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There's a thick, bright red line on the floor, as it were. On this side on the line, you have a country whose government respects the private tax data of citize
by cs702 2y ago
There's a thick, bright red line on the floor, as it were. On this side on the line, you have a country whose government respects the private tax data of citizens, controlling who has access to it with some kind of due process. On the other side of the line, you have a country that does not. Let's hope the US government, via DOGE, remains on this side of the line.
- jredwards 2y agoYou know they won't.
- chatmasta 2y agoI’m not sure how thick that red line really is. I find it hard to believe that this IRS database is used strictly by the IRS and not shared with other agencies (whether in the intelligence community or otherwise). Frankly it doesn’t even matter - the NSA could plant somebody in the IRS and get access to it anyway. Overall I agree with your premise. There are certainly some safeguards already in place. But even those aren’t foolproof (e.g. an IRS employee leaked 45’s tax returns to NYT). The data is collected and it’s indexed in an automated retrieval system. Any barriers to that will inevitably be circumvented.
- know-how 2y ago[dead]
- kccoder 2y agoTrump, Musk, et al aren't known for respecting boundaries, norms, conventions, ... They don't have concern nor respect for the citizens they "serve". They only care about themselves, everyone else be damned. No chance they don't continue to cross every line they encounter.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- xethos 2y agoYes, those dictatorial hellscapes of Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Or did you mean the other countries that have public tax returns? Like I'm not saying this isn't new to the US, and I'm not saying the Nordic models are perfect. But the hysteria in this comment is over the top, and allows others to dismiss why this is likely a bad idea without thinking.
- LastTrain 2y agoMaybe tax returns should be public, maybe they shouldn't, but what does that have to do with what is going on here? This is currently private data being made available to a select few, currently without oversight.
- xethos 2y agoGP's comment regarding the "Thick, bright red line on the floor" implies tax returns seeing the light of day should never happen in a democratic state. I take issue with that. I consider the terminology used in the comment to be hysterical, which allows Trump supporters to dismiss the entire story more easily. As far as without oversight: not reporting the entire chain of command does not mean there isn't one. The employee needed certain security clearances to access the system, and they've been granted them (per TFA) I think we agree on at least a few points though: Neither of us trust the current administration to actually vet who gets security clearance, to trust this is being done in good faith, to believe it will make a realistic difference in tax evasion (especially for the rich), that the time would not be better spent better financing the IRS, or that access will be used responsibly. I don't think this is a good idea. But let's minimize the histronics and over-the-top language. There's lots to criticize without allowing detractors an easy win.
- LastTrain 2y agoI have a better idea. Let's not normalize what is happening. Let's not try to make people feel like chumps for having standards.