This one surprised and disappointed me, I checked this out and Biden did ultimately settle for the Plane Rental but never paid this young man for his work, the young man finally wrote off the debt.
For what it's worth.
Family, I feel an obligation to honesty and truth to share with you some facts. My Father and Mother instilled in me the values and morals of treating people fairly and always being honest. If you purchase something, you pay for it. If you borrow something, you give it back.
I have been "stiffed" three times in my 30 year professional career by someone who I rendered services to, gave a finished product to, but who refused to pay for those services even though they acknowledged the services and products were correct, were what they asked for, and were never challenged for not being correct. I am lucky in having only three, but those three hurt badly.
Joe Biden was one of those people. I worked on his 1988 Presidential campaign financial disclosure engagement. I busted it for him and got everything right. He stiffed me for over $15,000 worth of work. He refused to pay once he dropped out of the race. I did similar Capitol Hill campaign financial disclosure work for Bob Dole, Pat Buchanan, and a Democratic candidate for Ambassador to New Zealand. All of those folks paid even though they lost the election or did not get the appointment. That type of work is very demanding and very tedious because your efforts are scrutinized by Congress. Biden did not care.
I am on the Board of Directors of a company that owns a majority position in a private jet management company in Northern Virginia. They manage jets for businesses and rich folks. They also charter planes to the public. This past winter John Thompson chartered over $250,000 worth of air time. He paid every penny.
Joe Biden, in his latest unsuccessful run for President, chartered over $150,000 worth of air time. He PAID ZERO.
He continues to refuse to pay stating his race is over and he is out of money. He never once complained about his flights. Joe Biden is a rich man. He could pay.
Joe Biden is a liar and a cheat. I know it first hand.
Character is what life is all about. Joe Biden is a man of bad character and sets a bad example for America.
I feel compelled to share this dark side of a man who asks for your vote and trust.
Best Regards, Bruce D. Riddle, CPA, CFP
BDR Associates, LLC
2401 Research Boulevard, Suite 101
Rockville, MD 20850
sounds like a personal problem to me. Who is John Thompson?
Personal or not... THIS is the part of the character that is good to have knowledge of
these people.
We, as voters, are going to be the ones pulling the handles deciding who will be in charge of our country. Betcha a buck that no one can say that about Palin... ;)
Thanks Frank.
Please read the whole article. This accountant could have sued for that money long ago. He probably took it off his taxes. He is not hurting for money. He made a number of sizable donations to Hillary Clinton. If Joe really still owes that money, it should be paid by his campaign committee. I have no idea what kind of arrangements they had. Joe is not a "rich man" as stated. The writer never meant for that e-mail to be picked up and widely distributed. I hate stinky, smelly politics....On all sides!
Quote from: flo on September 06, 2008, 01:55:37 PM
sounds like a personal problem to me. Who is John Thompson?
I normally find you to be a neat person to read but had to shake my head on this one...what he experienced ceased to be a personal problem when it impacted his business' bottom line...thereafter, it became a problem of economic ability...when you do work for someone, you are using not only your company's personnel time/abilities, you are also using up parts, etc., that are listed on an inventory and must be maintained, not to mention the amount that you are contracted out to pay to your personnel that won't be paid as easily now that you've been stiffed. Beyond that, it most certainly illustrates a major character flaw on the part of Biden...the worker is worth his wage and the provider of those services deserves payment for said services...to stiff anyone on their payment, especially when it amounts in the multiple thousands, makes a statement on Biden's character that is truly troubling.
Er, ah,
John Thompson along with his brother George owned the Thompson Brothers General Store on Main Street in Boston, Kansas.
I just looked up this unpaid debt email on Snopes, there is an email there in which this Bruce Riddell says the bill has been paid and that this email that was for private family members has about ruined his life with people using his private contact information. Here is the link;
www.snopes.com/politics/obama/bidendebt.asp
There is also a listing there showing other politicians owing campaign debts bot democrat and republican. The most owing was Guliani .
Thanks SDM!
Quote from: sixdogsmom on September 07, 2008, 04:36:53 PM
I just looked up this unpaid debt email on Snopes, there is an email there in which this Bruce Riddell says the bill has been paid and that this email that was for private family members has about ruined his life with people using his private contact information. Here is the link;
www.snopes.com/politics/obama/bidendebt.asp
There is also a listing there showing other politicians owing campaign debts bot democrat and republican. The most owing was Guliani .
SDM, that is not what it says, it says they can't determine if it was or not. If you go to Truthorfiction.com it says
he said he wrote it off.
