That’s what the U.S. Embassy in London has been saying since a new road toll was implemented by Mayor Ken Livingstone. Though Livingstone insists that the toll, a “congestion” charge levied against all cars entering the city, is not a tax he wants the Embassy to pay up.
The embassy says the charge is a tax and that diplomats are immune under treaty. Livingstone says the charge, one of his flagship policies, is a road toll which diplomats have to pay.
“It would actually be quite nice if the American ambassador in Britain could pay the charge like everybody else and not skive out of it like some chiseling little crook,” the mayor told a television reporter. (source)
Looks like the London mayor is in hot water once again. He was due to begin a suspension this month for calling a Jewish journalist a “concentration camp” guard. What’s worse than that? Calling Americans crooks, of course! Why the man ought to be removed from office! How dare he speak of Americans with such disrespect, especially when they refuse to pay a toll to help clear up congestion in London.
Of course, I don’t know how bad it is in London, never having been there myself. And I’m fully aware that diplomats get immunity here too (I don’t like that either), but let me get on my soap box anyway. It’s not what the mayor said or the actions of the Embassy that made me frown.
Livingstone has blamed the U.S. decision not to pay the charge on the arrival of a new ambassador, Richard Tuttle, a millionaire car dealership owner, Republican fund raiser and Bush family friend.
Ah-ha! That explains it. Richard Tuttle doesn’t pay taxes in his own country, why the hell should he have to pay taxes in someone else’s? And if it’s a road toll the same question applies. He is, afterall, a millionaire Bush family friend. And he paid good money for his post. Don’t those damned Brits know who he is? He is the favorite of the new king. And woe be to those that would speak harshly of an American diplomat-family-friend of the king!
In the long run, is this at all important? Absolutely not, at least to me. I just thought how interesting it was that Mayor Livingstone, who made crude remarks on others based on ethnicity, was even more villified for speaking out against a Bush family friend. Blah! Of course, the U.S. Embassy probably doesn’t have much money to spend on road tolls, with so much money going to Iraq and Halliburton. It’s all starting to make sense to me now.
By the way, I did have a whole other direction I was going with this. But after a couple of times being interrupted I lost that train of thought, never to find it again.
“We don’t pay taxes”
That’s what the U.S. Embassy in London has been saying since a new road toll was implemented by Mayor Ken Livingstone. Though Livingstone insists that the toll, a “congestion” charge levied against all cars entering the city, is not a tax he wants the Embassy to pay up.
Looks like the London mayor is in hot water once again. He was due to begin a suspension this month for calling a Jewish journalist a “concentration camp” guard. What’s worse than that? Calling Americans crooks, of course! Why the man ought to be removed from office! How dare he speak of Americans with such disrespect, especially when they refuse to pay a toll to help clear up congestion in London.
Of course, I don’t know how bad it is in London, never having been there myself. And I’m fully aware that diplomats get immunity here too (I don’t like that either), but let me get on my soap box anyway. It’s not what the mayor said or the actions of the Embassy that made me frown.
Ah-ha! That explains it. Richard Tuttle doesn’t pay taxes in his own country, why the hell should he have to pay taxes in someone else’s? And if it’s a road toll the same question applies. He is, afterall, a millionaire Bush family friend. And he paid good money for his post. Don’t those damned Brits know who he is? He is the favorite of the new king. And woe be to those that would speak harshly of an American diplomat-family-friend of the king!
In the long run, is this at all important? Absolutely not, at least to me. I just thought how interesting it was that Mayor Livingstone, who made crude remarks on others based on ethnicity, was even more villified for speaking out against a Bush family friend. Blah! Of course, the U.S. Embassy probably doesn’t have much money to spend on road tolls, with so much money going to Iraq and Halliburton. It’s all starting to make sense to me now.
By the way, I did have a whole other direction I was going with this. But after a couple of times being interrupted I lost that train of thought, never to find it again.
Ken Livingstone, U.S. Embassy in London, road tolls, no taxes
Related posts: