Audit Trail

Ever get audited by the Internal Revenue Service?  Pretty much on demand, you have to produce receipts, bills, bank statements, etc.

Meanwhile as the IRS scandal continues, it appears they are not usbject to their own rules.  The IRS has reported to Congress that they have lost the hard drives containing the emails between Lois Lerner and Democratic Members of Congress regarding who should and shouldn't receive tax exempt status.

Is that a joke?  In an investigation that has been ongoing for years, the IRS just now realizes it does not have the hard drives in question that can refute Republican assertions.  This is no longer about simply violating ethical standards, but is bordering on criminal obstruction.

The other thing it should be doing is forcing Republican hands.  At this point since the IRS does not want to play ball, you need to swallow your pride and your business tax breaks and respond just as forcefully as the Administration is.  Stop funding the IRS.

We talk all the time about reforming the tax code, but the answer is no longer to reform the tax code, but to end it.  Now is the time for a flat tax.  Yes, I am ready to give up my mortgage interest deduction.  Yes, I am willing to give up my deduction to charitable entities.  (Realize of course charitable entities are only charitable, if the IRS says they are, an issue at the crux of this situation.)  I will give up the deduction for being a parent.  What about the marriage tax...don't worry about it!  If you go to a flat tax and everyone is taxed at the same rate, it shouldn't matter if you are straight, gay, or somewhere in between when it comes to taxation issues.

The problem with the tax code is not only that it is too arcane for most people to understand, but it is all about picking favorites.  If you are married we will lower your taxes slightly - because we like married people.  If you invest in this industry or that one - we will lower you taxes because we want people to risk their money in areas they normally wouldn't.

Since the IRS can not find basic hard drives to tell us who did what, where, and when, close up shop.  I am tired of hearing excuses from these morons.  Let the bureaucrats and accountants and tax lawyers fund, ahem, honest work.  It is now time for the IRS to get audited.

Offensive

America is quickly losing its right to free speech.

A panel with the Patent and Trademark Office has ruled that the term Redskins does not deserve legal protection from those who might want to profit from the use of the name other than the NFL franchise.

Let me make sure this is clear to everyone.  Because the term is so disparaging and inappropriate, the US Patent Office has said now, everyone can profit from its use in selling knock off clothing and other items.

As importantly though, this is another example of the US government telling you what speech is and isn't allowed.  While I know Democrats in Congress were unhappy with the Supreme Court decision saying corporations could speak on issues as people, they continue to be striking at the very core of who can and can not say what.

It is embarrassing and for a party that used to protect speech, it is offensive.

No Guns or Life In New York

I was taught that in America, we live in a Constitutional Republic.  You will forgive me when some days I think we actually live in a pseudo-monarchy.

In the Northeast, you have the Kennedys.  In Arkansas and later New York, you have the Clintons.  Jeb Bush may have represented Florida, but Texas clearly belongs to the Bush clan.  And returning to New York, you have the Cuomos.  Unfortunately, the latest governor of the State of New York does not have his father's same understanding of abortion.  Perhaps, he was too busy campaigning for his dad, Mario Cuomo, on Sundays to learn his catechesis on life and perhaps he was just too busy in law school to understand freedom of speech and the 2nd Amendment.

Recently, during a radio broadcast, Governor Cuomo stated that people who are pro-life and pro-2nd Amendment "have no place in the state of New York, because that’s not who New Yorkers are."

The Governor is showing that speech is limited in New York and might be why people are leaving his state.  America is supposed to be the land of the free, a land that is open and strong enough to support dissenting opinion, without trampling it.

While Governor Cuomo tried to walk his statements back, can you imagine the outcry if Rick Perry had said those who support abortion aren't welcome in Texas?  Can you imagine the outcry if someone argued that those who don't support gun owner rights should leave the country?

It is amazing to me that anyone would utter these phrases in America, but perhaps discourse really has gotten that bad.  If that is the case, I guess New York really doesn't have any life left.