“The high-handed bureaucratic excesses of the IRS are a national disgrace ... riding roughshod over the taxpayers and making a joke out of our rule of laws.”

After the fall of communism, there was no need for not only such high-handedness as to collection policy, which continues today unabated, but the very reason for such an unbelieveably high rate of taxation begs the question as to it's very existance in the first place, as we won the cold war, and I always assumed the money was mainly needed for defense...and a share of overblown "entitlements", but NOT SS, which is EARNED. That is now the problem; all the EARNERS are being marginalized as the fiat machinery of a punitive and condescending government continue to reward such sloth and mass looting of those who made this country what it once was, with little regard for anything for anything but their ability to barely exist while absconding all real prosperity for servile purposes, both here and abroad, eg. with the likes of the ISAF, threatening and pillaging on a world scale as well. The ultimate argument comes down to their saying that it is a lack of tax revenue (due to "their" unchecked/untaxed major capital flight and investment abroad, while "expatriating" with the double-standard of dual-citizenship in many cases to "protect and defend" their ill gotten fiat gains, eg.TARP, QE monies). The something for nothing crowd has won unless we elect the likes of a Ron Paul or equivalent, cause a real fuss on the world monetary stage and stop our losses before we die on the work-place cross while those like Hillary take our rights away one by one, limiting our actions to that of only humble servants to their machievellian visions and the something-for-nothings continue to pollute our world with growing Malthusian wasteage. I fear for us all.

Rule of law has a very specific origin of meaning. Natural law, or that which is (freedom, liberty, inalienable rights, etc.), has nothing to do with man's tyranny (that which despots call law) The rule of law is a term used exclusively outside natural law, describing the edicts of men (a government of men vs. a government of law) Even at the rule of law, the IRS is a malignant force with out limits and ultimately under no such rule. Adding to the national disgrace is how the IRS rides roughshod over other countries.

With the Income Tax , The War on Drugs The EPA, etc, Our government makes war on it's own citizens.

The enforcement of the law of the land is not making a joke... and today's IRS is actually quite easy to interact with and an organization with a very difficult job which does it well... and thus that we can be proud of. I suspect that like the rest of today's quotes that this one too comes from the past, a time which these quotes show to be less than the idyllic goal that so many on this site want to return to.

Reston feels we should be "proud" of our extortionists...programmed much?

The financial problems of our country could be solved by cutting back the military like in Europe and put those qualified personnel into the IRS. The IRS is the only Agency of the government that does not cost anything. IT PAYS!. Evert dollar paid to them brings back $10 to the Treasury. Thus a reduction in military spending and a boost in Tax Enforcement would come back in excess of ten fold. A 100 billion dollar defense and a 100 billion dollar IRS increase would result in an excess of 1 trillion dollars a year to the Federal Budget and pay donw of lthe 14 trillion dollar debt. McCain said during his campaign that he new how to fix social security, and I believe he does, if he would only tell us. And these guys know how to fix the deficit/debt problem. We need men of courage honesty and guts to manup and get it done. Carlton you ain't helping at all.

Hey JIm. how about Americans declare war on their government?

Jeez, Waffler, how nazi-esque of you. Spoken like a true retired IRS employee, making a joke out of the Constitution and the natural rights of humankind. Talk about a disgrace. No where have the representatives of We the People been given the authority to steal from the labors of the people -- no where. It is arbitrary law-making -- true fascism, and Reston and Waffler once again show their true allegiance.

Same old, same old! Has Paul Laxalt done anything about it? Not that I've heard. At least the Romans got bread and circuses. Gladatorial combat filled the stands until the barbarians took over. Well, the barbarians arrived on 9/11 and our inept gov't has made little progress against them in a decade.

J.B. you're absolutely right. Except for the Pauls, no other politicians come to my immediate mind that have had Constitutional principles, supporting liberty and freedom, as their intent or aim.

Waffler, I will never be of any help to your kind. I'm an American Patriot...look it up.

I do not believe that it is nazi-esque to enforce the law. I believe that tax cheats are contemptible. If we take all of the cashiers and grocery checkers out of the supermarket and just let people pay tally and pay for their order themselves do you believe the store would get all of their money. Why do we have grocery checkers anyway? If you can answer that then you may be able to proceed to the question of why we have IRS people, cops, etcetera. I mean this is not rocket science people. And IRS folk are just simple people but who are able to add and subtract just like grocery checkers. Gunny Cee is on the right track.