[OutsiderFan]

Getting upset at the IRS is like launching personal epithets against a customer service agent at an airline when your luggage is lost.  The agent is tasked with administering a policy or representing the behavior of others, so it's silly to take your frustration out on that person.

The IRS exists at the pleasure of Congress, and implements policies Congress and the Judicial branch create.  Upset about the IRS?  Take it up with the Congress and President who write the laws and appoint judges.

Evan Mathis may not care what people think of him, but he sure makes NFL players look foolish with such antics aimed at self-aggrandizement.

[OutsiderFan]

Getting upset at the IRS is like launching personal epithets against a customer service agent at an airline when your luggage is lost.  The agent is tasked with administering a policy or representing the behavior of others, so it's silly to take your frustration out on that person.

The IRS exists at the pleasure of Congress, and implements policies Congress and the Judicial branch create.  Upset about the IRS?  Take it up with the Congress and President who write the laws and appoint judges.

Evan Mathis may not care what people think of him, but he sure makes NFL players look foolish with such antics aimed at self-aggrandizement.

[Redrum]

Honestly, I expect to see video after video of guys pissing on Tamerlan Tsarnaev's grave.  Surprised some aren't posted somewhere already.  Pissing on an IRS building sign?  Wow, what an act of personal bravery and high political art.

[Redrum]

Honestly, I expect to see video after video of guys pissing on Tamerlan Tsarnaev's grave.  Surprised some aren't posted somewhere already.  Pissing on an IRS building sign?  Wow, what an act of personal bravery and high political art.

[washingtonismoney]

So when Ed Greenberg was rude and abusive toward me when I was taking Poli Sci 10, I should have been irritated with the trustees instead of him? I think it's not quite as simple as that.

Surely the difference is the amount of discretion each entity has. Ed Greenberg (a prof?) can do basically whatever he wants in terms of teaching style, other than acts of gross moral turpitude. Customer service types of people are surely on the exact other side of the spectrum; their emotional labor is often quite rigidly controlled.

The question is where IRS bureaucrats fall. As this recent scandal shows, apparently they have much more autonomy than I would've guessed (their superiors tried to shut them down -- what was it, twice? three times?). So they're more like Ed Greenberg.

[washingtonismoney]

So when Ed Greenberg was rude and abusive toward me when I was taking Poli Sci 10, I should have been irritated with the trustees instead of him? I think it's not quite as simple as that.

Surely the difference is the amount of discretion each entity has. Ed Greenberg (a prof?) can do basically whatever he wants in terms of teaching style, other than acts of gross moral turpitude. Customer service types of people are surely on the exact other side of the spectrum; their emotional labor is often quite rigidly controlled.

The question is where IRS bureaucrats fall. As this recent scandal shows, apparently they have much more autonomy than I would've guessed (their superiors tried to shut them down -- what was it, twice? three times?). So they're more like Ed Greenberg.

[washingtonismoney]

That being said, I do think OutsiderFan has a point. If we would like IRS agents to make fewer judgment calls, we should change the laws to get a simpler tax code. In theory, that's something everyone loves ... at least, until someone's favorite tax break hard-earned reward gets taken away.

[washingtonismoney]

That being said, I do think OutsiderFan has a point. If we would like IRS agents to make fewer judgment calls, we should change the laws to get a simpler tax code. In theory, that's something everyone loves ... at least, until someone's favorite tax break hard-earned reward gets taken away.

[JohnR34231]

Yep, the IRS is sort of to finance what U$C and USB are to football; the organization we all love to hate.

[JohnR34231]

Yep, the IRS is sort of to finance what U$C and USB are to football; the organization we all love to hate.