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Health & Fitness

Getting Audited By The IRS? Plead The Fifth!

Everybody knows Al Capone. The infamous Chicago gangster who made a fortune in Prohibition era smuggling and bootlegging of liquor, prostitution, and other nefarious activities. The Chicago Police couldn't get him. The FBI couldn't pin anything on him and make it stick. Elliot Ness couldn't get him, so the Federal Government put the big dogs on his case.

The IRS. The Internal Revenue Service.

The man responsible for all manner of criminal mayhem, the man responsible for the St. Valentines Day Massacre, the man responsible for countless murders, was brought down by none other than the IRS. He went to jail not for murder, but for income tax evasion.

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It took the most powerful weapon the United States Government has to bring down the Capone empire.

Maybe that is why Americans have always been so afraid of the IRS. If they can take down Capone, they surely can make my life a living hell. It is that kind of fear that most likely inspires most Americans to take extra care when preparing their tax returns.

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Careful not to fudge the numbers. Even afraid that they will make an honest mistake trying to navigate through the hundreds of thousands of pages of rules, and laws. Hundreds of new tax laws every single year.

Because of this instilled fear of the IRS, millions of Americans are afraid to fill out their own tax forms, and pay companies to do it for them. Do you think this kind of agency is what our founding fathers envisioned for our country? Actually, they didn't.

The IRS was created in 1862 under the Lincoln Administration, and it's purpose was to collect a "temporary" income tax to raise funds for the Civil War. The rest, as they say, is history.

A side note: July 1-3 is the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, but I digress.

So the income tax and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue was created by Lincoln to pay war expenses. 7 years after the Civil War, the temporary Civil War Tax ended, but taxes in one form or another continued, and so did the IRS.

Fast forward past our old buddy Al, to the present, and you'll find that the position of "Commissioner" lives on with a new title. Head of the IRS. Today's IRS collects 2.4 trillion dollars a year from Americans. They strike fear into the heart of American workers and small business owners.

Everybody lives in fear of the dreaded audit letter. I'm sure that is not how Lincoln envisioned things happening, but this is what happens when folks give government more power, and more money. It gets more bloated, and continually seeks more. Got to feed the beast.

So what is the IRS today?

Some will rightfully argue that it is a political tool of the Obama Administration, and they can make a damn good case for that. It was the IRS that flagged conservative groups with the name "Tea Party" & "Patriot" in the names of their non-profit groups in the run up to the 2012 election.

These groups were targeted, and letters were sent asking for all manner of additional information, including personal emails, religious affiliations, and other sensitive information that should never be demanded by a government entity. Applications were delayed by years, and some are still waiting, even after the election is over.

Conservative applicants who had never been audited in their lives, were suddenly audited on both their groups returns as well as their personal returns. Conservative applicants were harrassed by the FBI. They were targeted by the IRS, they were intimidated by the FBI, and in one case, a Federal Counter Terrorism team showed up at a woman's door because of her application. Is this really America?

As if this wasn't enough to cast a shadow over the White House manipulation of the IRS, Lois Lerner, the senior IRS official who implemented the added scrutiny of Tea Party groups personally signed paperwork giving tax-exempt status to the Barack H Obama Foundation, which is a shady charity that was run by President Obama's half-brother Malik illegally for years. Malik by the way, was the best man at Barack & Michelle Obama's wedding.

How long did it take for President Obama's half-brother to get his tax-exempt status? It took 3 weeks for Lois Lerner to personally expedite this application. Three weeks, while Tea Party groups waited, and are still waiting for three years. Not only that, but Lois Lerner found it in her heart to make the Barack H. Obama Foundation's tax-exempt status retroactive back to 2008.

Three weeks, or three years, depending on your political views.

And now the most disgusting thing. Once they found out that news of this political thuggery was about to become public, Lois Lerner had a question "planted" at an innocuous speaking engagement. they wanted to get out in front of the story. Look like they were honestly answering an honest question. Problem is, it was a planted question.

Lois Lerner was rightfully hauled in front of Congress to answer questions. She claimed innocence in this whole affair. 

So after claiming she is innocent of any wrongdoing, what does the senior IRS official in charge of this whole thing do? She pleads the fifth.

Basically folks exercising their Fifth Amendment rights are saying that they will not answer questions under oath that will incriminate them. 

Reading between the lines, it screams, I'm Guilty!

Al Capone should have pleaded the fifth.

How do you claim that you are innocent of any wrongdoing, and also feel compelled to plead the fifth?  If you are not guilty, you should have no problems answering any and all questions.

Unless you are protecting somebody. The President?

So what was Lois Lerner's penalty for this outrageous treatment of good Americans? She was put on a leave of absence. A PAID leave of absence. She now makes $3,557.69 a week for sitting on her ass. Hush money? You decide.

In other IRS employment news, the former acting head of the IRS, Steve Miller (not the rocker) announced that Sarah Hall Ingram, who led the tax-exempt office between 2009 and 2012 has actually been promoted. Promoted! She now heads the IRS Affordable Care Act office. She is in charge of the IRS enforcement of Obamacare!

Steve Miller became the acting Head of the IRS on November 9, 2012. The day after Barack Obama was elected to his second term as President of our United States of America. He resigned six months later on May 13th of this year in the wake of this IRS scandal.

Steve Miller sat in front of Congress, and stated that Sarah Hall Ingram had given American taxpayers "horrible customer service" and she was being promoted. Horrible customer service? are you kidding me? IT WAS A CRIME AGAINST AMERICANS! Now she is in charge of the IRS enforcement of Obamacare taxes.  Yikes!

Steve Miller, Sarah Hall Ingram, and Lois Lerner should be put behind bars. Instead, one of them is now retired with a lifetime pension and lifetime medical, paid for by American taxpayers. The other is sitting on her ass getting medical and $3,557.69 a week, and the other got promoted.

This all reminds me of an Obama statement about punishing his enemies, and rewarding his friends.

I wonder.

I wonder if you or I get audited by the IRS, can we do what the IRS big wigs do and plead the fifth?

Can we plead the fifth?

Can we Americans take advantage of the same rights that our government leaders use?

Al Capone should have pleaded the fifth...

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