TigerHawk

TigerHawk (ti*ger*hawk): n. 1. The title of this blog and the nom de plume of its founding blogger; 2. A deep bow to the Princeton Tigers and the Iowa Hawkeyes; 3. The nickname for Iowa's Hawkeye logo. Posts include thoughts of the day on international affairs, politics, things that strike us as hilarious and personal observations. The opinions we express are our own, and not those of each other, our employers, our relatives, our dead ancestors, or unrelated people of similar ethnicity.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Snarky Congressional press release of the month

By TigerHawk at 1/29/2009 08:57:00 AM

If Congressman John Carter ever wants to do something else, there is reason to believe he has an excellent future as a snarky right-wing blogger.

All U.S. taxpayers would enjoy the same immunity from IRS penalties and interest as House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Obama Administration Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, if a bill introduced today by Congressman John Carter (R-TX) becomes law.

Carter, a former longtime Texas judge, today introduced the Rangel Rule Act of 2009, HR 735, which would prohibit the Internal Revenue Service from charging penalties and interest on back taxes against U.S. citizens. Under the proposed law, any taxpayer who wrote “Rangel Rule” on their return when paying back taxes would be immune from penalties and interest.

Pretty good stunt, and definitely on the side of hope and change.

CWCID: Glenn Reynolds.

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7 Comments:

By Anonymous, at Thu Jan 29, 09:23:00 AM:

Normally a stunt like this would work. nfortunately, these are not normal times.

He may need to convert to Bhuddism and self-immolate to get the major media's attention.

By Anonymous, at Thu Jan 29, 09:39:00 AM:

I hope somebody in Washington notices. During the Post Cold War Recession I lost my job and had to do a lot of work for cash to keep paying the mortgage. I owed a bucket full of taxes at the end of the year. My reward for obeying the law was a huge bill which I couldn't pay because my income had dropped by 60%. The penalties and interest took a massive bite out of my income the next year. Why did I have to pay but illegal immigrants and Rangels don't?

By Anonymous, at Thu Jan 29, 09:42:00 AM:

I thought it was a cool gesture.

By Anonymous, at Thu Jan 29, 02:49:00 PM:

I'd like to suggest the addition of a "William Jefferson" clause to the measure, covering all those UBS customers being turned over to the tax dragoons. He might also consider a "Geithner Exception" for unreported income.

By Dawnfire82, at Thu Jan 29, 07:04:00 PM: