My liberal friend Pam and I are a perfect example of the class warfare currently being waged in America between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots.’ Also known as ‘the war against the rich,’ or, in a nutshell, socialism.
Though Pam and I are lifelong friends, we couldn’t be more different. Pam is the quintessential liberal, quick to espouse views that show America in a bad light. Sarah Palin is evil, Bush is bad and anyone (like myself) that doesn’t base their decisions on feelings is, well, just plain uncompassionate. End of story. I, on the other hand, am a traditional, conservative Christian.
Though conservatives have yet to be included under the leftist’s much vaunted ‘tolerance’ and ‘multicultural’ umbrellas, Pam has decided that she will tolerate her renegade friend, as long as that friend doesn’t publicly air any conservative views. Which is becoming a problem for our friendship.
Pam is the product of government schools and a culture that ignores merit in favor of any perceived underdog or victim. She is the proud owner of a Masters Degree, which, according to her, validates all of her leftist views – regardless of any facts to the contrary. And its not her fault that, at the ripe age of 57, she has yet to pay off the student loans that paid for her education.
Both Pam and I are the end result of the decisions we have made over the course of our lives. Pam’s choices have resulted in her absolute refusal to participate in capitalism, or our free market system. Instead, she survives on a government check, feeling it is her due. And like most who receive something for nothing, she hates the one whose largesse she has chosen to accept. Kinda like all those countries who get aid from America and hate us for it. Hey, no one likes to be acknowledged as being subservient.
Fortunately for Pam, her leftists illusions allow her to maintain the moral high ground. Unlike her capitalist friend, who has never asked for or received dime one from the government. I am considered one of the evil ‘rich.’ Pam graciously ignores this fact, at least until she needs another loan.
Pam maintains the romantic illusion of being a struggling, misunderstood artist. She exists on a higher plane than Joe Six pack and Susy Homemaker. She is ‘sensitive’ and totally in tune with Mother Earth, victims of capitalism, and all creature great and small. That my tax dollars allow her this freedom is one of those inconvenient facts that Pam has learned to compartmentalize. Meaning she has chosen to ignore (or demonize) any facts that don’t align with her vision of herself.
Like most leftists, Pam believes that life is a zero sum game. If someone has a big slice of the pie, that automatically means that some poor unfortunate has to do with a smaller slice. And all rich people are only rich because they made their money off the backs of those less fortunate.
This mind set, while comforting, is not conducive to material success. Which is OK with Pam, as she has spent her whole life eschewing the almighty dollar, choosing instead to allow others, like her ‘rich’ friend and financially stable family members the favor of periodically bailing her out financially. Her only concession to reality.
Ever since Obama was elected president, my friendship with Pam has become strained. Though politics was never a part of our friendship in the past, it has now become a factor. Pam apparently feels that Obama’s socialist agenda is the best thing that ever happened to the Oppressive State of America. And since she knows that everyone feels this way, she has no qualms parroting the Dem’s sound bite of the day as fact.
Since I know Obama didn’t really cut taxes by $800 billion, it rankles somewhat that Pam believes it. Pam also believes that the government take over of the private sector is long overdue. And that Obama’s take over of the health care system is the only way to ensure social justice.
I don’t blame Pam for her desire for social justice. After all, she just had both hips replaced, courtesy Uncle Sam. And she sees no reason why other misunderstood victims shouldn’t have access to the same free lunch. But her attitude is starting to rankle.
Though I am aware of the politically viable yet destructive effect of pitting one class of Americans against another class, I find I am becoming an active participant. I’m starting to resent my friend. I resent her cavalier, tax-payer funded attitude. I am starting to take umbrage at her assumption that her liberal views are the only valid views and any dissent or challenge to her world view is either racist and/or lacking in compassion.
I’m starting to resent the fact that people like myself, dirty little capitalists, are required to support deadbeats who have decided to live off the system. All the while, spitting in the eye of those that provide the means. (Sorry, Pam.)
Having been allowed the luxury of basing her life on feelings instead of being forced to make a living, Pam now takes great offense should I dare mention any of these inconvenient realities. She will allow no dissent. Our friendship has become political.
Pam wastes no time analyzing my weekly articles as being motivated solely by hate and ‘lacking in compassion.’ She has adopted the proven tactic of continually forcing me to proving a negative. And I just don’t want to do that anymore, especially since I have lost respect for her.
