AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT

Per1 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)  If only the IRS had a leash on it like this pit bull.

APPLE AND LOOPHOLES.

The story about Apple, read here, going in front of a Senate committee about avoiding taxes, and the story about Lois Lerner, head of the IRS’s tax exempt division, invoking the fifth amendment, read here, in the hearings before a House committee, are great examples of irony.

The Senate hearings are a show, for the purpose of making the Senators look morally superior to an evil private company. They are trying to make Apple look bad for using the tax laws that these geniuses in the Senate created in the first place. I learned about the word loophole when I worked for my friends dad. I used the word loophole in a conversation and he proceeded to explain that there is no such thing as a tax loophole. There are tax laws written by the legislature, and you do not have to pay one more dime in taxes than these laws require, loopholes paint a picture of illegality. If congress wants to change the tax laws, do it but spare us the theatrics. These politicians want to use the issue to beat businesses over the head, in order to make themselves look like the guy on the white horse riding in to save us from big business. But if they solve the tax complexity problem, by making a simple flat tax, they won’t have this issue to get self-righteous about.

IRS AND THE FIFTH, THE DOOR SWINGS ONE WAY.

The issue about the head of the IRS’s tax exempt division, Lois Lerner, pleading the fifth, is paradoxical to say the least. Tell me if this seems puzzling? The IRS violates our fifth amendment right to not be a witness against yourself, every time we fill out a tax return. And when a big wig in the IRS gets questioned by the house, she pleads the fifth! Does anyone really think the laws apply equally to the ruled as well as the rulers. The bigger joke is that the same congress that she is pleading the fifth in front of, can change the IRS power structure tomorrow if they are really concerned about IRS over reaches. I’m sure the President can make an executive order that would change the arbitrary power of the IRS. Here are other ways the IRS violates your rights. The IRS over reach targeting certain groups is a violation of our first amendment right to free speech, and the right of the people to peaceably assemble and petition the Government for a redress of grievances.  The IRS also violates our fourth amendment right to be secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects, to be secure against unreasonable searches and seizures. It also violates our fifth amendment right against being a witness against ourselves, or be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law. When you go up against the IRS, you have to prove your innocence, they don’t have to prove your guilt. They can take money (property), out of your bank account without due process. These over reaches of  power violate our constitutional rights, and congress, or the president, could take away these powers from the IRS tomorrow, if they choose to. As we have discussed in other posts, men act purposefully to achieve their most valued ends, therefore what someone truly values is revealed by his choices. Not acting is really acting to keep the status quo. Politicians prove they place a high value on the IRS when they don’t act to reign in its power, in fact they are continually giving the IRS more power (Affordable Care Act Implementation). The IRS is an extension of  a politicians power to confiscate what each individual has produced; but there is a degree of separation between politicians and the IRS, which allows politicians to act outraged when the IRS abuses power. It’s like being upset that your pit bull mauled your neighbor, and then rewarding it with a dog biscuit.

ARBITRARY GOVERNMENT POWER, ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.

The only reason these arbitrary abuses of power can happen is because Government has grown so big its tentacles are in every aspect of our lives. If government only had the powers that were spelled out in the constitution it would be tolerable, at best. At what point are “we the people” going to say, ENOUGH! I think a vast majority of people, from every party, can agree that intimidation by Government agencies is intolerable no matter which party is in charge. (Read previous post, Are You A Democrat, A Republican, Or A Libertarian.) Do you think that when republicans get control of the wheel of Government they won’t use its power for their political gain. This change will not come from the top down by politicians and bureaucrats in Washington D.C., because they are incentivized to keep and grow their power structure. The only way this can change is through a bottom up process of educating  people about the fact that incremental decision-making by individuals in the free market is far superior to the all or nothing decisions from central planners. There’s a lot of hard work and tough times ahead, lets keep moving forward.

Is their enough kitty litter to cover up all of the messes Government has left in the litter box, or will this open enough peoples eyes allowing them to see what arbitrary Government power is really all about.

Related article, Human Action Reveals The Reality About Political Decisions, by austrianaddict.com.

Related article, What Is Tyranny? The President Should Know The Definition. by austrianaddict.com.

Related article, Benghazi And Political Incentives, by austrianaddict.com.

Related article, The Most Recent Arbitrary And Unrestrained Exercises Of Power By The Federal Government, by austrianaddict.com.

This entry was posted on May 23, 2013 at 12:50 am and is filed under Government and Politics. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Apple, Arbitrary Power, Corruption, Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, Government, IRS, Lois Lerner