A REALLY MISGUIDED AND MISUNDERSTOOD OPINION!

(USA TODAY, FoxNews.com, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

(Kim Barker, Phil Plait, Frazer Chronicle)

 

I think everybody can agree on at least one opinion, for better or worse, Americans need to pay taxes, whether they are too high is an argument for a different time. Taxes do all sorts of things for us…..the taxpayer. Street repair, road building, a standing military force, school education for our children, and money to pay our public servants.

 

Sadly the average American seems blissfully oblivious to issues going on around him, issues that can and do affect every facet of his life.  It seems to take every ounce of his energy just to get through the daily grind, and get up the next morning and do it all over again. Some citizens actually figure that they voted some guy into public office…..and he’s supposed to do the taxpayers bidding.

 

Here is a microcosm of how insulated some appointed public servants really are, the comment that I am talking about was printed in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the headline reads, (IRS has lost taxpayers’ trust, agency chief says). Are you serious, this guy, Daniel Werfel, has to be out of his cotton picken mind!

 

First off, agencies such as the IRS are viewed by most people as a heavy handed, in your face tax collector that always represent, first and foremost, people that can only do one thing to a citizen…..hurt them…..unless you actually want to pay taxes, which nobody does.

 

So for some door knob from a government agency to say that “we’ve lost the public’s trust,” really is the height of stupidity and a complete failure to understand what is going on throughout the United States today. Presidential suites, IRS agents dancing in the halls and baseball tickets notwithstanding, I do hope that the term of Dan Werfel stint as acting IRS director remains just that, acting, and Obama jettisons Werfel as quickly as possible.

 

Governmental officials…..today seem to be operating under the impression that there aren’t cell phones in everybody’s  pockets, there are whistle blowers lurking behind every fake hotel lobby tree, and that this is the day of almost instant news reports. Talk about being under the looking glass!

 

INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE

The IRS is the revenue service of the United States federal government, is a bureau of the Department of Treasury, under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue. The bureau is responsible for collecting taxes and the interpretation and enforcement of the Internal Revenue Code.

 

The first income tax was assessed in 1862 to raise funds for what else, a war…..the Civil War, at a rate of 3%. Today the IRS collects more than $2.4 trillion from around 234 million tax returns, and according to some tax pundits, an additional $2 trillion should be collected.

 

Abraham Lincoln and Congress created the office of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue enacted a temporary income tax to support the war expenses. Of course those governmental folks, like those today never saw an enacted tax that they didn’t want to make permanent.

 

The first director of the IRS, (actually Commissioner of Internal Revenue), was a fellow by the name of George S. Boutwell who is best known for his leadership in organizing the Republican Party. He in addition championed African American citizenship and suffrage rights during reconstruction.

 

Remember that rate of 3%.....well it lasted little more than a year, and went to 5% in 1864 for income under $10,000, and to 7.5% for income of $10,000 and above. An easy way to figure the potential income derived from taxes in 1864 on $10,000, which today would be the equivalent of around $200,000, would be $15,000 in taxes owed, quite a hefty figure for the time.

 

Through the years there were several eras and periods of change that have resulted and evolved into what we have today. Tax codes and rules and regulations that at the very best are hard to understand and follow by the average citizen.

 

To completely understand how the IRS works today…..I’m not sure anybody understands, economists talk about statistical information, tax rates and the distribution of funds like they were human beings…..they aren’t. The IRS is run by ordinary people with the same problems that each of us has, they have an additional problem that most of us don’t, they have the power to completely destroy anybody that they don’t like…..an assume power that many people handle poorly.

 

POWER OVER PEOPLE

The Internal Revenue Service is a governmental agency that has been run poorly at the very best, and criminally at the worst. Who is to blame…..well, it’s easier to say how isn’t to blame…..my dog, my granddaughters, and the homeless bum I saw under the bridge this morning.

 

Other than those people, and my k-nine, everybody else is a suspect…..a suspect in many, many different ways. Ignorance to the tax code or to those people that administer those codes is not an acceptable excuse.

 

How big is the current governmental scandal…..only time will tell, however in this day and age of almost continual election cycles, it would be a safe bet to say that the scandal will be huge! I read and hear about the veracity of people talking about the issue and not surprisingly I see an “R” in front of their name…..meaning a space for a political sound bite.

 

Do I think that the president had something to do with the scandal…..a year ago I’d have said “no way,” now, I’m not so sure. These hard times, wicked times, where the end justifies the means, but for some dork  to worry about whether a governmental department  is, or has lost the trust of the people…..is a  bit more than laughable…..it’s like a personal insult to my intelligence.

 

Of course I look at the picture of the acting director, Daniel Werfel, and I guess I can understand how he might say something like “losing trust” might come out of his mouth, he kind of looks like some kid that was traumatized on the playground during his formative years, you know the kind…..defiantly not a punk make.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!