With great regret, I realize Pam has become like so many of her fellow leftists. Willing to defend to the death leftists opinions (that are formed by others) and dismissing out of hand any facts to the contrary. If I don’t agree with her, why, there must be something wrong with me. This attitude is not conducive to friendship
Lifelong friendships that have weathered the test of time are rare and should be cherished. That our current political climate has ended this friendship is regrettable. But this case is not unique. Across the nation, friends are pitted against friends, families are dividing along partisan lines and Americans are being encouraged to resent anyone percieved as having more than their (fair)share of the pie.
I fear this will continue and become more pervasive under our current president. Raising the distinct possibility of America’s downfall coming from within. The ‘have nots’ and victims are consolidating their premier position at the public trough, forcing others to pay for their ever evolving version of social justice. And considering that fully half of Americans now pay no federal income taxes yet still vote, the chances of changing this through the ballot box are becoming slimmer.
I already miss Pam. Our friendship was very important to me and I am saddened that today’s political climate makes it impossible for good friends to agree to disagree. But if the choice is between actively enabling her views by keeping silent or fighting to keep America from turning into a nation of useful idiots, I’ll choose the latter. Without regret.
Crossposted from Right Bias
@Ron H.
Most of us would agree that military personnel are woefully underpaid. The same is not true however for other government employees, most of whom are paid far more (in some cases double) what those in the private sector are paid. Some are absolutely getting wealthy on the public buck compared with their not government employed peers.
Wow Aye there’s no wiggling just you making something out of nothing. I clearly stated how I arrived at my conclusion which might I remind you was correct, but for some strange reason you feel the need to create some false assertion that somehow I’m arguing with myself.
I can’t be any clearer about how and why I deduced that Curt didn’t write the article so you can try and parse my words all you want but it still doesn’t change how I came to my conclusions nor does it change the fact that I was right.
Not everyone on planet earth thinks and deduces the same way you do Aye. I may read something a certain way and draw a particular conclusion…..which funny enough was correct. It’s interesting how some of the posters in this thread weren’t able to do the same.
Ron H.
To Ditto:
You’re right I should have been more specific. I was referring specifically to the military and law enforcement not all government. I have friends in both and they routinely complain about the pay.
Ron H.
Oh and Aye I already answered your question below:
“Hence, my original question to you about equating which, despite your wriggling about, is exactly what you are engaging in”.
My answer was this:
“No equating going on”
I specifically refuted your charge and then plainly and simply explained how I arrived at my conclusion.
Anything beyond what I specifically stated in simply conjecture on your part. Last I checked, you don’t share my thought processes.
Ron H.
Okay, I think RonH may be misunderstood here, and isn’t trying to convey that any public official is a welfare baby. Let me start from that premise.
Now, Mr. Aye, a “tax refund” check isn’t being paid from the government since it’s overage of taxes, paid in advance, returned to you. It’s your money that the government chose not to further abscond.
Likewise, Social Security benefits are collected from you way in advance of your benefits. Therefore they are just returning some of your cash, which they invested very badly in the interim while holding it.
“Making Work Pay” is a tax credit (as opposed to a tax deduction), so it is not a “check from the government”, but a tax benefit which a taxpayer can use to lessen the amount of income used to determine the amount of taxes you owe.
Other than that, RonH is entirely correct that public employees… whether soldiers, firefighters and pols and administrators… do draw their checks from the government. Even that doesn’t make it welfare as they are providing work and services for taxpayer recompensation.
Now… welfare? It’s when you get taxpayer cash for nothing. In that category I’d include the corporate welfare of TARP and auto/AIG bailouts. (unless, of course, you want to say getting a share of a losing company in the arrears is getting something for the cash…. ) I’d say we can all agree on that one, right? As for Ms. Morgan, since none of us are privvy to her personal finances, nor know if she ever collected unemployment (paid for by her employer and matching federal funds) or disability, who the heck knows? Furthermore, who the heck cares? LOL
And oh, BTW, I also knew Curt didn’t write it because it’s not his style of prose. At the bottom I saw it was cross posted, but didn’t know why Curt opted to use his author byline as Nancy usually gets a reader post designation with her own name. Again, who the heck cares???
So I’m clueless as to exactly what semantics you guys are arguing about, but I doubt that you are all that far apart on the base issue. Time to shake hands and move on, perhaps?
