6 ms·

To rich to fail. Disgusting how the wealthy get away with pretty much everything while the poor are robbed of their possessions and freedom. This needs to be f

To rich to fail. Disgusting how the wealthy get away with pretty much everything while the poor are robbed of their possessions and freedom. This needs to be fixed ASAP or the US won't be any different than any corrupt banana republic.

liaukovv 6y ago
The issue here seems to be that attorney office can decide to not apply laws arbitrarily. Part of checks and balances I guess?
- tiahura 6y ago
  Prosecutorial discretion is a different than checks and balances. C&B describes the interrelations between branches of government in furtherance of good governance. Only a single branch of government is involved here - the executive. There are at least two related principles behind prosecutorial discretion. One is that the system should be biased against prosecuting people because putting people in jail shouldn't be our goal. Another principle is that law enforcement, from the local cop all the way to the US Attorney General, has to have some discretion in how they do their job - e.g. do we really want cops pulling everyone over who is 1 mph over the speed limit?
- alistairSH 6y ago
  But they did apply the law. Part of the settlement was an admission of guilt (along with massive fines and turning snitch on at least one business associate). It sounds like everybody wins. IRS gets revenue in the form of fines that exceeded the avoided taxes. AG's office gets a snitch, which should enable them to fry bigger fish. The criminal pays a large fine, gets his name in the paper for bad reasons, but avoids jail. Really, what does jail get us in this case? It's a non-violent crime.
  - liaukovv 6y ago
    Prosecution would be applying the law. They didn't prosecute.
    - alistairSH 6y ago
      The guy admitted he was guilty and agreed to a punishment - what value does prosecution serve at this point?
      - liaukovv 6y ago
        Applying the law equally to all has value of it's own.
dcolkitt 6y ago
Virtually no one in the US, rich or poor, is criminally prosecuted for tax evasion. Really the only way to be prosecuted for tax evasion is either to commit a whole bunch of other crimes, and have tax evasion thrown on to the indictment. Or be a public anti-tax activist like Wesley Snipes. This isn’t an issue of the rich getting special treatment. It’s an issue of IRS enforcement having highly constrained resources, and preferring to recover penalties, rather than spend resources on expensive criminal cases. Putting people behind bars doesn’t generate revenue, and revenue is literally the IRS’ middle name.
- liaukovv 6y ago
  Fear is powerful motivator. Rich people fear prison much more than they fear fines.
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    “Laws that are only punishable by fines are only laws for poor people.”
    - NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
      Not with a unit-fine approach. There's a case in Switzerland of a driver getting a $300K speeding ticket, for example.
      - unnouinceput 6y ago
        So? still applies. That's pocket change for a multi-millionaire. If I drive and break the speed limit having on my right a beautiful Victoria Secret model and paying the $300K ticket is a way to make her wet, guess what I'll do? Remember the scandal a few years back when models from famous fashion houses in Milan and New York were paid a million dollars per night by rich Arab oil magnates? I'd say those 300K are quite cheap in comparison.
        NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
godelzilla 6y ago
"Banana republics" are also the poor robbed of their possessions and freedom by the same unjust system on a global level.

liaukovv 6y ago

The issue here seems to be that attorney office can decide to not apply laws arbitrarily. Part of checks and balances I guess?

tiahura 6y ago
Prosecutorial discretion is a different than checks and balances. C&B describes the interrelations between branches of government in furtherance of good governance. Only a single branch of government is involved here - the executive. There are at least two related principles behind prosecutorial discretion. One is that the system should be biased against prosecuting people because putting people in jail shouldn't be our goal. Another principle is that law enforcement, from the local cop all the way to the US Attorney General, has to have some discretion in how they do their job - e.g. do we really want cops pulling everyone over who is 1 mph over the speed limit?
alistairSH 6y ago
But they did apply the law. Part of the settlement was an admission of guilt (along with massive fines and turning snitch on at least one business associate). It sounds like everybody wins. IRS gets revenue in the form of fines that exceeded the avoided taxes. AG's office gets a snitch, which should enable them to fry bigger fish. The criminal pays a large fine, gets his name in the paper for bad reasons, but avoids jail. Really, what does jail get us in this case? It's a non-violent crime.
- liaukovv 6y ago
  Prosecution would be applying the law. They didn't prosecute.
  - alistairSH 6y ago
    The guy admitted he was guilty and agreed to a punishment - what value does prosecution serve at this point?
    - liaukovv 6y ago
      Applying the law equally to all has value of it's own.

dcolkitt 6y ago

Virtually no one in the US, rich or poor, is criminally prosecuted for tax evasion. Really the only way to be prosecuted for tax evasion is either to commit a whole bunch of other crimes, and have tax evasion thrown on to the indictment. Or be a public anti-tax activist like Wesley Snipes. This isn’t an issue of the rich getting special treatment. It’s an issue of IRS enforcement having highly constrained resources, and preferring to recover penalties, rather than spend resources on expensive criminal cases. Putting people behind bars doesn’t generate revenue, and revenue is literally the IRS’ middle name.

liaukovv 6y ago
Fear is powerful motivator. Rich people fear prison much more than they fear fines.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  “Laws that are only punishable by fines are only laws for poor people.”
  - NovemberWhiskey 6y ago
    Not with a unit-fine approach. There's a case in Switzerland of a driver getting a $300K speeding ticket, for example.
    - unnouinceput 6y ago
      So? still applies. That's pocket change for a multi-millionaire. If I drive and break the speed limit having on my right a beautiful Victoria Secret model and paying the $300K ticket is a way to make her wet, guess what I'll do? Remember the scandal a few years back when models from famous fashion houses in Milan and New York were paid a million dollars per night by rich Arab oil magnates? I'd say those 300K are quite cheap in comparison.
      - NovemberWhiskey 6y ago

godelzilla 6y ago

"Banana republics" are also the poor robbed of their possessions and freedom by the same unjust system on a global level.