PAUL KRUGMAN : Tax Farmers, Mercenaries and Viceroys, BOB HERBERT : Truth Puts You in Jail
Por BOB HERBERT, PAUL KRUGMAN - New York Times - Monday, Aug. 21, 2006 at 10:00 AM

Herbert: Truth Punished - For five years now Americans have been chasing ghosts and shadows, and demanding that they confess to terrorizing us. Who's terrorizing whom? - PLUS: Krugman: A Monarchy - The Bush administration seemingly wants to go back to the 16th century, and privatized tax collection is only part of the great march backward. - PLUS: Korey Rowe - The Loose Cannon of 9/11 & More

OP-ED COLUMNIST
The Truth Puts You in Jail
By BOB HERBERT
Published: August 21, 2006


The problem with the way the United States government dealt with Abdallah Higazy had nothing to do with the fact that he was investigated as a possible participant in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center.

He was caught in a set of circumstances that was highly suspicious, to say the least. It would have been criminal not to have investigated him.

On the morning of the attack, Mr. Higazy, the son of a former Egyptian diplomat, was in his room on the 51st floor of the Millenium Hilton Hotel, which was across the street from the twin towers. He fled the hotel, along with all the other guests, after the attack. But a Hilton security guard said he found an aviation radio, which could be used to communicate with airborne pilots, in the safe in Mr. Higazy’s room.

When Mr. Higazy returned to the hotel three months later to pick up his belongings, he was arrested by the F.B.I. as a material witness and thrown into solitary confinement. Federal investigators were understandably suspicious, but they had no evidence at all that Mr. Higazy was involved in the terror attack.

And that’s where the government went wrong. In the United States, a free and open society committed to the rule of law, you are not supposed to lock people up — deprive them of their liberty — on mere suspicion.
Continued:
http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/11518723.html



OP-ED COLUMNIST
Tax Farmers, Mercenaries and Viceroys
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: August 21, 2006


Yesterday The New York Times reported that the Internal Revenue Service would outsource collection of unpaid back taxes to private debt collectors, who would receive a share of the proceeds.

It’s an awful idea. Privatizing tax collection will cost far more than hiring additional I.R.S. agents, raise less revenue and pose obvious risks of abuse. But what’s really amazing is the extent to which this plan is a retreat from modern principles of government. I used to say that conservatives want to take us back to the 1920’s, but the Bush administration seemingly wants to go back to the 16th century.

And privatized tax collection is only part of the great march backward.

In the bad old days, government was a haphazard affair. There was no bureaucracy to collect taxes, so the king subcontracted the job to private “tax farmers,” who often engaged in extortion. There was no regular army, so the king hired mercenaries, who tended to wander off and pillage the nearest village. There was no regular system of administration, so the king assigned the task to favored courtiers, who tended to be corrupt, incompetent or both.

Modern governments solved these problems by creating a professional revenue department to collect taxes, a professional officer corps to enforce military discipline, and a professional civil service. But President Bush apparently doesn’t like these innovations, preferring to govern as if he were King Louis XII.
Continued:
http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/11518521.html



Korey Rowe - The Loose Cannon of 9/11
http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/11517731.html



EX-CIA: Uncomfortable Truths about Israel
http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/11518160.html



Lieberman calls on Rumsfeld to resign
http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/11517731.html



MARC PARENT

CRIMES AND CORRUPTIONS OF THE NEW WORLD ORDER NEWS
http://mparent7777.livejournal.com/ Homepage
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You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free
Por Paradojas - Monday, Aug. 21, 2006 at 11:38 AM

Truth puts you in jail?

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