I always felt that the great high privilege, relief and comfort of friendship was that
one had to explain nothing.
Katherine Mansfield
IRS: Rigging the Tax Preparer Market
I think my baby sister, a CPA, in the past has prepared some returns on her own, like my parents'. The CPA profession has had rigorous certification requirements, including academic coursework, experience, exams and continuing education. Apparently things have changed since my sister sat for the exam: one of my nephews graduated last spring, with an accounting degree from her alma mater. I recently asked him whether he had sat for the CPA exam yet, and he glumly explained it requires additional coursework so he is now pursuing his Master's degree.
So I wouldn't say that I was surprised to read of these exemptions from the IRS' pushing-on-a-string preparer regulations:
The IRS’s program was an effort to regulate independent tax preparers that it feared were not properly trained. It required that independent preparers pass a competency test, receive continuing education and pay annual fees, among other things. Attorneys, certified public accountants and IRS enrolled agents were exempt from the requirements.A postscript to this video: on Jan 18 a federal district judge issued an injunction blocking enforcement this tax season. The IRS responded with a motion to stay the injunction, which the judge ruled against Feb. 1.
Let me point out that my first priority is tax simplification which would attenuate the need for tax preparers (I would also like to eat pizza and ice cream while losing weight, but it's not going to happen). I have little doubt that the crony interests of tax attorneys and CPAs are represented at the IRS. For many preparers with a limited number of clients, there's a huge commitment of time and resources required to meet these new standards, and the result is an artificially smaller supply of preparers, pushing up prices.
The Fair Academic Standards Act
Both Don Boudreaux of Cafe Hayek and his former student Mark Perry of Carpe Diem have been fighting the good fight over one of the worst anti-jobs policies ever conceived: the minimum wage. The issue is not whether one thinks the wage affords a high standard of living; It has more to do with the the demand for low-skill, low-experience labor. I remember working for minimum wage through college work-study (earning money to cover non-tuition expenses), working as a dishwasher and in the library. I know I would have worked more hours at a lower rate; I made more in one hour than I cleared each day in high school delivering 90 daily afternoon newspapers under a hot Texas sun. I was a teenager; like most teens, I was not supporting a family on part-time work; I used to book whatever extra hours I could get. I remember in one case the librarian early in the spring semester was seeking a volunteer one Sunday. I didn't realize it was Super Bowl Sunday and my beloved Minnesota Vikings were playing. (I ended up working--the librarian wouldn't let me off the hook; I did manage to catch the end of the game; the Vikes were hopelessly behind.)
Now to provide some context Mark Perry has published a number of posts on grade inflation (e.g, here and here). As soon as I read "Washington (CH)", I knew it wasn't a news item from the Associated Press: "Minimum Grade" (the next thing I thought is it must be April Fools...) It doesn't take long to see Don is spoofing minimum wage proponents. Paula Krueger,columnist/economist, I think is a cross between Krueger/Card whom liberals always cite on minimum wage, and Keynesian Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman whom many believe tweaks his economics to fit a pedestrian progressive point of view. Bernie Franken of Elitia (elitist progressives) seens to be another composite character: Barney Frank is the recently retired liberal Congressman who failed to convince Gov. Patrick to name him as former Sen (now Secretary of State)John Kerry's interim successor; there's also socialist Bernie Saunders of Vermont and Al Franken of Minnesota. Rand Paul (along with Utah's Mike Lee) is probably the most libertarian/free market Senator. Notice how similar the arguments are to the minimum wage debate..
It's interesting to read the post comments. The first is 'is this for real?' and a couple correctly note it's a satire. However,given the absurd interventions in the economy. I did do due diligence and do a Google search. Not to criticize Don for writing a brilliant satire, but if I had written a satire, it probably have been in the context of an executive order directing the Dept. of Education to promulgate grade standards, threaten to cut off funding to schools not implementing the standards, and noting that college loans resulting in D and F work likely wouldn't be repaid.
Mark Perry adds to the satire by inserting an alleged Maxine Waters' speech in support of the act. Very funny; I could easily see any elitist progressive legislator actually giving a speech just like that.
Political Humor
Political Cartoon
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| Courtesy of Henry Payne and Townhall |
Aerosmith, "Walk This Way"
