[FONT size=2]Tax Farmers, Mercenaries and Viceroys
By Paul Krugman
The New York Times
Monday 21 August 2006
Yesterday The New York Times reported that the Internal Revenue Service would outsource collection of unpaid back taxes to private debt collectors, who would receive a share of the proceeds.
It's an awful idea. Privatizing tax collection will cost far more than hiring additional I.R.S. agents, raise less revenue and pose obvious risks of abuse. But what's really amazing is the extent to which this plan is a retreat from modern principles of government. I used to say that conservatives want to take us back to the 1920's, but the Bush administration seemingly wants to go back to the 16th century.[/FONT]
[FONT size=2]--Paul Krugman, in his NYT column on the new administration plan to privatize collection of unpaid taxes, "[A href="http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/21/opinion/21krugman.html?hp"][FONT color=#666666]Tax Farmers, Mercenaries and Viceroys[/FONT][/A]"*[/FONT]
[FONT size=2][/FONT]
