Augusta Chronicle Editorial Staff
One could likely make a nice living today doing nothing more than chronicling the repeated incidents of shamelessness that have become the hallmark of modern America. Here's another edition:
An Atlanta city councilman who owes $44,000 in back taxes and fines -- after already having $11,000 garnished from his wages -- has now been fined by the courts for running an unregistered charity.
Councilman H. Lamar Willis was fined $25,000 recently by a Fulton County Superior Court judge for not registering his self-named charity -- the H. Lamar Willis Foundation -- or properly maintaining its records.
The IRS says he never applied for tax-exempt status, and the Georgia Secretary of State's office said he never registered it with the state, both of which are necessary. Yet, he claimed tax- exempt status when soliciting up to $300,000 in donations.
You might be wondering: When will he resign in shame? He's a tax cheat and a fraud, to put it charitably. Years ago, it would be a foregone conclusion that such a scoundrel would resign and slink away in disgrace. That was then. This is now.
Willis is seeking a third term on the council.
Whether he gets it is up to voters -- and whether they, unlike Willis, have any shame left.