If you want a clearer picture of what the truth is go to truthorfiction.com
Diane I was really surprised at your original response that was not what I would expect from you. Why should the young man have to write it off, he done the work and it was owed to him. Doing a write off does not offset the total amount you were oewd it lets you save on taxes to the extent of your tax rate times the amount. If I owe a bill I pay it and when I do consulting for people and they agree to my rate, I bill them if they don't pay I give the bill to an attorney to collect.
Uncle Frank after what you said about your nephew (my brother) being an attorney? I can't believe you even talk to lawyers. ;) You gotta get em in small claims court before it gets so high that you need a shyster. Love em or hate em when you need one it sure can change your opinion of them. (My post is full of sarcasm, kidding, trash talk so nobody kill me.) :angel:
David
Quote from: frawin on September 07, 2008, 05:39:49 PM
, I bill them if they don't pay I give the bill to an attorney to collect.
which is what he should have done instead of posting it on the internet. I still don't know who John Thompson is
He didn't post it on the Internet
Quote from: dnalexander on September 07, 2008, 05:55:43 PM
Uncle Frank after what you said about your nephew (my brother) being an attorney? I can't believe you even talk to lawyers. ;) You gotta get em in small claims court before it gets so high that you need a shyster. Love em or hate em when you need one it sure can change your opinion of them. (My post is full of sarcasm, kidding, trash talk so nobody kill me.) :angel:
David
David, I don't consider $15,000.00 a candidate for small claims court. Dennis is the one married to my Niece Karen, right.
I just don't understand why the accountant waited so long to bring it up... Why didn't he give it to his attorney? I sure would have. The tax part was meant to be funny...and I did say that if the money is owed it should be paid. I've worked on local campaigns over the years, both Democrats and Republicans. It wasn't unusual for "in kind services" to be offered, printing, food and such. I've heard some say, Yeh, I'll just take it off my taxes." I've never approved of ANY campaign spending more than they have. I've knocked on doors, done literature drops, and worked phone banks to encourage people to vote. None of the people I worked for were ever in debt when they were done. But then again, they weren't national campaigns either.
[/quote]
SDM, that is not what it says, it says thaey can't determine if it was or not. If you go to Truthorfiction.com it says he said he wrote it off.
Frank, you apparently did not read the entire Snopes response, just the undeterminate ruling. Please do not imply I do not know what I read. At the bottom of the article there is an email posted by Bruce Riddle saying that this has about ruined his life, and that the email containing this message was intended for family members only. And it most certainly does say that the bill has been paid.
SDM, he worked on the campaign in 1988, 20 years ago and he wrote the letter in August 2008, 20 years later and said that he did not recieve his $15,000.00. So I think it is clear that he was not paid, he is only trying to get the matter stopped as he did not intended for it to be made public. If you go on and read what Snopes says in closing""we can't objectively determine whether the specified debts really existed (or, if so,whether they were actually paid off). In his letters he said he wrote off the $15,000.00, and that was 20 years ago so I think it is obvious it wasn't paid.
Missed the details. I didn't realize the claim was 20 years old. I thought it was current. I think Delaware now has a $15,000 small claims limit. Seems Biden had bad years back in the late 80's with the plagiarism speech and this debt. What I see of him now he is a different upstanding man.
David
Frank, Bruce Riddell said the bill had been Paid! What is your problem?
In his letters he said it was not paid. Even Snopes say they can't verify it was. If it will make you feel better go find an unpaid parking ticket that some Republican hasn't paid and put it on the forum.
Here is the best, most reliable info I have found. The debt is satisfied. Biden paid some and Biddel wrote off some .Biddel never meant the e-mail to be public and he is sorry it was made public. It is not uncommon for all campaigns to get large debts that are not paid.Some are written off, or settled for less than the original amount. Often times the debts are paid many years after the campaign is over.
My personal comment.
Per our contract pay me the money.
David
David, the money that Bidden eventually did pay was for the Plane lease and not for the $15,000.00 that he owed Riddell for his CPA work. If Bidden did pay it he paid it 20 years late which is just as bad as not paying it all. If Bidden paid him in the past two weeks he should have paid Riddell $50,000.00+ to cover what Riddell could have earned on the $15,000.00 over the past 20 years.
I read and researched this pretty extensively in the last week. I did not pay much attention to it until this post popped up. What you say fits with the collection of information I found. Again I missed the time frame completely.
David
GOOD GRIEF - >:( - it's 20 years old? Why is it even being discussed. If it wasn't paid, shame on Biden and shame on Riddell for not pursuing collection. If it was paid, shame on whoever is spreading the e-mail. Enough already