class=“medBr”>Well, whoop-de-do. To show how benevolent they are about giving us back a few dollars of our own money, the IRS is sending a letter saying the check is on the way, and ain’t it grand?
They say they must send us this letter to explain how the amount was calculated. What it really sounds like is more taxpayer-funded campaign propaganda, this time for the Bush Administration. Let’s accept for the sake of argument that it’s crucial to tell folks why they’re getting the $300 or $600 rebate check. And that you need to get a separate little check instead of simply being charged a lower tax next time you fill out a 1040.
Can’t the feds just include the explanation with the check itself, maybe on a little slip of paper? Here’s another rhetorical question: What’s the cost of this cheesy self-congratulatory communiqu? Oh, IRS spokesman Frank Keith has no idea. But we’re talking about 91.6 million sheets of paper, 91.6 million envelopes, 91.6 million units of postage. And somebody’s got to stuff all those envelopes, right? I’m sure they had that guy working overtime, at union wages. If you don’t grasp the irony here, let me spell it out.
You the taxpayer are being forced to fund a wasteful mailing to yourself saying that you’re going to get some of your own money back. But in the long run, the only way you can keep more of your own money is if the government stops wasting so much of it on things like this wasteful mailing. Do you see? It is very ironic.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.