Snooping into private business

Kyle Wolfson, Las Vegas

Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014 | 2 a.m.

How can anyone continue to cast people like Ted Cruz as a villain in the Obamacare saga? Cruz and the Tea Party are making an argument that the Affordable Care Act is so flawed that it should be repealed and rewritten. Meanwhile, the president valiantly defends the bill, all the while exempting and delaying any unflattering aspects of the law.

One of the scariest items involving Obamacare was announced last week to not much attention. The IRS will now require firms with at least 50 employees but fewer than 100 full-time employees to swear an oath that, as they get in compliance with the law, they are not firing employees to avoid the insurance requirements forced on companies of that size. So now in regard to Obamacare, it will be illegal to take normally legal steps to avoid taxes or requirements. It is standard behavior for individuals/companies to sell stocks at a loss, give to charity, take stock options or many other options in order to lower their tax burden.

Now the government has started the process of making such tactics against the law.

The idea that the IRS will have the power to investigate motivations for business practices is a truly frightening one. Especially after the revelations of their politically motivated investigations last year. It has always been illegal to evade taxes you owe, but now it is becoming illegal to behave in a manner that puts your self-interest ahead of the government’s.