Just this Friday U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington “barred the IRS from imposing a series of new regulations, including a competency exam, on hundreds of thousands of tax preparers.” Why did they feel this was necessary? Simply, it was in response to complaints from taxpayers who hire them, and this is because the tax code is enormously complex, and getting more so every year, and too many tax preparers are not competent to do taxes. So what is so irrational about this regulation? Nothing!
The issue isn’t whether or not this is a needed regulation. The issue is whether the IRS has been given statutory authority by the Congress to do it. The court said that it hasn’t!
Some industries are highly regulated for obvious reason. Pest control is one of them and most of us don’t mind rational well formulated regulations that are set in stone. I always hate it when a regulator attempts to make new rules according to personal likes and whims (with no statutory authority) that have been sprung on us without warning or input. I guess they think they have an “inherent right” to do it. I don’t think so, although government agencies at all levels have been getting away with it for years!
It’s bad enough when done by an individual, even if it is a top ranking individual regulator, but when it happens by an entire agency of the federal government that creates a much larger long term problem without boundary or dimension. I wish to go back to my foundational question; is this “regulation” from the IRS irresponsible?” Considering the complexity of the tax code and the amount of complaints the IRS gets that answer is –no—this regulation isn’t irresponsible.
The tax code is irresponsible and corrupt from top to bottom, but that isn’t the fault of the IRS. The way they went about this is what is irresponsible and their rationale is treasonous by claiming they have “inherent authority”. I think perhaps we should do some dictionary work now. The word inherent means;
“innate - inborn - native – intrinsic existing in someone or something as a permanent and inseparable element, quality, or attribute.” existing as an essential constituent or characteristic; belonging to a thing by its very nature; "the very essence of the thing - an underlying meaning - implied though not directly expressed; inherent in the nature of something.”
NO agency of the federal government has “inherent authority” in any form. Any authority an agency possesses must be granted to them from the Legislature and the Executive and can just as easily be taken away. That in itself nullifies any irresponsible thinking about inherency. In short if the Congress and the President don’t authorize it they don’t have it.
The very idea of “inherent authority” is a clear violation of the Constitution. Not only is there no “inherent authority” in existence for federal agencies and the bureaucrats that run them, but there is no “inherent authority” in existence for the Congress or the President of the United States. Their authority emanates from the Constitution which states that this authority is granted to them by the people, and presumably can be taken away just as well. And from what source does the authority exercised by the people emanate? And the Declaration of Independence makes it clear that authority emanates from God.
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
I wonder if anyone ever reads this any longer, and it is clear that they have forgotten that it is “the people” who are in charge and they work for “the people”, not the other way around. The very idea of “inherent authority” exercised by the government is frightening in its scope and that’s why we don’t speak with an English accent. It just might be a really good idea if everyone read the Declaration of Independence once in a while. We might just notice some interesting similarities.
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