Republicans love to talk about taxes. Republicans love to talk about tax breaks for the few, while voting against tax breaks for hard-working people.

Some wealthy Republicans just evade paying them and hope they don't get caught.

Republican Congressional candidate Dan Mansell from Selma thinks he doesn't have to pay his taxes.

"Congressional candidate Danny E. Mansell owes the federal government more than $220,000 in unpaid taxes, according to tax liens filed at the Johnston County Clerk of Court office." [Fayetteville Observer, 10/17/2006]

But Dan Mansell isn't just being greedy or acting illegally, he's hurting his employees:

"The records say that most of Mansell's federal tax liens - just under $220,000 in principal - are for quarterly payments from his employees' payroll taxes and accrued from June 1997 to June 2001. These can be income taxes, Social Security taxes, Medicare taxes or any combination of them, according to an IRS description."

Mansell said he "just wasn't keeping an eye on the ball... just mentally I wasn't there...Things didn't get taken care of" and blamed the tax evasion on family illnesses. [Fayetteville Observer, 10/17/2006]

However, Dan Mansell wasn't so preoccupied during this period to stay out of Republican politics. In fact, while he was cheating his workers and the government, Dan Mansell had the mental focus and money to run for the North Carolina Senate in 1998 and give generously to Republican Party candidates and committees.

According to campaign finance reports, Dan Mansell and his wife donated almost $50,000 to Republicans during the same time he was evading taxes, including the North Carolina Republican Party, the Senate campaigns of Richard Burr and Elizabeth Dole, North Carolina Rep. Leo Daughtry, Rep. Patrick McHenry, and the National Republican Congressional Committee.

In fact, Mansell gave $25,860 to federal Republican candidates and committees and $21,402 to North Carolina state Republican candidates, including $13,000 to his own failed Senate campaign. [Opensecrets.org 1996-2006 FEC data; North Carolina State Board of Elections 1996-2006 campaign finance disclosures]

"[Mansell's] campaign platform includes a plan to eliminate the federal income tax and replace it with a nationwide sales tax. Mansell said Monday that his tax problems are a private matter and described them as a 'nonissue.'" [Fayetteville Observer, 10/17/2006]

With $220,000 in unpaid payroll taxes to his workers still outstanding, Mansell continues to raise money and campaign for Congress.

"To people who work hard and play by the rules, Republican Dan Mansell's judgment and integrity are at issue. I am appalled that Dan Mansell was bilking his workers for things like Social Security and Medicare while he was giving thousands of dollars to Republican candidates. This issue goes well beyond one's feelings about the I.R.S. Mansell jeopardized his employees' ability to fully qualify for benefits that they rightfully earned - benefits that could be compromised because of Mansell's fraud," said North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Jerry Meek.

"The North Carolina Republican Party and people like Richard Burr, Elizabeth Dole, and Patrick McHenry have benefited from Mansell's scam. As a resident of the 2nd District, I call on the Republican Party to demonstrate their own integrity and call on Dan Mansell to withdraw from the Congressional race and get to work paying off his debt. I do not expect Republicans actually will because it's always business as usual in the their culture of corruption," Meek concluded.