Now, INRE Tammy and Tom’s discusson on what is “fair” for taxes. That’s an interesting concept with a basic flaw. Is what is considered “fair” a constant? Or does it fluctuate with economic trends and the nation’s overall health?
And the point most tend to overlook when discussing reforming the IRS is where does spending fit it?
@Tom said:
No, Tom. Most of the budget is not self defense. It really baffles me when libs attempt to rearrange reality with this argument. Is even reading the simplest of color coded charts a lost art? Or do you all assume no one will backcheck what you claim?
The above graph is from Federal Budget dot com, and based updated based on the latest monthly Treasury statements. As you can see, HHS (Health and Human Services)… or sundry safety nets…. is “most” of the budget. Social Security is third, and only slightly ahead of the Treasury spending in fourth position. What may be notable is, examing the color coded “budget” vs “annual actual”, is how little was budgeted for debt (including interest on the debt) for 2009. You’ll also note the HUGE jump in budget vs actual between 2008 and 2009. Hummmmm… wonder why that is?
This, of course means, that when you combine the ponzi schemes of Medicare and SS, they dwarf the Constitutional spending for military. Nice try, tho…. Or, in “Aye speak”, “thanks for playing!”
I might also point out that in the March 2010 montly report, the Dept of Labor and Agriculture are also extremely high. Huh? And, oh yeah… how about all those union negotiated public pensions that aren’t included in this stuff?
Since some have problems with colors… mostly especially you guys 😯 … here’s a black and white version of just where defense spending falls compared to HHS and non-defense.
Let me lay this out as direct as I can. Military spending is one of the prime Constitutional spending duties of the federal government. That along with currency, trade.
HHS and ponzi schemes like Medicare and Social Security? nope… uh uh. And in fact, considering how long the ponzi schemes of Medicare and SS have been going on, the sheer numbers via visual presentation should be a lesson as to just how unsuccessful this nanny government foray into this arena is. The amount of funds the government has been taken from all of us, working for decades, would have been best invested by the individual – not the government.
It might also be pointed out that the O’health care does nothing to curtail that spending… except, of course by slashing Medicare. Meaning those who have been paying in the longest can just bite the bullet and eat their loss. Nice… All the O’health was meant to be was a money grab. They looked at the rising costs of their ponzi scheme and said “we need more money, so we’ll force everyone into the program under penalty of fines so we have more money to spread out for the rising costs”.
Well duh… wouldn’t it have been better to address the rising costs? And most especially cutting out the middle men that contribute to that, the lawsuits and lawyers getting rich on it and driving up the premiums and unneed treatment. But noooo… let’s not get all logical.
So where do we cut, Tom? HHS. Non defense spending that is a potpourris of hidden pork, curried favors and most definitely start cutting the salaries of the elected elite so that they will NOT be inclined to stay there as a career. The Founders never intended to have career politicians, but between the money and power, it’s a career in high demand. And I still haven’t figured out where they hide foreign subsidies.. including wasted $s to the UN. It’s somewhere under the high costs of the State Department later in the PDF, but the breakdowns are fuzzy.
All of this brings me back around to what is a “fair” tax. None of this is stagnant, and needs to be based on one thing alone… what can the private sector and citizen afford to pay? Well, that depends upon the health of the economy. Taxes are relevant to spending. However spending should be tempered by the ability to spend.. something Congress never considers.
i.e… basic “kitchen table” economics. Would you decide what you want to spend before looking at your income? Or would you first look at your income, then triage your expenses? Congress should be no different. And, in fact, have the moral duty to be far more responsible with money that does not belong to them.
So first, tax rates.. and MOST ESPECIALLY ALLOWABLE CONGRESSIONAL SPENDING FOR EVEN A NICKEL… should first take into consideration the GDP and economic health. The annual budget, and any non-defense and HHS spending annually should be based around a percentage of the GDP. You cannot spend when you have turnips as taxpayers. They cannot bleed cash they cannot produce by work.
Taxes should in no way hinder business start ups, or punish growth. Just as 1031 tax deferred exchange encourage reinvestment in real estate ventures, deferred taxes and credits for additional start ups and increased job growth should be provided.
No VAT tax.
