Nicholas Cage owes the IRS $6 million since 2007. Which does not include a lien against him for $350,000 back in 2003 - 2005. Of course the IRS is not looking to arrest Nicholas Cage. Which sets him apart from other celebrities.
As I mentioned last week, Method Man was arrested because he owes $33,000 to the IRS. Of course part of that arrest may lie in the excuse Method Man has for not paying the taxes
"Method Man has publicly said that he suffers from memory loss due to his penchant for smoke Marijuana, and that is the prime reason he has missed his tax payments."
Even if true it's a dumb reason. And illegal. But that aside, isn't it interesting?
Method Man is facing 5 years in prison. Wesley Snipe was sentenced to 3 years in prison, after beating the IRS on charges of evading takes on $14 million and facing 16 years in prison. The 3 year sentence was for 3 misdemeanours - and is universally seen as overly harsh. On the other side of things, besides the non-action on Cage, there was Willie Nelson who owed $33 million dollars and got probation.
Perhaps it's me, but this looks like a systemic problem. There seems to be a massive issue here, and I doubt that anyone in the major media will raise it.
Why is it that Nelson got off scot-free? Why is Cage seemingly untouched? Yet there was no end of media coverage negatively implying his guilt. And Method Man seems hardly in the same category, though the IRS took and sold his car and now has arrested him.
I realize that often celebrities and entertainers are slapped on the wrist for most criminal actions. Rappers, and other entertainers, are routinely absolved of possession of drugs, sex with minors, even acts of violence. But when it comes to taxes, well things appear to be very different. Are we to infer that the IRS loves country music and occasionally bad acting so much that it will give a free pass to those entertainers, but if the music and actor is outside that realm the whole weigh of the Government is thrown at them?
Personally, I think that all the entertainers and celebrities (not to mention a host of politicians) should be treated harsher than the average person when they break the law. The perks their careers provide should be the best reason not to commit a crime - of any nature. They need to be examples as much as they are role models in the society - even if they don't wish to acknowledge that they are that.
But when I say harsh penalties, I mean harsh with a level playing field. it is the highest hypocrisy to have one entertainer face jail for $33,000 and another entertainer walking free as a bird without a care while owing $6,350,000. If nothing else it implies a favouritism and prejudice. Neither should exist and must be removed from the Government and law.
The IRS is not a movie mogul, nor an Oscar judge. It is not a Grammy official, or in record sales. It has one purpose (which no one loves, given) and that purpose sees only 1 color - green. If the IRS cannot get that right, well then why do we have it?
I wish Nicholas Cage no ill, but if I could I'd make sure he was in the same boat as Wesley Snipes. At least that would make sense.
1 comment:
I want to correct a part of what was stated. The IRS is did not arrest Method Man, it was the NY State department of taxation.
The error was my own, as when I read about taxes I always think of the IRS. The links on this story clearly clarify that it was not the IRS.
Still that does not explain the agressive actions against Wesley Snipes, the slap-on-the-wrist for Willie Nelson, or the inaction against Nicholas Cage.
Government should never even have the appearance of systemic bias - on any level. We should never accept it either.
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