As most of you have heard by now America’s favorite governmental agency, the IRS, has been under attack for questionable conduct and expenditures. The gist of the controversy is that the IRS delayed reviewing/approving Tea Party and other conservative groups’ applications for tax-exempt status while also spending millions of dollars on conferences and training films. As an accountant this really hits home in absolutely no way for me. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fan of seeing tax money wasted on IRS training videos but at least they provided a laugh for all of us (which is more than most Hollywood-produced films can say these days) and tax money wasted on a laugh or two is much more palatable to me than the trillions of dollars the government has wasted on much more destructive activities. At any rate, this issue has of course become politicized with the conservatives pointing a finger at the liberals for targeting their groups while the liberals point a different finger at the conservatives and, well, do nothing. In order to really delve into, and solve, this issue I’ve done much research on the subject and would like to share with you, what I believe to be, bullet points that will help in no way whatsoever:

• The IRS, in its current incarnation, took form after the 16th amendment was ratified. In essence this amendment gave congress the power to impose, and collect, taxes on income in order to allow the federal government to pay for such essential programs as, creating beef jerky roll-ups,  the NSA (Not Spying Always…just most of the time) and, funds permitting, education/human services, etc.
• The Tea Party is a new conservative political party that has enjoyed much success in dressing up in colonial costumes.
• Sports really suck in the summer
  

  Beef Rolling Competition (As seen on ESPN during the months of June-August).
  Credit: Roger Teel/Army

The only silver-lining for the IRS is that Tim Tebow was recently signed by the New England Patriots. These two things may seem unrelated but in the end what’s good for Tim “I-would-not-waste-taxpayer’s-money-unless-it-would-buy-me-a-completion-or-two” Tebow is good for everybody.

A Tea Party Supporter Dressed in Colonial Clothing (Note: The Tea Party advises against applying lipstick while riding a horse to one of their rallies)(Credit: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst)

“My goal this year is to complete two passes.”

Categories: Accounting, Humor

Tags: 16th Amendment, Accounting, Beef Jerkey Roll-ups, Congress, Enterprise, Great Moments in Accounting History, Hollywood, IRS, IRS Training Videos, New England Patriots, NSA, Sports, Star Trek, Tea Party, Tim "I-would-not-waste-taxpayer's-money-unless-it-would-buy-me-a-completion-or-two" Tebow, Tim Tebow