Re: Privatization ad absurdum

[Michael Perelman <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

There's nothing wrong with permitting ALL the stakeholders to have an input.  Let me
quote some more from the article:
"But John D. Graham, the official appointed by President Bush to streamline the
federal rule-making process and give private interests a greater voice, said even he
was surprised by the I.R.S. plan.  "Whoever.s pen the first draft comes out of has a
big advantage,. said Dr. Graham, who ran the Office of Regulatory and Information
Affairs for the White House before becoming dean last week of the graduate school at
RAND, the nonprofit research organization.
The I.R.S. staff has been cut by a fifth in the last decade, even as Congress has
made the tax code vastly more complex. The agency, in a formal notice, said it lacked
the resources to issue as much guidance as taxpayers are seeking.
Graham of course was the bane of everybody who is interested in maintaining the
government's power to regulate.  And even he opposes this.  Note the next paragraph
which suggests that given the complexity of the tax system, that the IRS might lack
the resources to hold up their part of the process.  Finally, those of us who pay
taxes but do not benefit from the people with expensive lawyers and accountants to
guide them through the loopholes are left out of the process.  In addition, people
who rely on government services that will be defunded because of the inability of the
government to get payment from the rich and powerful will also be affected.




On Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 02:35:21PM -0800, David B. Shemano wrote:
>
> Isn't this how legislation should be written in a democracy-- as a collaborative process between the rulers and the ruled?  Since the tax lawyers are the ones who will have to interpret and apply the tax rules, doesn't it make sense to involve them in the drafting process to avoid unnecessa
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929

Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
michaelperelman.wordpress.com