57th District Democrats Sink To New Low

After State Representative Talibdin El Amin pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges, one would think that fellow Democrats would carefully vet his replacement. But instead of avoiding the appearance of impropriety they embraced it, nominating a tax dodger to the seat.

(Source: St. Louis Post Dispatch)

            Before being nominated, Hope Whitehead had to go to City Hall to pay $1,155 in late taxes and fees to be eligible for elected office.
            Whitehead, an attorney who has previously been employed by the city prosecutor, claimed to only pay her vehicle taxes once every two years and offered an unrepentant “I’ve got to do that different now.”
            Other than being a legal reality, it doesn’t make much sense in terms of excuses. She was certainly notified every year of her tax obligations, but apparently decided not to pay them until she ran the risk of not being able to register her vehicle or run for public office.
            Paying your taxes on time isn’t normally a plus, but we have to wonder what local Democrats were thinking when they passed over a law-abiding candidate to nominate Whitehead. With so many of their peers being taken down on corruption charges, bringing tax dodgers into their ranks doesn’t sound like a winning idea.
            It just goes to show what happens in heavily Democratic areas where there is no competition to hold elected officials accountable. When you give them your trust they abuse it, and corruption ensues.
Whitehead’s future constituents have our condolences.
            On a side note… we can’t help but wonder how this whole affair went unnoticed by Jo Mannies of the Beacon, up until the Post-Dispatch decided to break the story.