Party of Moral Values

Michael Rogers reports that two former officers of the College Republican National Committee, one of whom, Patrick T. McHenry, is now a Republican congressman from North Carolina, were shacked up from February 2001 to January 2002 in DC's Capital Hill neighborhood in a home they purchased together.

No story there, of course. Two young single guys often buy million-dollar homes together, right? Right.

What is a story, however, is that McHenry and husband co-owner Scott Stewart

received a $60,000 deduction off the property's assessed value for tax reduction purposes in the second half of 2001. In order to receive the tax reduction, homeowners are required to certify that the property is "occupied by the owner/applicant." The eligibility guidelines state that the "property must be the principal residence (domicile) of the owner/applicant."

At the same time he owned the home and claimed the deduction in DC, North Carolina Board of Elections records show that McHenry voted in Gaston County, NC. McHenry first cast a ballot in Gaston in November 1993. Subsequently, he voted in twenty different elections up through the November 7, 2006 General Election. On November 6, 2001 McHenry voted in a North Carolina polling location. On that date he was also receiving the Homestead Deduction on his DC property.

Oopsy! That sounds like voter fraud. The same kind for which good conservative Ann Coulter faced charges, as a matter of fact.

And that definitely is a story.