New York Times reporter criticizes IRS

A captive audience listened to Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times reporter David Cay Johnston skewer the federal government, the IRS and multinational corporations at the Knight Law School on Saturday.

Johnston was on campus to promote his new book "Perfectly Legal: The covert campaign to rig our tax system to benefit thesuper rich -- and cheat everybody else."

Best known for his work as a tax reporter for The New York Times, Johnston has filed stories exposing companies who use a Bermuda mailbox to escape American taxes, IRS audits that target the poor more than the rich, the fact that Enron paid no corporate taxes and a retired CEO of General Electric who had a free corporate jet.

Although Johnston withheld no criticism for politicians of either major political party, his most pointed comments were reserved for conservatives. The conservative bedrock ideal of lower taxes is contrary to what conservatives and economists such as Adam Smith have promoted historically, Johnston said.

"Taxing those with the most ability to pay is actually one of the most conservative ideals in a western democracy," Johnston said. "'A 'level playing field' is a standard republican mantra."

In his book, Johnston explains the ever-widening gap between rich and poor and what he believes to be the solutions.

He points out intentionally vague tax loopholes for corporations and people whose income exceeds $10 million per year, the reluctance of politicians to address corporate taxes and an IRS that turns a blind eye to blatant tax fraud.

"My solution is, we need to take back our government ... and whenever I hear someone say, 'Oh, the underclass-- that's a problem we can never solve.' I say, I guess you just don't believe in the United States of America, because we can solve any problem we want to, but we have to work on it," Johnston said.

Johnston also alluded to the potential for a social revolution if Americans continue to lose jobs and the economic gap increases.

"The French set up a system in which all the wealth was tied up in trusts between the church and the aristocracy. So what happened to King Louie?" Johnston said, "I don't want that to happen here. I think the prospect of revolution in this country would make the terror of the French revolution look quite mild."

Johnston ended his speech with a positive theme and a plea for awareness.

"One of the wonderful things I've seen lately is all those pictures on TV of people lining up to vote. I don't care who they're voting for -- they're getting involved," Johnston said. "The most minimum thing you can do is read a decent newspaper every day. Listen to people whose opinions are not like yours ... people you don't like can sometimes have good ideas."

Johnston quoted author Neil Postman, saying "without even realizing it, we are giving away our democracy."

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