Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Happy Returns

I think the administration has figured out how to pay down their $9,000,000,000,000 credit card limit -- by selling tax returns to whoever wants to buy them!

I know these guys have great faith in the marketplace, but isn't this a bit much?

Update: On closer reading of the article, it seems that Uncle Sam won't get a dime from the sale of tax returns, but rather the people who prepare taxes will be able to cash in. So, no debt relief for you. Sorry.

At least Barack Obama is saying something about it.
Criticism also came from U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D., Ill.). In a letter last Tuesday to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, Obama warned that once in the hands of third parties, tax information could be resold and handled under even looser rules than the IRS sets, increasing consumers' vulnerability to identity theft and other risks.

"There is no more sensitive information than a taxpayer's return, and the IRS's proposal to allow these returns to be sold to third-party marketers and database brokers is deeply troubling," Obama wrote.
How's this for a winning campaign issue: The party who is against identity theft.

7 comments:

Otto Man said...

Amen to that. The Dems should seize this with both hands. It would be nice to challenge the GOP image as the party of "tax relief" if that image gets tagged with "identity theft" as well.

Thrillhous said...

Yeah, Kevin Drum has been beating this, er, drum for a while now. Being pro-business tends to mean being anti-individual rights, and the identity theft problem is but one manifestation of it.

Mr Furious said...

Drum has been pissing me off lately, but he has led the charge on the identity theft issue for a while now.

Dems just need to point to this and say, "Is there nothing the Republicans won't do for business at the expense of everyday people? Selling your tax returns?!?"

Otto Man said...

Is it too late for me to move back to Canada???????

Hey, you knew about my country when you married me. Deal with it, sweets.

Otto Man said...

Maybe the administration thinks the deficit is like an odometer, and once it hits 9,999,999,999,999.99 it'll roll over to zero.

Pooh said...

TILT!

jurassicpork said...

Aaaaand, another Assclown makes the weekly list.