New plan. We just won’t collect the taxes

There’s a new bit of creative thinking making the rounds in DC this weekend, proving yet again that not all ideas wind up being good ones. According to this line of thought, assuming no deal is reached to prevent tax rates from going up on the middle class, Timothy Geithner has certain, hidden superpowers which will save the day.

Geithner requires no superpowers to avoid compliance with the tax code. As a civilian, he only need Turbo Tax or so he said. As Secretary of the Treasury for My Progressive Little Ponyland, he only needs his invisible, do-nothing, magic wand.

Resist We Much on December 9, 2012 at 1:49 PM

“Today, I am recognising the hard work of everyday Americans and acknowledging that the money they earn does not belong to the Federal government by announcing a 50% tax cut of ALL Federal tax rates of each and every kind. Of course, it’s not a law because only Congress has taxing and spending authority under the Constitution, but based upon precedent set by my predecessors, I am instead directing my Treasury Secretary and the Internal Revenue Service to cease forthwith the collection of half of the taxes due and owing the Federal government. I have also signed an Executive Order directing the Department of Justice to cease and desist ALL tax-related prosecutions or other proceedings.”

- Republican President John Doe, 21 January 20??

“Today, I have signed the Taxpayer Emancipation Proclamation. Pursuant to this Order, the United States Treasury will no longer collect taxes of any kind and neither the Department of Justice nor the Internal Revenue Service will ever again set their boots upon the necks of free men and women.

Surprise! It’s October!”

- Republican President John Doe, 31 October 20?? plus 1,381 days

Resist We Much on December 9, 2012 at 2:13 PM

Love you much RWM, you and your blog are conservative national treasures, but, honestly, there is a 1000% greater chance that Unicorn farts and faerie dust will be proven to be genuine sources of energy than of that ever happening.

SWalker on December 9, 2012 at 3:10 PM

I wasn’t being serious. My point was only to show what happens with bad precedent and why Progs shouldn’t be so quick to demand Obama circumvent Congress, kill Americans without due process, have authority to borrow as much money as he wants, decide which laws he will enforce and which he won’t (DOMA, immigration), etc.

In the 3 months before the election, the Obama administration was quietly working on protocols for when an American president would have the right to order the deaths of Americans after stripping them of their due process rights (something that the Supreme Court ruled a President and the Federal government cannot even do to enemy combatants that have never set foot on American soil), what kind of process he would have to take, approval from his security/military advisory board, etc, etc.

Now, why did the Obama administration wait a year after the death of Obama’s first American-kill, Anwar al-Awlaki and 3 months before the presidential election to start contemplating a set of limitations on this new power that Obama granted himself — a power that no other president in American history had? If you said the possibility that Mitt Romney would defeat Barack Obama on 6 November 2012 and they didn’t want him to have as much power, then “winnah, winnah, chicken dinner!”

Of course, after Obama won reelection the entire protocols project was shelved.

So, yes, I know that no Republican will ever direct the Treasury and IRS to stop collecting income taxes, but when presidents start playing fast-and-loose with the rules, then they open the door to unimaginable and very unpredictable (for some people — like Democrats should a Republican abolish the income tax, de factorily, using the same manoeuver they, themselves, are discussin today) actions and consequences in the future.

PS: Thx for the compliment. :-)

Resist We Much on December 9, 2012 at 3:36 PM