Come, I will conceal nothing from you: I despise the man. I’ve also called him ‘crazy.’ So you can discount my surprised reaction to the following:
Stark was recently cleared for allegedly taking advantage of a tax credit for Maryland residents. He was accused of abusing the homestead tax credit on his Maryland home — a credit that limits tax assessment increases on a primary residence. Stark’s primary residence is in California, but he filled out the application for his home in Maryland.
The interview with the Office of Congressional Ethics, which refers cases to the House ethics committee, didn’t go terribly well, according to the report. Stark initially said he didn’t know what the tax credit was, but later said he did not want to discuss what he knew. Then he later said he knew the application specified one must be registered to vote in Maryland to apply. He acknowledged that neither he nor his wife are Maryland voters.
Stark originally said he did not recall completing the application online. Later in the interview, the memorandum says, he said he knew he completed the application.
…any way that you like. It still sounds a little, well, it sounds like there’s a possibility that Rep. Stark may be having legitimate memory and cognitive issues. Hard to say if he’s gotten any more irritable and erratic in the last few years, of course; Stark was never exactly what one would call tightly wrapped to begin with, and I imagine that old age (he was born in 1931) hasn’t helped that.
No, seriously, I’m wondering if there’s something… wrong, there. Something that I wouldn’t wish on an enemy.
Moe Lane
If he married a woman named Raven Madd, he could be Pete Stark Raven Madd. Which he may be anyway. Just sayin’.