Oh, $700 Billion Was Not Enough…

So, much to my chagrin the House of Representatives voted to pass the bailout bill yesterday, after it was made into a mashup of the proposed bailout, the Energy Improvement and Extension Act of 2008, and the Tax Extenders and Alternative Minimum Tax Relief Act of 2008. In addition to the EIEA to woo Democrats, and the TEAMTRA to woo Republicans, many specifically targeted pork projects were added to entice lawmakers to vote for it.

If all that pork was not enough to enrage you, CNET News is reporting that the bill grants permanent privacy invasion by the IRS to conduct undercover operations where they run businesses to ensnare individuals by posing as accountants to ask questions like “I am not 100% sure this deduction is legal, but it will save you a couple grand. Do you want to take it anyway?” Not only does this give the IRS the ability for entrapment, it also allows the IRS to give information from individual tax returns to whatever federal law enforcement agency requests it as part of their investigation of suspected terrorist activity.