Voting
Although my political leanings are obvious (and I seriously doubt anyone cares much), I'm taking a cue from other sites whose writers and editors have disclosed their votes and I'll share my own. I'm the only full-time staff person, so I'm the only one participating. This has been a bonkers election, but hey, we survived!
I live in Colorado and voted early, dropping my ballot off last week. I voted for Hillary Clinton. She's not my ideal candidate, but I did find myself becoming more excited to vote for her the closer we got to Election Day. If she wins, I think she will make a good president, maybe even a great one. Voting for Trump, and the Republican Party that has ushered his candidacy, was never an option.
Again, for the record, there are a number of interesting and important ballot initiatives in Colorado and I'll mention how I voted on some of them: Against the statewide health care system; for raising the minimum wage; against the new requirements of constitutional amendments; for the increased cigarette tax; for the access to medical aid-in-dying medication.
Go vote if you haven't already. It's fun, a little cathartic and important, too.
Accountants behaving badly
One genre of accountant behaving badly that we rarely see is the partner in a firm that rips off his/her fellow partners. It makes sense, if you're a partner in a firm and you embezzle money from that firm, you're kinda just stealing from yourself. If you're found out, your fellow partners may just give you a break, call it "a short-term loan" and allow you to repay it.
That wasn't the case in this little blurb I came across from Morgantown, West Virginia's Dominion Post that shares the story of David Anderson, a partner who's in a bit of trouble:
Last month, Christopher Chafin filed suit against Anderson, Brian R. Boal and Boal & Associates, PC, in Monongalia County Circuit Court.
In 2014, Anderson was indicted on nine counts of embezzling related to Cheat Lake Urgent Care. His criminal case remains active.
According to the lawsuit: Chafin and Anderson were partners and Boal & Associates provided accounting and tax services. In 2013, police accused Anderson of embezzling upwards of $500,000 from the practice.
Later, Chafin learned that money had been withheld from his own payment to cover tax costs. Despite that fact, money was not paid to the IRS and West Virginia. The defendants led Chafin to believe that the appropriate tax payments were made.
The fact that another embezzlement was made from a Cheat Lake business is a nice touch.
Has Donald Trump released his tax returns?
Nope! Donald Trump has been a horrendous candidate, but also a historical one. His influence on politics and future elections will last long after this one and — perhaps it's obvious where I'm going here — I believe that we will see fewer and fewer politicians release their tax returns. Yes, what we learn from candidates' tax returns is limited, however it says a lot about transparency and trust and now that Trump has eschewed this tradition with such resentment and bombast, it's probably broken for good.
Previously, on Going Concern…
I wrote about a billionaire building a "10-K for the government" to win an argument with his wife. In Open Items, someone is deciding between a MAcc and a double major.
In other news:
- Find your polling place
- Move to Canada After the Election? It’s Not So Easy
- Coping with Election Day anxiety
- Election Marks Crossroads for SEC
- Accounting rule change may lead Time Warner to bring billions more to AT&T deal
- Old pair of jeans for auction
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Image: iStock/IcemanJ