group famous for this kind of thing has provided not a single shred of evidence.

It's gonna be funny if McCain takes heat for this and gets attacked, and then it turns out he donates all his winnings to a for Mother Theresa's Bangledesh Charity.

/More likely (if there are any actual winnings) it's counted under Cindy's money.

That would be near impossible. For it to be reported as Cindy's income, she'd have to be the one to receive the 1099. Otherwise, the casino reports it to the IRS under the winner's Social.

The_Six_Fingered_Man: For it to be reported as Cindy's income, she'd have to be the one to receive the 1099. Otherwise, the casino reports it to the IRS under the winner's Social.

Good point. I don;t know if she is often with him while he is gambling, but I imagine not always.

Either way, the IRS knows how much he won.

The_Sponge: Gambling winnings shouldn't be taxed in the first place.

/The government is like that ex-friend you only hear from when you come into some money.

They SHOULD be taxed...

... if you can also report the losses.

/Shouldn't tax 'winnings', just 'profits'.
//I doubt he won more than he lost.
///fark a survivor island winner.

BojanglesPaladin
It's gonna be funny if McCain takes heat for this and gets attacked, and then it turns out he donates all his winnings to a for Mother Theresa's Bangledesh Charity.

It's gonna be funny if you ever realize what a partisan fanboy you sound like making statements like that.

mrexcess: BojanglesPaladin
It's gonna be funny if McCain takes heat for this and gets attacked, and then it turns out he donates all his winnings to a for Mother Theresa's Bangledesh Charity.

It's gonna be funny if you ever realize what a partisan fanboy you sound like making statements like that.

Fascinating. You seemed to be completely oblivious to the comment regarding the hypocricy of religious right support for a known inveterate gambler. It's like your party blinders render you incapable of seeing anything but what you want to see. How do you survice in the wild?

BojanglesPaladin
You seemed to be completely oblivious to the comment regarding the hypocricy of religious right support for a known inveterate gambler.

I don't seem oblivious to it. It seems like that wasn't the subject of my comment, and the reason it seems that way is because that is the case.

If I can bring things back around to that unaddressed subject for a second, the purpose of my comment was to highlight your inane fantasy defense.

It's inane because donating the winnings to charity doesn't undo the fact that he's supporting the gambling establishment, and setting both the legal and moral example that gambling is and should be acceptable. If you have an inherent problem with gambling, and let me be clear that I don't, then why would McCain donating his gambling winnings to charity somehow suddenly render the whole thing into a subject of amusement?