And absolutely NO “balance the budget” mandates. That is an invitation to increase taxes. If the budget is to be balanced, it should be done by reducing spending to match projected incomes… not by increasing tax revenues to balance the spending. It’s backasswards in mentality.
And on those projected incomes? Always a guestimate. For example O’healthcare revenue to offset their costs were based on GDP growth of 4% 😆 and unemployment at 5% 🙄
Yeah… that’ll happen….
So any projected income for revenue must be reduced by a realistic loss to accommodate for economic downturns.
And I’m only gettin’ started here…. heh. But that ought to fill your pipe for smoking, Tom. Fire away. I’ll respond as I can.
Crap….looks like I stepped in it with this one. Will teach me to try to keep up with reader posts when I’m in Vegas. Yes, it was written by Nancy Morgan and I finally changed the author of the post now that I am back and started catching up on the comments. She submitted it as an reader post and I screwed up royally by not putting her name on the byline, didn’t notice the screw up until now. Thankfully I put in the crosspost blurb at the end when I posted it.
I apologize for the confusion and most especially to Nancy.
This is so funny. I thought Curt had a split personality; but I wasn’t going to say anything.
BWAHAHAAAAAA!
Nancy, Pam is a prime example of pathological denial of reality and narcissism. MAJOR leftist traits. Short of anti-psychotics, she isn’t coming back to reality.
Sorry to hear of your “loss”. Just remember she made the choice, not you.
My brother is a flaming leftist. He watches Olberman, Maddow, and Matthews. He reads Franken, Chomsky, and Zinn. He even claimed that if the radical left took over the country he would report my parents and myself to them so we could be taken away. Even tho he’s family, I’ve made clear to him if it comes to that, he won’t get a chance to report us.
@Tom:
Speaking of which, here’s something else to consider in regards to too much interference from the FDA. Also, how stringent should FDA approval be in regards to new life-saving drugs being made available?
I would be more suspicious of foreihn food invading the market of big citys;
Hateful rhetoric mouthed by TV & radio entertainers (Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, Levin, etc.), irresponsible politicians (Bachman, Palin, etc.) and uninformed sociopaths have led to the need for stories like this:
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/spring/rage-on-the-right
Back in the ’60s and ’70s leftist groups (Weather Underground, Black Panthers, etc.) were irresponsible in their highly-charged rhetoric, and were guilty of violent, illegal acts. They of course were surpassed in venom by America’s traditional hate groups (KKK, John Birchers, etc.).
Over the last couple of decades, however, leftist groups have largely limited themselves to peaceful means of protest, whereas rightist groups have welcomed sociopaths with a variety of agenda and backgrounds (christian fundies, nativists, “patriots”, gun nuts, racists, etc.). Reflect upon how many disturbed individuals with weapons have killed law enforcement officers and other innocents in the last year or two. Imagine how many more well-armed sociopaths with anger control issues there are.
Consider the case of the Michigan militia that planned to kill large numbers of cops in cold blood. Some militia members were found to have been strongly influenced by the simplistic sputterings of hate mongers, including posters at blogs similar to this one.
ROCKYBUTTE:hi,i must say that here we have some that come from the left,that are very enraged;every time they come like BULLYES,to insult the good commenters that are very tolerants with them,i find;they are very intelligents and diplomatics about dealing with them;but you must realize that some have their limits,like me.i try to make thoses bullyes realize,that it’s not the way to get in by pushing;you just have to be polite ,and nobody will get angry like you,bye 🙄
@rockybutte, thank you for that apt demonstration of “hateful rhetoric” and baseless accusations that conservatives have “welcomed” sociopaths like “…christian fundies, nativists, “patriots”, gun nuts, racists, etc”.
Takes a real brain dead loser to spew that garbage, all while ignoring not only your own rhetoric and hyprocrisy, but your comrades including (but not limited to…) Code Pinks, commies, Black Panthers, anti-WTO/violent/wacko protesters and the enviro wackos such as ELF.
Maybe they ought to stop listening to those “hateful” conservative talk show hosts…. After all, they must have been “influenced” by those hate mongers, right? But then the Becks and Limbaughs, etal don’t espouse the personal hatred you so eloquently demonstrate, but a warning against encroaching socialism and fiscal disaster… all while providing proof. Which is a far cry more than you provide here.
Be gee… we’re always glad to have you crazy lib/progs stop by, open your cyber mouth to change feet, as a demonstration.
