May 29th, 2024 at 11:26 am
Quote of the Day: Taxpayer Privacy and IRS Abuse
At CFIF, the issue of improving taxpayer privacy and protection against persistent abuse by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) remains among our most important missions. Among the abuses that we’ve chronicled is the case of convicted criminal Charles Littlejohn, who rejoined the IRS in 2017 with the specific purpose of illegally breaching and leaking the private tax returns of Donald Trump and other Americans to radical left-wing organizations like ProPublica.
In The Wall Street Journal this week, one of those victims speaks out on his own experience and the need for greater taxpayer protection against this recurring problem that should terrify all Americans of every political persuasion. Ira Stoll, whose tax information was passed to ProPublica, even helpfully details how federal law allows victimized taxpayers to sue the government for at least $1,000 and attorneys’ fees. His broader point, however, is that crimes like those perpetrated against him could be avoided if the IRS simply collected and retained less confidential information, much of which it doesn’t even need for legitimate operational purposes:
The problem transcends the Littlejohn leak. A 2022 report from the Government Accountability Office documented 462 unauthorized accesses or disclosures of tax information between 2012 and 2021, ‘of which 24 resulted in guilty outcomes’ after referrals to the Justice Department. Much of this could be solved if the government simply collected and stored less confidential data.”
We agree wholeheartedly, and applaud Mr. Stoll for speaking out even though ProPublica retains his data and could vindictively release it at any time.
March 22nd, 2013 at 12:18 pm
Tom Coburn Axes Taxpayer Money for Absurd Research
From Quin’s lips to U.S. Senator Tom Coburn’s ears…
Yesterday, Quin highlighted one of the many wasteful uses of taxpayer money funded by the National Science Foundation, a federal government agency that subsidizes some pretty dubious projects. (Such as the sex lives of ducks.)
Also yesterday Coburn, a Republican from Oklahoma and a committed budget cutter, persuaded a majority of his Senate colleagues to limit NSF political science grants to only those studies that are certified as “promoting national security or the economic interests of the United States.”
Citing just one example, Coburn said that “There is no reason to spend $251,000 studying Americans’ attitudes toward the U.S. Senate when citizens can figure that out for free.”
As I understand it, Coburn’s amendment only curtails political science-related research, meaning that the project Quin cited may still be allowed going forward. Even so, it’s a hopeful sign that Coburn established a precedent for at least one part of the federal budget that aligns national spending with the (true) national interest.
January 9th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Chevy Volt: Catches Fire, Burns Taxpayers
Environmentalists’ dreams of highways filled with electric cars continue to crash and burn. Literally.
Fresh off news that the Chevy Volt will undergo an internal redesign to make the car less susceptible to catching fire up to three weeks after it is impacted in an accident, William La Jeunesse of Fox News reports how taxpayers are getting burned even if they never purchase the car.
“Politicans love to get in front of something they think is the future, the problem is they do it poorly, they waste money and they just don’t have an impact on the overall economy,” says economist James Hohman of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
When all the federal and state subsidies to General Motors and its Volt suppliers are totaled, Hohman estimates each Volt sold costs taxpayers as much as $250,000.
Here’s the most outrageous numbers:
According to the CEO of General Motors, the average annual income of buyers of the Chevy Volt is $170,000. Those who buy the luxury electric Fisker Karma or Tesla roadster earn more than $250,000 a year. Yet every wealthy buyer receives a hefty handout from Uncle Sam, adding more than $8,500 to the federal debt for every car sold.
Once upon a time limousine liberals could be counted on to at least foot the charge for their gas bill. Now, the rest of us are stuck paying for their environmental guilt trips.
March 21st, 2011 at 12:51 pm
Missouri GOP Holding ‘Air Claire’ McCaskill’s Feet to the Fire
Forget all the media salivating for the 2012 presidential campaign. The Missouri Republican Party is launching its first attack on Democratic Senator Claire McCaskill’s liberal use of taxpayer money.
Over the weekend, the Missouri GOP printed a full-page ad in the Springfield, MO News Leader demanding that McCaskill explain why she paid the U.S. Treasury $88,000 for flights on one of her husband’s private jets. McCaskill continues to claim that only one of the flights was for a purely political reason (and thus ineligible for taxpayer reimbursement), yet her check covers 89 trips.
Since McCaskill’s seat is seen as a great pickup opportunity for Republicans, don’t expect the Missouri GOP to let the self-styled accountability watchdog off the leash easy.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the 2012 campaign cycle!
Tags: 2012 Elections, accountability, Claire McCaskill, Corruption, Democrat Party, ethics, Missouri, Republican Party, scandal, taxpayer, watchdog
July 9th, 2010 at 1:43 am
Obama Inspires Taxpayers to Send Voluntary Payments to Arizona State Government
Yes, he CAN! President Barack Obama managed to pull off a rare feat this week: convincing conservative Americans to voluntarily contribute more money than they owe to the government to help it fund a program. The problem for the president is that thousands of Americans from all 50 states were sending the checks to Arizona to fight the Obama Justice Department’s legal challenge to SB 1070, the state’s new illegal immigration law.
Most of the donations were between $10 and $100; precisely the types of contributions that propelled Obama to victory while giving his campaign team reason to brag that his support was wide and potentially very deep. Faced with a similar kind of widespread movement arrayed against him, will Obama see the nationwide backlash he’s loping towards before it’s too late?
Do conservatives want him to?
May 26th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Fire the Census Worker, Hire the Postman?
For my fellow limited government types out there, here’s an idea to save money and get the decennial census done competently: hire postal workers to count heads. The suggestion comes from one of the Census Bureau’s “seasonal” workers quoted in the New York Post.
I am totally convinced that the Census work could be very easily done by the US Postal Service.
“When I was trying to look for an address or had a question about a building, I would ask the postman on the beat. They knew the history of the route and can expand in detail who moved in or out etc. I have found it interesting that if someone works one hour, they are included in the labor statistics as a new job being full.
Yes, you read that last sentence correctly. Whenever the Census Bureau hires a person for at least one hour of work, they can report to the Labor Department that a new job has been created. And that’s true even if the one-hour worker gets fired and rehired multiple times – multiple hires equal multiple “jobs.” Our tax dollars at work. (Or, is it play?)
With these facts, it seems like the census could be achieved much more efficiently by getting the postal worker on the street to knock on the door, deliver some mail, and casually ask how many people live in the unit. Since people are already comfortable with their usual postal worker, having them ask the questions would be much more likely to guarantee a response. And, it would save taxpayers the indignity of funding inflated job creation numbers.
May 6th, 2010 at 7:37 pm
Darrell Issa Uncovers Treasury-GM Axel of Evil
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) is continuing his one-man assault on government corruption by calling out the Treasury Department for helping GM lie its way back to respectability. Apparently, GM paid off its debt to taxpayers with money from a government (i.e. taxpayer) escrow account and claimed it was free and clear. When the Treasury Department parroted the nationalized car company’s line, Issa, the Ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee, demanded proof. What he got was a document from Treasury stating it “never” endorsed GM’s claim, accompanied by an attached press release headlined – no kidding – “GM REPAYS TREASURY LOAN IN FULL.”
You can’t make this stuff up.
H/T: The Daily Caller
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