Must be nice…

To lose that much money and still live so well.

…[Arianna Huffington] hammered President Bush for providing "tax breaks for the wealthy" and said the recall effort in California was led by "an embittered cult of right-wing radicals who have overdosed on tax-cut Kool-Aid."…

But Huffington, 53, a self-described independent and populist who has promised to close loopholes that allow corporations to dodge their "fair share of taxes" conceded that over the past two years she has paid no income tax to the state and less than $800 to the federal government.

She said, however, that she had not used any loopholes herself and had avoided paying taxes through legal means.

"I'm sure you know there is a difference between loopholes and tax deductions -- they are part of our system, they are perfectly legal and perfectly normal," Huffington said…

One person’s “loophole,” is apparently another person’s “deduction.” If loopholes weren’t legal, we wouldn’t need to “close” them.

Huffington said she obtained her multimillion-dollar, 8,000 square-foot home in the upscale Brentwood section of Los Angeles in a divorce settlement with former congressman Michael Huffington. She added that her ex-husband also pays "generous" child support for their two daughters.

She said, however, that she did not use the child support funds to pay for her business, which was run out of the home and posted $2.5 million in losses in the past two years.

"During these two years as a writer I had writing and research expenses that were greater than my income," she said.

I have first-hand experience not making money as a writer, but how does one lose $2.5 million doing research? This may give Bill Bennett new book ideas.