MATA:hi,by the way,they are waiting for you at the post”vegetable right now”from WORDSMITH;you have to check them,and put them on line; bye 🙄
Mata,
Can I assume that you’re giving a pass to the sociopaths in the Michigan Militia who planned to entrap and slaughter peace officers?
“ASS”ume seems to be all you’re capable of, stoned posterior. Of course the average conservative American doesn’t “welcome” those who plot or succeed in violence. It was only you who decided that with your oh so delightful and chockful’o’love commentary.
Can we all now assume that you – personally – give Eric Holder a pass for dropping charges against the Black Panthers? Shall we assume you give a pass to our elected officials who call peaceful protestors racists, unAmerican and seditious? Shall we assume you give a pass to all the protestors for the past eight years who compared Bush to Hitler and any other unspeakable monster they could remember with their elementary level history? And shall we assume that you support and condone those who set out to assault the Palin family with lies and smears?
Yeah… you’ve got a lot to be proud of with your compadres, champ.
rockybutte,
What about the Keith Olbermanns, Randy Rhodes, Ed Schulzes, and mainstreamers like Clinton? Why no inclusion?
Your side of the aisle is filled with hate-a-plenty and inciters.
What about the Michigan Militia and their plan to kill cops?
The Leader of that band of lunatics was registered as a Democrat for voting purposes.
They were arrested and are now in Federal custody.
Your Point?
That oughta stymie the butt for awhile, OT. Looking for “a point”…. LOL
You guys are all delusional as hell, supporting Beck and his ilk. Good luck with that…you’re going to need it.
eatyourfeedback, hi there, I tell you, WE don’t need LUCK, just FACTS to expose the corruption,
you still don’t see. bye
@Eatyoufeedback
Speaking of delusional; How’s all that hopey changey agenda going over with the voters? Where’s this working together bi-partisanship your guy promised the voters?
ditto, we can roll back the time to expose the wrong doing, we are a good team. bye
ditto, I miss the word roll back the “time”
it’s fix now
My mother was telling me on the phone last night about a 75-year-old friend who’s been doing fairly well, despite having had a chronic form of cancer for a number of years. Her friend’s ungoing problem has been a seriously compromised immune system, which thusfar has been successfully compensated for with a weekly drug regimen–at a cost of around $2000 per month on top of everything else. The woman is a widow, living on Social Security and a modest pension from her husband’s former employment. Prescription drug insurance has covered the medication costs.
So, she told my mother that her weekly treatments have been abruptly terminated. She’s reached her insurance company’s payment limit. She said she contacted them, but they won’t cut her any slack. Owing to the date her current plan year began, the new health care reform provisions that removed payment limits for some policies in 2010 don’t apply to her policy until next year. The insurance company said they’ve overpaid already and have contacted the clinic about that. The clinic told her they cannot afford to continue administering such expensive meds without reimbursement.
Basically, the life of my mother’s friend will now continue only until the first minor infection comes along.
There are reasons why I supported health care reform, and reasons why I tend to vote for democrats. What my mother told me serves as a real-world reminder.
@Greg:
In order to draw Social Security, your mothers’ friend would be required to be enrolled in, and covered by, Medicare which would act as the primary payer.
Her other insurance plan would perform as a secondary payer. The secondary may have reached the max lifetime payout (as agreed to in the policy/contract paperwork) but Medicare will continue to pay.
If this lady is truly unable to afford to pay then Medicaid is an available option as well.
Sorry, but using this example in favor of ObamaCare is weak.
@Greg:
I had an elderly friend in a similar situation. She had already been through breast cancer, a stroke and was on heart medication. Then her husband passed and that somehow interrupted her prescription drug coverage. I called a number of state offices pertaining to seniors, healthcare, anything I could think of to get her help. When I finally hit on the right place I was told her income was $13.00 per month over the limit. Then I called a senior citizen day car center, told her story and started asking questions. What I found was there was a church that would pay the initial start up fee for prescription drug coverage, from then on it was $15.00 per month, no co-pay. Maybe your mother, her friend, or you can make a couple of calls and get her help.
@ Aye Chihuahua, #77:
I’m not really sure what the problem is. She may have made a poor choice when she selected her Part D plan. I guess plan particulars can vary considerably from one carrier to the next, and you can get locked into your choice for a while once it’s made. She may have made a selection before the current medical issues were part of the picture.
