86 online
 
Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 32 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing Summarizing
OpEdNews Op Eds    H1'ed 4/4/12

It's Tax Time: A Time To Occupy The IRS?

By       (Page 1 of 3 pages)   7 comments

Danny Schechter
Message Danny Schechter

IT'S TAX TIME: IS IT TIME TO OCCUPY THE IRS?

By Danny Schechter, Author of The Crime of Our Time

 Every year I trek down to a nondescript office building near Wall Street with a bag full of receipts and a belly full of anxiety.

When it's tax time, I always hope for the best but". I   also had an accountant who I trusted to keep me on the up and up.   He was recommended years earlier by the Yippie activist Abbie Hoffman, who wanted to avoid the Al Capone problem.


(Image by Unknown Owner)   Details   DMCA

Abbie had been busted enough for his political activities and didn't want more jail time for non-payment of taxes. So he had to be like the driven snow to withstand any audit. And he was. He was a revolutionary who held his nose and paid the man.

Back in the day, the government used IRS investigations to threaten political activists and intimidate activists that paid their taxes as opposed to those who became tax resisters to refuse to pay for wars. They prosecuted them or seized their property.

Those war tax resisters seemed to always get special attention from the IRS enforcement division that wanted to make an example of a few often religious people challenging   the people fronting for a   "Defense" budget that never stopped growing, and has had little to do with real defense.,

I admire their bravery and defiance but haven't had the guts to join them.

In some countries,   tax defiance is growing against new taxes imposed in the aftermath of repugnant cutbacks in the name of austerity.

The New York Times reports from Ireland that there's a massive boycott underway of a new property tax: "Anti-austerity protesters are claiming victory after the government acknowledged that around 50 percent of Ireland 's estimated 1.6 million homeowners failed to pay a new, flat-rate $133 property tax by the March 31 deadlines."

Today, especially thanks to Occupy Wall Street, we know how economic inequality had grown while the people with the most money in society work the hardest not to not pay their fair share. They have been resisting for years, "legally" they claim.

Those armed with lobbyists and pricey tax firms have never seen a deduction they don't like or a sleazy maneuver they wouldn't try.

As Chuck Collins writes in his new book 99-1: "In 2010, 25 of the 100 largest U.S. companies paid their CEO more than they paid in U.S. taxes. This is largely because corporations in the global 1 percent use off shore tax havens to dodge their U.S. taxes."

The "experts" who have looked at the taxes we pay look away with disgust. This is from Ezra Klein's Blog in the Washington Post:

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Danny Schechter Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

News Dissector Danny Schechter is blogger in chief at Mediachannel.Org He is the author of PLUNDER: Investigating Our Economic Calamity (Cosimo Books) available at Amazon.com. See Newsdisssector.org/store.htm.
Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

Israel Gives All Jews A Bad Name

Is There A Threat of Fascism in the USA?

Free Marketers Going After Occupy Wall Street --Danny Schechter

WHO OWNS OUR MEDIA AND WHY IT MATTERS

COG OR COA: WHY IS OBAMA MORPHING INTO BUSH 2?

WERE THE BANKS TOO BIG TO FAIL OR THE BANKERS TOO BIG TO JAIL?

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend