Brooke Astor and Leona Helmsley were two iconic New York women who died within a week of each other. Both were rich, famous and influential. But they used their wealth and position for very different ends, and as a result, one was beloved, the other was hated (or at least pitied). The lives they led are lessons for us all of the Biblical principle, "Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also."
They say we end up with the face we deserve. Hmm.
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The IRS and Department of Justice have a long-standing policy of going after rich and/or famous tax cheats in order to encourage voluntary compliance by the public at large. The theory is that some people think the rich get away with not paying taxes, justifying an "ordinary" person's decision to do likewise. Making an example of someone like Leona Helmsley is designed to counter any impression that the rich get away without paying their taxes. Her treatment was not in the least unusual, IMO. I've been a tax lawyer for 20 years, so I'm not just blowing smoke, btw.
Let me clarify. When I say "not unusual," I mean "not unusual for a high-profile tax cheat." I agree it's different from the treatment of Joe Non-Filer.
Also, her result was harsh because she didn't know when to fold her cards. Well-advised defendants ordinarily plead in this kind of case. She was so arrogant that she fought when she shouldn't have, and that strategic blunder cost her additional jail time.
O,
My generosity, as you call it is not generoisty at at all. Rather it merely is stating an objective truth about a woman whom all too many want to view in a particualr way. Was she the warm and cuddly type? Appernetly not so in business. However, I think she was what we all really are. Human. Warts and all. Mrs. H. did not have the opportunity (and perhaps did not want it) to commit her sins in private like most of us do. I am not nominating her for cannoization here.
BTW the comparison to Castro and Quaddafi is simply uncalled for.
"They say we end up with the face we deserve."
What a terrible thing to say.
FWIW, columnist Paul Craig Roberts investigated the case and decided that Leona Helmsley was not guilty, and was in fact a victim of prosecutorial abuse.
Interestingly, the prosecuting attorney was Rudy Giuliani.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1282/is_n22_v45/ai_14667462/print
http://www.lewrockwell.com/roberts/roberts208.html
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