@ Missy, #78:
Thanks. I guess the lady has a daughter who’s been making a lot of calls. I suggested the Medicaid office. Maybe even the drug company, as they sometimes help when people can’t afford unusually high-cost meds. The community she lives in has really been hit very hard by the recession. I can see obvious signs of that when I go down each month for a visit.
Drug costs can sometimes be astonishing. I talked to a guy once who was taking thalidomide for a rare form of cancer. He was having major insurance problems. The cost of that one drug was over $5,000 per month. This seemed really weird to me. Before the drug was taken off the market as a tranquilizer–maybe some remember the thalidomide disaster–it was dirt cheap.
Greg, we’ve had success in our church (when members hit a wall like that) by going to the drug maker directly with the issue.
Often times they will make allowances for people like your family friend.
Her medicine has a info pack with it each month.
Pull up the contact number of the drug manufacturer and try to stick with one person doing all the calls (advocating for her) and one person at the company who is always asked for.
That one-on-one relationship usually works best.
Sounds like you’ve gotten quite a few ideas here as well.
I hope one of them works.
@Greg:
Here is a Medicare guidebook which is chock full of helpful information for this lady, specifically page 73 which addresses Plan D issues.
There are lots of resources available right now to help her.
@ Aye Chihuahua: Thanks. That looks like a good reference. I’ll pass the link on.
I had a friend from college days who is a flaming liberal. We have been friends since 1970, this started to change in 2009 with Obama.
While we had spirited debates up to the election. Come January it all changed. He seems to suffer from a delusional messiah belief when trying to communicate about Obama.
Recently we ceased all communications as he has become more and more irrantional as November elections are coming to fruition.
Once a year we would get together over a campfire in Montana to fish and discuss lives and politics. This September was the beginning of the end. He talked about my financial stability and how I had sacrificed my soul for comfort (he has been a government employee since graduation from college), he rambled about how the poor have been raped and abused since the creation of America.
Needless to say this trip was the last and I fear no more will be planned with him in mind.
His wife left him in the summer of 2009 over politics, she told my wife he has become obsessed with Obama as a true Messiah and she had given up convincing him to seek help.
I too have decided I can not take anymore of his behavior, we invited his wife on our annual Thanksgiving in Yellowstone but all parties have said no to his invite
What causes such delusional behavior from this person? How does liberalism affect the mind so? is it just the “feelings” overtake any rational thought?
@lessthantolerant: #83 I am guessing when you said he is a government worker since college that you meant he is a Federal worker. I don’t know what he does, but it might be a job that he feels that if the conservatives get elected and cut down the size of the Federal government that he will loose his job. He might be worried about job security.
Just think how depressed he will be when the conservatives take over congress and prove Obama is an illegal and never should have been in politics in the first place.
My salute to the posters of FA for trying to give support to a political rival. You won’t see that on the Daily Kos.
Possibly this is like observing a passenger train outside your window that seems to be backing away from the station, when it’s actually your own train that’s in motion.
Re: #83.
The best test of a philosophy is ”what would happen if everybody followed it.”
Your friend is a government employee.
But he looks down on the taxpayers of this nation as lost souls.
Really?
And what would happen if we had no taxpayers but only government workers?
How would they be paid?
Silly friend.
He reminds me of a group of Jerry Brown supporters I know.
All ladies.
All know someone who has breast cancer.
Jerry Brown said: “Can we get off of mammograms? [T]here’s no statistical evidence that mammograms help anyone at any age.”
He put forth flawed ”evidence” that was later used by Obama’s Department of Health and Human Services advisory panel.
They used it to recommend women don’t need mammograms.
Gee, that sure saves money, doesn’t it?
If we are losing ~50,000 women a year to breast cancer now….with mammograms….imagine what that number will be without them.
Government workers are taxpayers.
And before somebody mentions that federal workers owe something like $3 billion in back-due taxes, allow me to mention that the last available figure for the total of unpaid taxes was $345 billion.
In other words, non-compliance in the private sector has resulted in a total of unpaid taxes that is over 100 times greater than public sector non-compliance.
http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-news/tax_gap_figures.pdf
@ Greg, Yeah like Geithner and Siebelius. An expert on Tax Pirates and Cheats You are NOT.
Proof read your postings before you send them here. Please.