IRS Abuse

 Senate hearings on IRS abuses are the                                
Roman equivalent of bread and circuses.  The senators                            
know that there is a tax revolt brewing in these great                           
states, and would like to quell it with a hearing,                               
or a study, a commission, or report.  Truth is, nothing            
will change.  Come Monday morning, the cloaked witnesses                  
will be back at work harassing taxpayers, trying to enforce        
the laws laid down by congress.  The sad part, is that               
even if all the illegalites are fixed, it will still be           
the IRS's job to harass taxpayers into compliance with        
the incomprehensible 7 million word tax code.  The IRS                           
is definitely resposible for the illegal acts, and agents                        
should be held criminally liable.  However, in the bigger                        
picture, the IRS is merely the judge, jury and executioner                       
for our spend-happy representatives.  Only congress has                          
the power to collect taxes and spend monies.  Maybe they                         
should come up with a system that doesn't violate our 1st                        
Amendment right to privacy, or our 5th Amendment freedom                         
from self-incrimination, or our 7th Amendment right to a trial                   
by jury.  Maybe if they considered the Bill of Rights when                       
writing tax law citizens wouldn't be abused by government agents.                
                                  
Gerald J. Klaas
Carmichael