On April 15th, millions of taxpayers sent their alms to Uncle Sam, the colloquial name for our beneficent federal government. If you didn’t pay your taxes on time, there is a good chance you will be assessed a fine or penalty. This phase of taxation is called disciplinary consequences or accountability. Taxes must be paid in accord with federal rules and regulations. Is that perfectly clear? If not, an IRS agent may call on you or at least remember to send you a ‘dun’ letter as a reminder of your failure to pay the correct amount on time.
If you prefer delinquency in income tax paying, you might want to consider applying for an IRS full time position where the atmosphere is much softer on derelict tax payers. According to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, IRS employees with tax problems in 2011 and 2012 received 10,582 hours of paid time off, valued at $250,000. Another 69 IRS employees with tax problems were awarded ‘step’ increases. A ‘step’ increase is awarded to those who arrive at work on time, leave work on schedule and stay awake the entire interval of attendance M-F for a full year. The Treasury Inspector General’s report included the following commentary: “Employees’ tax problems included willful understatement of tax liabilities over multiple tax years, late payment of tax liabilities and underreporting of income.”
In 2012, the IRS awarded bonuses amounting to $86.3 million plus 490,000 hours of paid time off. About 67,000 of the agency’s 98,000 employees received bonuses. Deep in the innards of the Wall Street Journal was a recent article about Lois Lerner, the suspect in the Tea Party bias scandal. Ron Machen, U.S. Attorney for D.C. has informed the House of Representatives that no charges regarding the formal contempt citation against Ms. Lerner will be investigated. Called to testify before a House Committee on May 22, 2013, Lerner sealed her lips tighter than a ballerina’s leotard after issuing the following self-anointed proclamation: “I have done nothing wrong. I have not broken any laws, I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations, and I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee.”
It is possible that none of the mainline newspapers (the new name should be caperpapers) picked up the news that former Freddie Mac executives had settled with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). A civil case, filed in 2011 against CEO Richard Syron, Chief Business Officer Patricia Cook and Sr. VP Donald Bisenius have agreed to a penalty of $310,000 for their part(s) in the mortgage crisis. How wonderful, some quasi – government people have been called to account. But wait, they didn’t have to pay the fines after all. The company had insured these losses in advance and the executives have no further liability. How gracious of these executives to accept this stern reprimand.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae had to borrow $150 billion during the mortgage crisis to keep their rudderless rowboats afloat, showing that their organizations were culpable right along with the institutions that marketed the defective mortgage securities. However, the government dealt with them zealously. Banking institutions in the U.S and other countries paid nearly $100 billion in assessments, fines and litigated damages. The largest coerced donors were the politician’s piggy banks; Bank of America, Citicorp, J.P. Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo.
Here is a statement written by Janet Daley in the London Telegraph: “The United States has now acquired an electorally powerful liberal bourgeoisie who are convinced, as their European counterparts have been for several generations, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, that public spending is inherently virtuous, that poverty can be cured by penalizing wealth creation, and that government intervention can engineer social “fairness.” But just when some of Europe’s political class has begun to appreciate the dangers of this philosophy – that taken to its logical conclusion, it leads to economic stagnation and social division – America seems to have decided that it is the quintessence of enlightened sophistication.”
Voters in the U.S. may be confusing resolute government indolence with the incessant flow of fables, myths and false promises from our Imperial Commander. World leaders, both friendly and hostile understand the difference.
– Dick Baynton
