Federal taxes are a large part of the Constitution of the US. For instance. how about:Article I, section 8: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;”
This simply states that the Congress shall have the power to tax the citizens of the US in any way it sees fit, by any amount it wishes, as long as those taxes are the same throughout of the various states of the US. And even the ultra conservatives on this site must admit that the IRS taxes everybody in all the states the same! These taxes are no more illegal than the guarantees in the second amendment that such as the NRA seem to consider so very important. If you, and the Tea Party types do not like “our” Constitution, then why not just leave?
Good cartoon. There are so many examples of both parties using gov’t agencies improperly in our history that it is maddening to think that these IRS workers didn’t realize how focusing on ANY one group, instead of doing its normal random sampling, would have not drawn attention. @ rightisright – there is no shortage of people on the left or the right who fail to learn from the mistakes made in the past. There is stupidity, hubris, and arrogance on both sides of the aisle. Too many think that as long as their reason for doing something is good then the fact that what they are doing is wrong, even illegal, gets lost in the attempt.Right is not always right. Left is not always wrong. But wrong IS wrong. The IRS abuse and the AP investigation by the justice dept were both WRONG. I look forward to seeing what the investigations find.Repectfully,C.
This falls into the same category as airline security screenings. Scrutinizing little old ladies speaking in midwestern accents with the same zeal as a bearded man wearing a dishdash and speaking a foreign language in a security line smacks of impertinent “fairness.”
If I were an IRS auditor, I’d see probable cause for an audit in a tea party or anti-tax PAC. But the IRS is supposed to turn its cheek at the obvious in the name of “fairness” and audit a small mom and pop business (like my mother-in-law’s used book store) instead of a shady non-profit funneling money to media friends in back-door deals.
Well, at least this will give us something new to impeach Obama over.
@Chillbilly – Really? Really? You compare screening little old ladies at the airport with Excessive scrutiny of a political party.
As if somehow a Teaparty group is more likely to break the law or cheat on their taxes then a progressive group?
Richard Nixon did it first and best and he was wrong. Using the IRS for political scores is still wrong. Congress needs to bring this out of control agency in line.I’ve worked with the IRS in the business arm and I’ve found that there are plenty of good and decent workers. But for every one like that, you will find 10 that are stupid and lazy. They make bold assertions and then expect you to prove them wrong. And after you’ve spent million’s of your company’s money doing that they shrug and say oh, I guess I missed that one.
We need a tax system that is clean, fair, and transparent and we have none of that right now.
We need to move to a national sales tax, VAT or some otther point of sale tax and get the IRS out of most people’s lives.
frodo1008 almost 11 years ago
Federal taxes are a large part of the Constitution of the US. For instance. how about:Article I, section 8: “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;”
This simply states that the Congress shall have the power to tax the citizens of the US in any way it sees fit, by any amount it wishes, as long as those taxes are the same throughout of the various states of the US. And even the ultra conservatives on this site must admit that the IRS taxes everybody in all the states the same! These taxes are no more illegal than the guarantees in the second amendment that such as the NRA seem to consider so very important. If you, and the Tea Party types do not like “our” Constitution, then why not just leave?chazandru almost 11 years ago
Good cartoon. There are so many examples of both parties using gov’t agencies improperly in our history that it is maddening to think that these IRS workers didn’t realize how focusing on ANY one group, instead of doing its normal random sampling, would have not drawn attention. @ rightisright – there is no shortage of people on the left or the right who fail to learn from the mistakes made in the past. There is stupidity, hubris, and arrogance on both sides of the aisle. Too many think that as long as their reason for doing something is good then the fact that what they are doing is wrong, even illegal, gets lost in the attempt.Right is not always right. Left is not always wrong. But wrong IS wrong. The IRS abuse and the AP investigation by the justice dept were both WRONG. I look forward to seeing what the investigations find.Repectfully,C.
Kylop almost 11 years ago
Nick, well done. Respectful Troll, good comment
Chillbilly almost 11 years ago
This falls into the same category as airline security screenings. Scrutinizing little old ladies speaking in midwestern accents with the same zeal as a bearded man wearing a dishdash and speaking a foreign language in a security line smacks of impertinent “fairness.”
If I were an IRS auditor, I’d see probable cause for an audit in a tea party or anti-tax PAC. But the IRS is supposed to turn its cheek at the obvious in the name of “fairness” and audit a small mom and pop business (like my mother-in-law’s used book store) instead of a shady non-profit funneling money to media friends in back-door deals.
Well, at least this will give us something new to impeach Obama over.
Mephistopheles almost 11 years ago
@Chillbilly – Really? Really? You compare screening little old ladies at the airport with Excessive scrutiny of a political party.
As if somehow a Teaparty group is more likely to break the law or cheat on their taxes then a progressive group?
Richard Nixon did it first and best and he was wrong. Using the IRS for political scores is still wrong. Congress needs to bring this out of control agency in line.I’ve worked with the IRS in the business arm and I’ve found that there are plenty of good and decent workers. But for every one like that, you will find 10 that are stupid and lazy. They make bold assertions and then expect you to prove them wrong. And after you’ve spent million’s of your company’s money doing that they shrug and say oh, I guess I missed that one.
We need a tax system that is clean, fair, and transparent and we have none of that right now.
We need to move to a national sales tax, VAT or some otther point of sale tax and get the IRS out of most people’s lives.
chazandru almost 11 years ago
Dude…… Thank you for keeping me real.Amused,C..
echoraven almost 11 years ago
Not really. Republican’s never used the IRS as their “muscle”. I remember Clinton using it against dissidents or those that did not worship him.
Ironhold almost 11 years ago
Under federal law, they aren’t supposed to single groups out proactively.[]Thus, what they did was rather illegal.
Chillbilly almost 11 years ago
Good. People who cheat on their taxes are scum.