http://news.cnet.com/…

IRS undercover operations: Privacy invasion?
The bailout bill also gives the Internal Revenue Service new authority to conduct undercover operations. It would immunize the IRS from a passel of federal laws, including permitting IRS agents to run businesses for an extended sting operation, to open their own personal bank accounts with U.S. tax dollars, and so on. (Think IRS agents posing as accountants or tax preparers and saying, “I’m not sure if that deduction is entirely legal, but it’ll save you $1,000. Want to take it?”) That section had expired as of January 1, 2008, and would now be renewed.

Starting with the so-called Anti-Drug Abuse Act in 1988, the IRS has possessed this authority temporarily, with occasional multiple-year lapses. A 1999 internal report said the IRS had 126 “trained undercover agents” working in field offices at the time. This is the first time that such undercover authority would be made permanent.

Sens. Max Baucus (D) and Chuck Grassley (R) have been pushing to make it permanent for a while, claiming (PDF) in April that: “Undercover operations are an integral part of IRS efforts to detect and prove noncompliance. The temporary status of this provision creates uncertainty, as the IRS plans its undercover efforts from year to year.”

There’s another section of the bailout bill worth noting. It lets the IRS give information from individual tax returns to any federal law enforcement agency investigating suspected “terrorist” activity, which can, in turn, share it with local and state police. Intelligence agencies such as the CIA and the National Security Agency can also receive that information.

The information that can be shared includes “a taxpayer’s identity, the nature, source, or amount of his income, payments, receipts, deductions, exemptions, credits, assets, liabilities, net worth, tax liability, tax withheld, deficiencies, overassessments, or tax payments, whether the taxpayer’s return was, is being, or will be examined or subject to other investigation or processing, or any other data received by, recorded by, prepared by, furnished to, or collected by the Secretary with respect to a return.”

That provision had already existed in federal law and automatically expired on January 1, 2008.

What’s a little odd is that there’s been little to no discussion of the IRS sections of the bailout bill, even though they raise privacy concerns. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said this week: “I will continue to work with congressional leaders to find a way forward to pass a comprehensive plan to stabilize our financial system and protect the American people by limiting the prospects of further deterioration in our economy.” He never mentioned the necessity of additional IRS undercover operations.

While everything is going on and the abolition of the Fed is on many people’s minds… lets not forget the terrible things the IRS does and that it too needs to be abolished.

http://www.out-law.com/page-8884 

The US government, through the National Security Agency, has been tapping phone lines without court warrants since shortly after the terrorist attacks in the US of September 2001. The till-then secret programme was revealed by the New York Times in 2005.

The government claims that the actions were legal but has made all details of the programme classified. This causes problems for the ACLU since only those who have been wiretapped can sue, but the information about who has been tapped is kept secret.

Jameel Jaffer, director of the ACLU’s national security project, said that the case raised worries about the unchecked power of the president who, as the executive arm, is just one branch of government.

“It’s very disturbing that the president’s actions will not be reviewed by the Supreme Court. It shouldn’t be left to executive branch officials alone to determine what limits apply to their own surveillance activities and whether those limits are being honoured,” he said. “Allowing the executive branch to police itself flies in the face of the constitutional system of checks and balances.”

The ACLU had tried to appeal a verdict of a US Court of Appeal which ruled that it could not prove that its communications had been monitored, and so could not prove that the programme had harmed any party to the case. It had sued on behalf of itself, journalist and scholars.

Separate law suits are being conducted in the US against the telecommunications companies that allowed the surveillance to happen without court-issued warrants.

There are also political struggles over amendments to US law that would allow warrantless wiretaps of non-US citizens in the US who are communicating with people overseas.

A temporary measure expired over the weekend and the Democrat-controlled Congress refused to make the law permanent.

That law included controversial immunity for telecoms companies. Congress has proposed a law that does extend wiretapping but does not grant telcos immunity from prosecution for their actions.

“The court’s unwillingness to act makes it even more important that Congress insist on legislative safeguards that will protect civil liberties without jeopardizing national security,” said Steven Shapiro, the ACLU’s legal director.

You want to prove to the judicial branch that the executive branch is breaking the law and show that the legislative branch is at least complacent if not helping them do so. To have a case you must prove you’ve been harmed but the only proof is held by those you are accusing. They won’t confirm or deny the existence of the proof nor would they turn it over because it’s a matter of national security. The judicial system says that since you can’t get the evidence you don’t have a case.

Does anyone else find this a little troubling?