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From: tedrick@ernie.Berkeley.EDU (Tom Tedrick)
Newsgroups: net.legal,net.taxes
Subject: Re: IRS (was: bad signatures on checks) (leaking Congresscritters' tax returns)
Message-ID: <14931@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Sun, 20-Jul-86 13:39:03 EDT
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Posted: Sun Jul 20 13:39:03 1986
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Summary: Surely you Jest

>>There's a long history of IRS "leaking" tax returns of Congressmen
>>who start investigations into their practices -- they usually lose
>>the next election.  

Yes, of course. And why not? After all, what better way for the
IRS to retaliate against their enemies? How better for the IRS
to retain and strengthen their position of power?

"We'll show the S.O.B.'s, just let them try and mess with US!"

You forgot to mention use of the IRS by the party in power to
harass the party out of power though.

"All's fair in love and war (ie politics) ... "

Seriously, the point is, the IRS like any group should be expected
to act in their own self-interest. If they have the power to use
tax information against their enemies, and their incentive is to
do so, who can blame them? The laws that let them do such things
are the underlying cause. They created the monster, now it is up
to us to figure out how to slay it.

>While the allegation about IRS exposing the tax returns of Congresscritters
>which seek to defang the IRS smacks (the exposing) of foul play, it also
>seems to me that if a Congresscritter managed his/her financial affairs totally
>honorably and meticulously (is that congenitally impossible for a
>Congresscritter :-)?) that an exposed tax return or even the most intensive
>of audits would provide el zippo (zilch, none) ammunition for the IRS,

Surely you are joking! :-)

It takes (usually) a fair amount of wealth to gain political office.
We live in a competitive society, where there is dog-eat-dog competition
for wealth. Anyone who wants to become wealthy has to deal with the
tax system. Our tax system is notoriously badly designed, full of
loopholes, ambiguities, etc. The system *FORCES* an individual who
wishes to suceed in the struggle for wealth and power to use the
tax system to his/her own best advantage, otherwise the individual
will be at a competitive disadvantage in the monetary rat race.
Trying to make the most favorable deal for oneself when working
in the tax jungle one has to push towards the limits of what the
system allows, hence one is always on the edge of doing things
that may not stand up to the light of day. Hence one would *EXPECT*
to be able to portray almost any wealthy individual in a bad light
given sufficiently close scrutiny of his tax and financial situation.
Even if everything is *PERFECTLY LEGAL* one can expect to be able
to generate unfavorable publicity, and subject the victim of the
investigation to heavy legal expenses until the matter is resolved.
If Cramer is discussing the same congresscritter I think he is,
this congresscritter was *DRIVEN OUT OF OFFICE*, criminally
charged, and finally *COMPLETELY ACQUITTED OF ALL CHARGES* after
several years of legal battles that wrecked his health and his
finances.

In conclusion, the tax system is *BADLY DESIGNED*. It *ENCOURAGES*
corrupt practices, and *PENALIZES* what most of us (or at least
what I) would consider ethical behavior. The corrupt individual
who is willing to pursue devious tax schemes has a *POSITIVE
INCENTIVE* to do so, built into the tax system. The "honest"
citizen pays a higher proportion of his income in taxes and
is at a disadvantage in the competition for wealth.