Sunday Newscape Magazine

I’m not one to sit down and read the newspaper anymore, but I had a few minutes recently and found a disturbing article that stopped me in my tracks. I won’t mention those involved or the publication, but it proves that the government on all levels is out of its mind.

A local representative is proposing to publish the names of what she calls, “tax deadbeats” in the local paper. These so-called “tax deadbeats” owe back taxes on such items as real estate and automobiles just to name a few. Her reasoning behind such a bold move was to entice payment from these individuals.

Think about this for a minute. Imagine you owe a dollar to the government and you can’t pay because of these economic times. You now have a person in government threatening you with public disgrace because of it. All because branches of government are now getting desperate to collect without realizing the consequences to the people involved. Arguably, this is not about collecting taxes; this is about power, control, and desperation by municipalities. In other words, the government is the bully and the tax payer is the bullied.

What is most disturbing is these people in government don’t have a clue of the potential ramifications by publishing these names. When that newspaper publishes that article on their web sites the so-called “tax deadbeat” now becomes a permanent fixture on every search engine. In other words, this bold and potentially illegal move hurts taxpayers for years to come.

We live in an age where privacy is no more. The internet has opened the door to everyone’s life no matter how hard people try to protect themselves. I can speak from experience as I still find articles written about myself years ago with just a simple search of my name.

Most important, the people who do the searching of your name could be anyone and everyone. From banks and loan officers to potential and present employers the list is endless. This proposed system to entice tax collection will hurt people and not help them. The stigma associated with a tax cheat goes far beyond this power grab. It will ruin people’s lives all over a few dollars.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not an advocate for people who don’t fulfill their obligation as taxpayers, but something has to give here. Isn’t there a more creative and legal way to help solve this problem? All I see in the future is a boatload of lawsuits over something that could be solved in so many other ways. I just wish representatives and those in higher government positions would stop abusing their power and rely on the principles to get the job done.

©Jerry Maldonado 2009 all rights reserved This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it