America the Dictatorship

John Ransom wrote a column recently, one in which he brings up an enormously important point.


     "On issue after issue, Americans are fed up with the fact that they feel they can’t trust Washington. It doesn’t matter what new laws they pass; they either pass the wrong ones or won’t enforce the ones they do pass.
     I always use illegal immigration and the tax code as twin examples of what’s wrong. These two areas of the law present the gravest threat to our liberty. And here’s why:
     The easiest way to create a dictatorship is to pass laws that you don’t enforce. That way, everyone becomes a criminal and the government gets to decide who get prosecuted and who gets to skate. We are at a point in our history where the government will not enforce immigration laws and has made the tax code so complex that it’s impossible to follow.
     We’ve created a permanent under-class of criminals in this country, completely at the leave of the federal government."


An example of the selective enforcement of laws is Tim Geithner, Obama's Secretary of the Treasury. During his nomination hearings, we learned that Geithner had neglected to pay income taxes for several years. It was only after he learned that he had been nominated to the Treasury job that he paid the past-due taxes.  The IRS charged him interest, but no penalties -- a most unusual decision.  As Secretary of the Treasury, he heads the Treasury Department, one part of which is the IRS.  


Thus begins dictatorship.