This nation was founded on the rule of law, and the equality of treatment under such. With that in mind, Rep. Steve Stockman will offer taxpayers access to the same set of excuses used by the IRS when dealing with inquiries into the tax records — and those of other politicians in scandals of their own. The new bill, titled “The Dog Ate My Tax Receipts Act,” would allow taxpayers to use any of the following ten reasons as a positive defense during an audit:

1.         The dog ate my tax receipts
2.         Convenient, unexplained, miscellaneous computer malfunction
3.         Traded documents for five terrorists
4.         Burned for warmth while lost in the Yukon
5.         Left on table in Hillary’s Book Room
6.         Received water damage in the trunk of Ted Kennedy’s car
7.         Forgot in gun case sold to Mexican drug lords
8.         Forced to recycle by municipal Green Czar
9.         Was short on toilet paper while camping
10.       At this point, what difference does it make?

Stockman issued a statement along with the text of his bill:

“The United States was founded on the belief government is subservient and accountable to the people.  Taxpayers shouldn’t be expected to follow laws the Obama administration refuses to follow themselves,” said Stockman.  “Taxpayers should be allowed to offer the same flimsy, obviously made-up excuses the Obama administration uses.”

Well, the Obama administration and a few others, too. Stockman takes a shot at the late Ted Kennedy and Chappaquiddick, and #9 might be best understood as a shot at the Maduro government’s rationing of toilet paper (among many other items) in Venezuela. Stockman’s willing to go outside the IRS scandal when dealing with Obama administration excuses too, with #3 aimed at the Taliban 5 trade and #7 a response to Operation Fast & Furious. Hillary Clinton gets two references, one on Benghazi during her time in the administration, and another on her disastrous book tour.

Of course, this is trolling of the highest order, as Baseball Crank noted on Twitter:

Yes, this is a Congressman straight-up trolling. But it's tremendous trolling. http://t.co/N05PeOchWl

— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) June 20, 2014

It still makes the point that the IRS enjoys a tremendous power imbalance when it comes to dealing with taxpayers. The only way they can legitimately maintain that is to have scrupulous ethics and refrain from any sort of political taint. Otherwise, what is good for the goose should be good for the gander.