IRS Thuggery In The Past
Something to remember -- government is not your protector. Government is a bully and constantly needs to be curtailed.
David Kay Johnston writes in The New York Times in 1997:
A Federal judge in Denver has awarded $250,000 in punitive damages to a woman whose family business was raided by armed Internal Revenue Service agents four weeks after the woman insulted an I.R.S. agent.The revenue agents padlocked all three Kids Avenue clothing stores in Colorado Springs, and posted notices that some customers interpreted as evidence that the woman, Carole Ward, 49, was a drug smuggler.
In a harshly worded 17-page opinion, Judge William P. Downes of the Federal District Court in Denver found that one of the I.R.S. agents, James Dolan, was ''grossly negligent'' and acted with ''reckless disregard'' for the law, and that he made three false statements in a sworn declaration. The judge, who said the actions by the I.R.S. agents violated Ms. Ward's privacy rights, wrote that the punitive damages award ''gives notice to the I.R.S. that reprehensible abuse of authority by one of its employees cannot and will not be tolerated.''
The judge also awarded Ms. Ward $75,000 in actual damages plus lawyers' fees.
As for what got the government-employed panties in a wad:
Mrs. Ward said she accompanied her son to one audit, a rancorous meeting that ended, according to testimony, with Mrs. Ward telling Ms. Dzierzanowski: ''Honey, from what I can see of your accounting skills the country would be better served if you were dishing up chicken fried steak on some Interstate in West Texas, with all the clunky jewelry and big hair.''
Teehee.
via Inga B.
The current meme regarding the targeting of Tea Party groups is, "No President would ever abuse the IRS like that because it's such a stupid thing to do." However, we know for a fact that both LJB and Nixon did exactly that.
Cousin Dave at June 3, 2013 6:30 PM
Only $250,000 punitive damages?
Probably need to be $250,000,000 to even register with anyone in the Federal government.
JFP612 at June 3, 2013 6:37 PM
At least it's a win for the good guys and gals. We just need many more of them.
If I were to knowingly be meeting with an IRS agent, or any other, I would want to have one of these cameras.
Jim P. at June 3, 2013 8:58 PM
1997? That was then, this is now. Judges rule against citizens on an everyday basis anymore.
"Innocent until proven guilty" is a thing of the past-- Have you tried to fight a traffic ticket lately?
They don't even want to hear your complaint-- just leave your money and get out.
jefe at June 3, 2013 10:20 PM
@JFP612, who wrote:
'Only $250,000 punitive damages?
Probably need to be $250,000,000 to even register with anyone in the Federal government.'
Er - no. To anyone in the Federal Government, the amount is immaterial. No amount of punitive damages will ever 'register' with anyone in the Federal Government because it's not their money - it's taxpayers' money. Nobody in the Federal Government - I mean No Body - ever feels the consequences of doing this sort of thing in their own wallet. No. Body.
And, since nobody in the Federal Government is ever fired for doing this sort of thing - I mean Staples-box-and-out-the-front-door-fired, not 'Fed-fired' (early-retirement, lateral reassignment, or back on contract next week) - there is absolutely no incentive whatsoever for them to stop doing it. None.
At the risk of being indelicate, a Federal employee can literally relieve themself on your front lawn and not be fired for it.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/122672324.html
So what did you expect? No consequences for wrongdoing and (in the current cases) the positive approval and encouragment of your political masters in DC. It's no wonder IRS employees did what they did. I'm sure we have only seen the tip of the iceberg.
llater,
llamas
llamas at June 4, 2013 6:31 AM
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