Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
"I AM ON OBAMA’S ENEMIES LIST"
As TheBlaze reported Monday, I’ve gone through an 18-month ordeal with IRS which I believe has been triggered by my vocal criticisms of this administration. While this may seem like a personal matter, America should hear when a small businessman–not a billionaire–with an unblemished tax record for 30 years faces this kind of prosecution. If a president can go after me because he doesn’t like my political beliefs, as I explain in this column, than no one is safe. Today it’s me, tomorrow it could be you.
My accountant remarked that in 30 years of dealing with IRS audits, he’d never heard of an IRS agent starting an investigation with a phone call to the taxpayer, then the taxpayer’s accountant, and then the taxpayer again. The IRS always sends a letter asking the taxpayer to call them. That was the tipoff something was out of the ordinary. My conversation with the IRS agent seemed odd as well.
The agent let me know that he understood that my accountant had the power of attorney and he was not allowed to speak to me. But he said he just wanted to speak with me once- because he was “my biggest fan.” He told me how he read all of my political columns (in the Las Vegas newspaper), and often listened to me on the radio (on CBS Radio, Las Vegas). Then he commented that he agreed with my politics and agreed with most everything I said. He said that he personally requested to be my auditor…and it was a great “honor” to be auditing me.
I hung up the phone and felt a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach. This was an unsettling conversation. It was clear to me that the IRS agent was trying to imitate “Columbo” (the detective from the 1970’s hit TV show). He was playing a game, trying to win my confidence, let my guard down, to hide a more sinister motive. I immediately thought to myself, “This agent is telling a story to try to throw me off the scent of what’s really happening- an attempt to persecute and intimidate a critic of President Obama, ordered by the Obama administration.”
My accountant called and said, “Wayne, it is so clear that this IRS agent is out to badly damage you. You must hire a top tax lawyer. This is like nothing I’ve ever dealt with. This not an ordinary IRS audit. You need legal representation right now.”
Soon thereafter I found out that my accountant of 25 years–one of the finest, nicest, men I’ve ever met in my life–had also just received an IRS audit notice. For himself. Only weeks after mine.
I got the message- this was an attack based on my political views. I researched tax attorneys and found the best one in the country. He agreed to handle my case. He looked over my tax records and assured me that he felt the IRS agent was 100 percent incorrect in his belief that any taxes were due. My attorney was also concerned that a review of the audit revealed an unusually aggressive IRS position.
As such, my attorney immediately changed venue to Los Angeles (where he is based) and appealed the case to IRS Tax Court in California. After almost 18 months of sleepless nights, lawyer bills I could not afford, accounting bills I could not afford, damage to my marriage and who knows how many years of my life reduced by stress, this past July we won a full and complete victory. Not a dime was owed. All of the IRS agent’s unreasonable assertions were thrown out. Case closed. 100% vindication. Complete victory.
Except the story isn’t over. It gets far worse.
I had FIVE DAYS to celebrate. Five Days to finally sleep like a baby. FIVE DAYS to feel my life was mine again, with no cloud hanging over me. Five days to hug my wife, with both of us exhaling and repeating out loud “No more IRS, no more cloud over our head, no more legal fees!”
Remember the famous lesson of the holocaust?
“In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn‘t speak up because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn‘t speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn‘t speak up because I wasn’t a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up.”
And I’m not a billionaire. I’m not wealthy at all. There’s nothing big to go after. This is not just a witch hunt, but a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money. Why would the IRS be persecuting (twice) a small businessman, who happens to have a vocal critic of President Obama?
The answer is my media megaphone...
If you were heard, would you be on Obama's "guest list" or "hit list"?
Blessings
ernie
Friday, October 5, 2012
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