TIM CONSTANTINE: ‘Make Sharpton Pay His Taxes Fast’

Now YOU can help force Al Sharpton to pay his back taxes
Attorney General Eric Holder announced last fall that after six years of serving the whims of President Obama rather than as the representative of the American public and rule of law, he would step down. He promised to stay in office until a successor could be found and was hopeful that by February he would be in the private sector.

Mr. Obama, after reportedly consulting with Al Sharpton, nominated Loretta Lynch for the position in November. Ms. Lynch has served as U.S. attorney in New York. Her nomination must meet with the approval of the Senate. As a result, Ms. Lynch has appeared at congressional hearings. She’s explained some of her positions and how she may be similar or different from Eric Holder. Those hearings were held in January.

It is now approaching late April but there has still been no vote on the Lynch nomination. Five Republicans have publicly stated they will support her, which means her approval is likely though by the slimmest of margins. The only remaining question is when.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has delayed consideration of Ms. Lynch’s nomination and put other priorities ahead of her. Claims of sexism and racism have been tossed out by prominent Democrats, but the truth is it’s politics, pure and simple.

Enter the Rev. Sharpton. Mr. Sharpton and his National Action Network claim to be organizing the Approve Loretta Lynch Fast. In addition to being a clever name, the fast is intended to bring attention to the plight of poor Loretta Lynch by its participants refusing food. They claim this is in the spirit of protests by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. some 50 years ago.

There is a rub however. It seems, Mr. Sharpton himself hasn’t committed to fasting. He’s asking supporters of the National Action Network to instead. But wait, it gets better. It seems his supporters are going to “take turns” fasting as long as it takes to bring the Lynch nomination to the floor of the U.S. Senate. Take turns? Is that kind of like dieting two days a month?

Let me suggest an alternative course of action. The above-mentioned Al Sharpton and his National Action Network owe more than $4 million in taxes. Mr. Sharpton himself owes $2.6 million in back taxes to the federal government. He is reported to owe another $900,000 in state taxes to New York. The National Action Network is in the hole for more than $880,000 in unpaid federal payroll taxes, interest and penalties.

It seems odd that a man who has failed to pay the IRS and the State of New York millions of dollars is railing against the government in the name of fairness. Some might even describe it as hypocritical. That’s where my suggested action comes in.

I am asking you to join me in the “Make Sharpton Pay His Taxes Fast”

Regular tax-paying Americans can join together and bring attention to this disgraceful display of disdain for the rule of law by Mr. Sharpton. How a man of the people, indeed a man of God, can ignore his civic duty and payment of his fair share is beyond me. Let’s all refuse to eat until Rev. Al pays up in full.

Picture it if you can. Moms, dads, grandmothers, perhaps even small children and household pets, all collapsing from malnourishment, sacrificing themselves for the greater good — for the rapid payment of all Mr. Sharpton owes to the U.S. Treasury. The pressure on Rev. Al would rapidly mount as the mainstream media reported on farmers in Iowa, the single mom in Detroit and the recent immigrants in Arizona all slowly and painfully dying in protest. Mr. Sharpton might be so shamed that he would give up his front-row tickets to the Mayweather/Paquiao fight in Las Vegas.

Of course because, like Mr. Sharpton himself, I believe in fairness, it seems only right that we should play by the same rules Mr. Sharpton has proposed for his fast. Rather than requiring you truly give up eating, we’ll call it a fast, but actually we’ll just “take turns.” I implore you not to have that potato chip snack tonight. Or to skip the after-school bowl of applesauce next Wednesday — and continue to randomly and occasionally take one for the team until Mr. Sharpton gets clean with the IRS.

Just remember to refer to it as a fast. It’s all about the narrative.