"No really, we're just being generous, like we are with all the proletariat here in Vegas."

Ah yes, money can make everything go away, can't it? Apparently not.

...And please take that lying sleazebag from my home state, Tom Coburn, with you.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0709/24741.html

What cracks me up is that the gifts were structured in such a way as to be tax-efficient.

This mess is a work of art. "We're paying off our son's mistress, and we get a tax deduction out of it."

My mom and dad are sooooo cheap!! =}

Officially being changed to "Cheating Piece of Shit".

. . . protecting the sanctity of marriage(tm)!

Oooh, can I be friends with Ensign's parents? My family could use a cool $96,000 right now. (And I'm confused. How does 12,000 x 4 = 96,000? Is that "fuzzy math"?)

Speaking of, the headline at Drudge right now is perfect for this discussion!

I just read more carefully and see that each parent of Ensign gave "gifts." That's how it made $96,000. Good Lord.

The mother could give four gifts of $12 K to Ensign's mistress, her husband and two kids. So could the father. So that's $48K times 2 or $96 K.

Very tax-efficient.

Of course the whole thing is absurd. But I don't think it's that absurd that mom and dad get a tax deduction.

It is my understanding that, by structuring the payments in $12,000 amounts, the parents are not subject to the gift tax.

Each parent gave four $12,000 checks, for a total of $96,000.

I plead ignorance about Ensign and his family, but what business are mom and pop in? Isn't Nevada falling apart financially?

...but in what world would regular $12k payments funneled through a family members be anything other than hush-money. Sure, it may be legal, but it sure as heck ain't ethical.

They barely remember my friend's names.

While the Ensign parents are paying down their estate, I think keeping at or below the $12,000 limit on the gifts (from one person to another person) is so the receivers of the gifts, the individuals of the Hampton family, does not have to pay taxes on the gift received. If you give someone more than the limit (which is $13,000 in 2009, btw) then the giver has to file extra forms with the IRS (Form 709, I think) which at that point you better be talking to your accountant because you can start applying your $1M lifetime allowance that is generally used for inheritance purposes. If you don't do that someone is going to be paying taxes on the gift.

....having to comply with that pesky Federal Gift and Estate Tax. If Congress would just repeal the damn thing, it would be SO MUCH EASIER for Republicans to pay for pussy.

That is Saudi Sheik-grade expensive ass. $96K? She better unscrew the head and work on the wires for that cash. I want to see God for that price.

At least it's bipartisan. You've got Reid on one hand and Ensign on the other. Jeez.

If you made this shit up, NO ONE WOULD BELIEVE YOU!!!

I don't know why I think it's absurd. It ought to be predictable that Ensign's parents WOULD cast hush-money in the most tax-favorable light and use it as a way to reduce their estates.

It just struck me as funny in a sick sort of way.

And yet, these Republicans are always going on about "personal responsibility" and "independence" and sneering at Democrats as proponents of "the mommy state."

I guess nobody should be surprised by now that they're as hypocritical about adulthood as they are about sexual ethics, military service, fiscal responsibility, ... well, EVERYTHING.

Yes, but we shouldn't make partisan hay with this. For every Republican senator who gets his billionaire casino owning parents to give his ex-mistress $100,000 in cash, there must surely be three or four Democrat senators who did exactly the same. I mean, it's just such a normal everyday thing, isn't it?

I'm guessing half the people reading this have done the same.

You can get a much better rate in Argentina.

take out both Ensign and Coburn over this. Even if it isn't illegal it's morally reprehensible for a republican.

Now we know what that means. Having a family with enough cash on hand to pay off your mistress and her cuckold of a husband.

Umm...no. I bought my son a used car when he went to college. Never bought him any pussy though. Evidently I am just not religious enough or conservative enough for that.

1. Having your mistress shake you down for well over $100k (and then *still* spilling to the media)

2. Having your parents pay for it.

Having your parents pay for it (snicker).

And wouldn't you like to have been a fly on the wall for *that* conversation:

"Mom, Dad, I had an affair, and because I'm such a righteous guy I think I should pay for my sins ... so could you write some checks for $100k ... some of them should be to her husband and kids so they're non-taxable. Just think how excited those kids will be to be getting 'gifts' from Aunt and Uncle Ensign! It will be like Christmas! Only Mommy was kissing the Senator, not Santa Claus."

Try this: A mistress is a man's long-term female sexual partner and companion who is not married to him, especially used when the man is married to another woman. The relationship generally is stable and at least semi-permanent; however, the couple does not live together openly. ...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mistress_(lover)

OK. The relationship with Ensign was not stable. It was not semi-permanent. It was an episode in a woman's life during her long-term, stable marriage. She is not a mistress. We are not Europeans. If a woman has an affair in the U.S., or in Argentina, that does not render her a mistress. Why does Salon use such a stupid word? If a woman sleeps with a man once, is she his mistress? If it's rape (and not just pressure from an overbearing boss), is she his mistress? Sex does not equal, in all cases or generally in the U.S., the European practice of a married man having a wife and a mistress. It just doesn't.