If I only had a brain …

… I’d be unqualified for a management position with the IRS.

A friend sent an e-mail titled, “IRS Sent $46 Million in Tax Refunds to 23,994 ‘Unauthorized’ Aliens — All at the SAME Address in Atlanta.” As the headline seemed too sensational to be true, I looked up the cited Audit Report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration(TIGTA). While the report didn’t verify the e-mail’s reported numbers it did verify the problem:

WHAT TIGTA FOUND

TIGTA substantiated many of the allegations set forth in the IRS employees’ complaints. The complaints alleged that IRS management is not concerned with addressing questionable applications and is interested only in the volume of applications that can be processed, regardless of whether they are fraudulent. The audit found that the ITIN application review and verification process is so deficient that there is no assurance that ITINs are not being assigned to individuals submitting questionable applications. Because of lax documentation requirements to obtain an ITIN, tax fraud can go undetected. Management also eliminated successful processes used to identify questionable ITIN application fraud patterns and schemes. The IRS also allows Certifying Acceptance Agents to review and verify the identity of Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) individuals applying for an ITIN. This designation enabled some individuals to commit ITIN application fraud because these individuals do not have to send documentation supporting the application to the IRS.

Finding a spiritual application in this report is quite easy: The fundamental problem in this world system is Management.

“Wait a second,” Christians will say, “The fundamental problem is Sin!”

And right they are. One of my axioms is, “I is the center of sin.” And its corollary, “I is also the center of pride.” Management does one thing better than any other job category: Managers are immensely talented at making themselves look good in the short-term, regardless the long-term cost; by the time it catches up with them, they’ll have been promoted, and able to blame whoever is now in their former position.

Solutions, anyone? My simple answer is, “Solutions to prehistoric problems don’t exist.” There is, however a solution to sin: belief in and surrender to the Christ of God. While few will find that narrow way, it is what keeps humanity from terminal stupidity … just barely.

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