Gov. Spitzer, and conspicuous career enhancement at the IRS
Supposedly, the IRS stumbled onto matters unrelated to their investigation. The Governor of New York had some funny money flow indicators, and the IRS picked up on - and pursued - the money going to a call girl service.
A ‘catch’ of a public figure must look really good on an IRS agent’s resume. Tracking a large money trail, getting a conviction for about anything, making people fear the IRS - these must be attractive career enhancement opportunities.
My take, is that once the investigation found the money wasn’t being laundered as suspected, they should have confirmed the call girls and their service were properly reporting income. And that should have been the extent of the IRS’ attention.
Instead, someone decided that more publicity and IRS exposure would look better on their resume than ’suspected money laundering, found hooker, nothing misreported’.
The former Governor of the State of New York is the same man today, with the same capacity and experience, except for the damage done by the IRS for something that was none of their business. And New York state lost the governor they elected, due to Federal Government interference in the guise of the IRS.
We certainly didn’t get the names of the IRS personnel involved in making the whole thing public - they get a note and gold star on their service record, not national headlines - or assurance that their ‘findings’ weren’t influenced by bribes, family ties, or other influence. For all we know this case is about as strong as the incident related in the movie ‘Mumford’ - which depicts a deranged agent teamed with a drug addict. Or the larcenous agent depicted in ‘Holy Matrimony’, disgruntled over an assignment he figured was beneath him. I don’t know that the IRS and other government people involved aren’t professional and competent. But there reputations weren’t staked nationwide, as they did to Mr. (former governor) Spitzer.
Mr. Spitzer provides a recent example of selective enforcement.
Recent statistics claim the biggest factor (as I recall) throwing people into poverty is divorce. Divorce causes more women and children to become poor than any other single factor. Yet almost half a century has gone by since anyone cared to enforce the laws against adultery. Adultery - you know, that law that mimics one of the ten commandments, about having intercourse with anyone but your spouse? It is still illegal in most states. And most states still have the laws against fornication - that is, having sex with anyone if you aren’t married.
The point of state laws acknowledging marriage is to recognize a legal entity - the family, the husband being the head of family. The many provisions of the IRS regarding taxes and spouses and heads of households and dependant children are all based on the marriage. So if the fundamental law about adultery isn’t worthy of being enforced - who cares about enforcing laws about prostitution?
The sin and crime about prostitution is not about paying for sex - it is for having sex outside the marriage. The IRS, of course, can use the Church laws on sin to intimidate people, use the laws against prostitution to interfere in ‘victimless’ crimes. But why not pursue the lies and criminal activities of crimes with victims - adultery? Adultery always involves emotional stress, removal of attention, regard, and respect by an adult family member from their spouse, and exposes the family to embarrassment and emotional and security risks.
The IRS has a stake in prostitution solely to the extent that money taken in gets reported as income. The IRS needs to be held accountable to the State of New York for malicious interference in former Gov. Spitzer’s public life.