The Arena

The IRS has increasingly become a political tool of the entrenched establishment in Washington DC. Rather than serve as a neutral tax collector and enforcer of tax law, the IRS is becoming more known as a blunt object with which to browbeat those who dare to oppose the current administration. In the latest example of this trend, Dr. Ben Carson reveals that he experienced his first encounter with the IRS, quite coincidentally we’re sure (wink wink), after he spoke in opposition of Obamacare at the National Prayer Breakfast.

It is shameful that the IRS has abdicated its historically neutral position in favor of political activism in the form of harassing conservative groups applying for tax exempt status, auditing opponents of the administration, and leaking confidential donor records and social security numbers of conservative groups and private citizens. They have proven unwilling and incapable of acting in a nonpartisan fashion and protecting the sensitive data we are required to provide to them.

The question has been asked many times but it bears repeating – are we sure this is the institution we want to be in charge of our heath records and insurance ...

Texas Monthly ran an article this month titled “Did Playboy Screw Prada?”  The subtitle helpfully clarifies“The dustup around Playboy’s controversial art installation outside of Marfa revealed regulations that might require the removal of the famous Prada Marfa sculpture.”

The long and short of it is that the Texas Department of Transportation wants to get rid of the Playboy exhibit so they have deemed it “illegal outdoor advertising”. Logically it follows that if the Playboy installation is illegal advertising than so must be the Prada installation. This is what Texas Monthly finds so troubling. But if they want the Prada exhibit to stay, are they are asking the wrong question.

To help distill what the right questions might be we look to Big Bend Now to give us further insight into TxDoT’s position:

“Veronica Beyer, TxDoT Director of Media Relations, said in a Tuesday afternoon email that “the agency has ordered the property owner to remove this sign because the owner does not have a Texas License for Outdoor Advertising and a specific permit application for the sign ...

A high school textbook in use in some Texas schools, including Guyer High School in Denton ISD, has rewritten the 2nd Amendment to mean something it doesn’t actually mean. The revised language makes it seem as though only militia members have a right to bear arms. Of course, that is not what the 2nd Amendment says at all. Is it any wonder there is a fierce debate in Texas and across the country about curriculum content in public schools?

Texas Food Deregulation Helps The Little Guy.

From the earliest days of the Obamacare debate, long before it became law, opponents of singled out the medical device tax as one of the plan’s many flaws. They warned that the tax would increase the costs, causing some devices to become cost prohibitive and leading manufacturers to cut jobs. Proponents of Obamacare laughed off the warnings or ignored them altogether.

Today we find out that, as predicted, medical device manufacturers are slashing jobs in response to the tax. We would say the law’s opposition has had the last laugh. Unfortunately, it’s no laughing matter.

The war against 2nd Amendment civil rights in Washington, DC has reached a new level of absurdity. DC police are instructed to arrest tourists in possession of spent bullet casings. Under DC law, a spent cartridge casing is considered ammunition. That’s right….. a brass or plastic case with no active primer, no powder, and no projectile is considered ammunition in the strange and lurid world of Washington DC lawmakers. They will arrest and prosecute people for possession of an object that itself possesses no harm whatsoever to anyone, all in the name violating constitutionally protected civil rights.

As Glenn Reynolds says, perhaps tourists ought to consider spending their money elsewhere.

Objectively speaking the weather in Dallas is better, so this is not entirely unexpected. Poll finds people in Dallas are happier than people in Houston.

Protesting Parents Not Warmly Received at Spring ISD Building. If parents could protest by putting their kids in better schools, there would be less of this kind of thing.

Tax policy at all levels of government can be used to punish behavior of all types and to stymie political opposition. When those charged with enforcing tax policy allow political preference to dictate who gets audited or who gets tax exempt status, the public trust has been broken and major reform is needed. Steven Malanga explores these issues and asks Who Will Audit The Auditors?

The IRS Abuse Protection Act will soon be introduced in both houses of Congress. The proposed law would create transparency at the IRS and prevent the agency from using its power to abuse taxpayers for political purposes. The agency has been under fire for its cavalier attitudes toward privacy, its overt political activism at the expense of liberty oriented individuals and organizations, and its lackadaisical approach to data security. This legislation, should it become law, would help curb these abuses.

H/T Instapundit.