‘Law Lets I.R.S. Seize Accounts on Suspicion, No Crime Required’

The headline is from the liberal New York Times.

Mark Steyn and others have criticized the administrative state (such as the IRS) as acting exempt from our normal constitutional due-process rights (such as “innocent until proven guilty”).  Columbia law professor Philip Hamburger recently wrote a whole book on the subject, Is Administrative Law Unlawful?, as he explains in brief in last month’s issue of Hillsdale’s Imprimis.

I guess this is the kind of thing they’re talking about.  From the New York Times:

Reform the IRS

The Tea Party Patriots are asking for donations to run TV ads to educate the public about the IRS abuses.  They have an interesting note about word choice:

In the videos, why say “Reform the IRS”?  Why not “Abolish”?  

The goal is the same.  We want to get rid of the current system and replace it with something better.  The problem in getting overwhelming public support for it lies in how people interpret what we say.

The National Debt

A credit-rating agency warned yesterday that the United States may not be able to make good on its debt.  The agency said the odds are one in three that the United States will lose its AAA rating in the next two years, which would make it harder for the United States to borrow money, at higher interest, triggering a catastrophic debt spiral.  NRO’s Kevin Williamson gives some good background and explanation, while NRO editor Kathryn Jean Lopez points out that if you read National Review, you would have seen this coming.