Ron Paul: Fix IRS by shutting it ‘once and for all’

Former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas called the recent IRS fiasco troubling — but writes that the only way Congress can protect the freedoms of Americans from a long pattern of suspected IRS abuse is to “shutter the doors” of the agency “once and for all.”

The longtime GOP congressman writes that IRS agents in the 1930s were essentially “hit squads” against opponents of the New Deal, and that allegations of IRS abuse spanned the administrations of Presidents Kennedy, Nixon, Clinton and George W. Bush.

“The bipartisan tradition of using the IRS as a tool to harass political opponents suggests that the problem is deeper than just a few ‘rogue’ IRS agents — or even corruption within one, two, three or many administrations,” Dr. Paul writes in his weekly column, “Texas Straight Talk. “Instead, the problem [lies] in the extraordinary power the tax system grants the IRS.”

The libertarian and tea party hero goes on to argue that the power of the IRS can only be countered with a complete overhaul to the country’s tax system.

“The federal government will get along just fine without its immoral claim on the fruits of our labor, particularly if the elimination of federal income taxes are accompanied by serious reduction in all areas of spending, starting with the military spending beloved by so many who claim to be opponents of high taxes and big government,” he writes. “While it is important for Congress to investigate the most recent scandal and ensure all involved are held accountable, we cannot pretend that the problem is a few bad actors. The very purpose of the IRS is to transfer wealth from one group to another while violating our liberties in the process, thus the only way Congress can protect our freedoms is to repeal the income tax and shutter the doors of the IRS once and for all.”

 

 
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/20/ron-paul-fix-irs-shutting-it-once-and-all/#ixzz2VM7o9Mho

Another IRS Scandal: Lawsuit Alleges 10,000,000 Americans Medical Records Seized

As the Internal Revenue Service finds itself embroiled in a scandal involving targeting “tea-party”, “patriot” groups, a lawsuit has been filed alleging the improper seizure of up to  60,000,000 medical records of over 10,000,000 Americans .

Intellihub.com

According Court House News Service :

“John Doe Company sued 15 John Doe IRS agents in Superior Court. “This is an action involving the corruption and abuse of power by several Internal Revenue Service (‘IRS’) agents (collectively referred to as ‘defendants’ herein) during a raid of John Doe Company, in the Southern District of California, on March 11, 2011,” the complaint states. “In a case involving solely a tax matter involving a former employee of the company, these agents stole more than 60,000,000 medical records of more than 10,000,000 Americans, including at least 1,000,000 Californians.”

The complaint goes on to say that warrants and subpoenas were never sought for the records.  IRS agents are accused of ignoring warnings  from company executives, ignoring their own published rule books, and the limitations of the warrant. The IRS agents are also accused of threatening ” to ‘rip’ the servers containing the medical data out of the building if IT personnel would not voluntarily hand them over.”

The warrant issued in the case dealt specifically with seizure of financial records of a former employee, not health and medical records of any employee. Despite this, cell phones and all data contained with were also seized. The medical records contain everything from psychological counseling, gynecological counseling, sexual or drug treatment, and a whole host of other medical matters.

The IRS has declined to name the 14 agents involved so far and decline to comment on the situation.

This latest incident comes after the news broke that the agency has been harassing so called Patriot groups who attempted to obtain non-profit status by singling their applications out for extra  examination.  Acting commissioner Steve Miller has issued a letter of resignation in response to the developing situation.

As I reported on last month, the IRS has also been called out for a 2009 handbookin which the IRS said the Fourth Amendment does not protect emails because Internet users “do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in such communications.” A 2010 presentation by the IRS Office of General Counsel reiterated the policy.” The American Civil Liberties Union discovered the documents from a Freedom of Information Act Request.

After a string of controversies many Americans are left wondering whether they can trust the Internal Revenue Service with the upcoming implementation of the Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare.