1) 'Joe the Plumber' has a tax lien for about $1,200 filed against him, and his detractors take this as evidence of his status as a 'tax cheat.'

2) Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) for years fails to declare rental income, doesn't pay taxes on the profits from the investment, yet nonetheless somehow manages to keep his job as the head of the powerful tax writing committee.

3) Current chief-of-staff to New York's Democratic Governor David Paterson, Charles O'Byrne, owed about $300,000 in back taxes, interest, and penalties -- and blamed this on a horrible condition known as ... 'non-filer syndrome.'