A Law Unto Itself: Power, Politics, and the IRS Hardcover – Jan 1990

At this time this book was published in 1989, David Burnham had been an investigative reporter for the New York times. (Frank Serpico was one of the stories he reported; Karen Silkwood was also on the way to meet with him when her fatal car crash occurred.) He is also the author of books such as ABOVE THE LAW: Secret Deals, Political Fixes, and Other Misadventures of the U.S. Department of Justice and Rise of Computer State.

He notes that the IRS is "without question the largest law enforcement agency in the United States," with five times more employees than the FBI, and four times more than the New York Police Department. (Pg. 16) He observes, "Going after criminals has proved to be a poor way to raise revenue. Because criminals usually try very hard to hide the money they make from their various illegal activities... IRS projects to raise revenue from organized crime suspects have always failed to meet their collection goals." (Pg. 75-76)

He observes that the accounting profession "has frequently failed in its self-proclaimed role as corporate watchdog." He cites "literally scores of documented cases" where distinguished accounting firms have been named as coconspirators in tax fraud cases involving major corporations. (Pg. 138)

He described former Treasury Secretary (and author) William Simon as having a "friendly attitude toward tax shelters," and notes that Simon paid no income taxes from 1977-1982, and in 1984. (Pg. 207)

Burnham is particularly concerned about situations where information on the IRS's computers is used. "Do the American people want a world where much of the personal information collected by the IRS is routinely shared with state and local tax agencies?" He adds ominously, "The American people have long opposed the idea of the federal government creating a single national data base containing a computerized portrait of every citizen. But it is clear that a de facto system is already in place." (Pg. 345-346)

Burnham's book, while somewhat "dated," is still of interest to those concerning about government intervention in our lives.

The Federal Reserve and the IRS together ,compose the most powerful forms of social control in the world today.Central banking is in essence ALCHEMY, i.e. , it is a privately owned and controlled institution which creates DEBT instruments out of nothing.They just give these debt instruments many different names, such as treasury notes, bonds, bills, stocks, ETFs, Mrtgages,consumer debt, sovereign debt, and corporate debt. they even call it money,in fact every single financial instrument created is a form of debt(i.e. I owe you's ).You , and everybody in this world today are being paid with IOU's. The IRS ,insurance companies , as well as every corporation in the world act as redeemers of the debt that has been doled out since 1694(which is the year the Bank of England was chartered and funded by private individuals). 'They' create debt with one hand and then take it back(redeem) with the other hand. If you were to think through what this system really represents, you would understand that you are a slave. The euphemism for slave is "servant" . So you are told to serve " the STATE".
The world is getting better....but most people will never understand the true nature of the control mechinisms which shape thier lives,
And you are better off not knowing !
History is a wonderful thing ... If only it were true .