A Republican Response to the Rich Hiding from Taxes

I posted a link to an article about UBS handing the IRS a list of tax evaders with Swiss bank accounts on Facebook. I suggested that the IRS throw the book at these unpatriotic tax evaders and got this e-mail from a conservative whose anonymity I will preserve here. I'll post my response shortly:

David,

Theoretically you are right, I really agree that those big tax evaders
should be made to pay up. However I have a few issues:

$20 billion divided over 19,000 accounts (from the article cited by you) breaks down for about $1 million per person (not hundreds of millions). It is still true that the avoided tax is a few times larger then the tax “mistakes” Geithner and Daschle made, but consider that they are not “ingenue”s but financial experts in the highest financial positions of the country. They did get away by claiming “honest mistakes” that is totally ridiculous. And not just simply they got away, but were nominated/appointed to high offices). Everyday Jack and Joe are audited for minor mistakes and prosecuted. It is like putting the wolf to guard the sheep. There should be 1 law for everyone (that unfortunately includes those weasels with the USB accounts.) The IRS lost the right to go after tax evaders when they accepted the “honest mistake” claim from leading political figures.

Also, due to space restriction on facebook I did not even mention Charles Rangel, the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means, and a Deputy Whip (look it up on Google: Mr. Rangel, who has a net worth of $566,000 to $1.2 million, according to Congressional disclosure records occupies 4 rent-stabilized apartments in New York city -the very few rent-controlled and rent-stabilized apartments are for small income families.

Rangel has admitted to a no-interest loan along with $75,000 in income from a rental villa in the Dominican Republic and said that he plans on repaying the owed money for his federal tax evasion.

According to the House Ethics Committee Rangel’s use of nearly $80,000 worth of campaign funds to pay his son for a sub-par website is against House Rules

According to the House Ethics Committee Rangel failed to report 28 instances of acquiring, owning, or disposing of assets between $239,026 and $831,000. These assets appeared and disappeared from his disclosures without notice,as House rules, at the time, demanded.)