The political media establishment is enraptured by John McCain. Mainline media sparklies, as well as the blatherers on the Fox channel, routinely buff up his image as a straight-talking, maverick foe of Washington's special interests. "The press loves McCain. We're his base," gushes MSNBC's Chris Matthews. But if the senator really is the feared reformer of business-as-usual government, why does his presidential campaign look like the back alley of K Street?
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A NEW HORROR FROM THE IRS
It's time to call 9-1-1 about an IRS proposal to change Section 7216 of the Internal Revenue Code. This regulation would authorize giants like H & R Block or any other tax preparer to sell the contents of your private tax return to any corporation wanting to buy it! All of your personal contact information—including your Social Security number— could be sold, as well as information about your income, employer, medical expenses, children, charitable donations, etcetera.
Who's pushing this crass sell-off of our privacy? A powerful lobby of data brokers, including Choicepoint, credit companies like MasterCard, and marketers who want to use your 1040 filing to target you for sales.
The IRS says your data will not be sold unless you sign a form authorizing your tax preparer to do it. But it's all too easy for this socalled "consent" to be shuffled in with the stack of forms you have to sign to complete your filing, or to reduce it to fine-print, boiler-plate language that no one reads.
Our tax-return information should not be sold. Period. To learn more, call the Public Interest Research Group at 202-546-9707.