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Remember how I've been going on and on about how virtually every wealthy person in the United States cheats on their taxes? This is a great example;

MIAMI – It would be "terrible" for Penske Racing and the sport if Helio Castroneves, the popular Indy racer and "Dancing with the Stars" champion, was convicted of tax evasion, a top Penske official testified Friday.

Lawrence Bluth, Penske's general counsel, was asked Friday by prosecutor Matt Axelrod what impact a guilty verdict against the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner might have. Bluth, a prosecution witness, provided earlier testimony that could be damaging to Castroneves, who signed with Penske in late 1999.

"It would be a terrible thing to lose one of the great drivers in the world, and probably our most popular driver," Bluth said.

"Would it be bad for business if Mr. Castroneves were to be convicted?" Axelrod asked.

I chose to highlight that portion of the story instead of what Castroneves actually did.. because it's just so absurd.

Penske racing and the racing league would be inconvenienced if he were to be convicted of tax fraud.. really? And that's supposed to matter how?

What Castroneves did was move to the United States in order to pursue his racing career. That made the monies he earned here taxable by the US government, just like everyone else. Castroneves earned a 5 million dollar bonus from Penske, but he told them not to pay him the money. Instead, they put it in an investment and just let it sit there.

So... why would Castroneves do that, and why would it be fraud?

Because after he finishes his career in racing, which is a relatively short period of time for a lot of drivers, he can simply move to a country with very favorable income tax laws, say Monaco, and then get the money from Penske, and not pay a nickle to the US government.

Doesn't he owe taxes on the money he earned by benefiting from the US economy? Doesn't he have to pay taxes when he earns the money, instead of pretending it's not his?

Of course.. send his ass to prison for a while so he can think about it.

The moral of the story, again, is that people have to stop feeling sorry for the wealthy. To think that raising the marginal tax rate is going to affect them one iota is fucking retarded. The vast majority are cheating like mad, and rarely get caught, and when caught, the penalty is usually just to pay what they should have paid in the first place.

It has to be pretty severe, and rare, for somebody to get sent to a Federal prison for tax evasion.