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Chapter 6: Down the Rabbit Hole

everyone pays the same rate regardless of income,
would be much simpler and more efficient than our
present system, but it would leave little room for
politics.
Consider the Federal Work Opportunity Tax
Credit which typically lowers a company’s taxes by
thousands of dollars per employee. This tax credit
frequently goes unclaimed because it takes extensive
time and paperwork for each worker. Another targeted
break, the tax deduction for energy-efficient buildings,
often requires computer modeling costing as much as
$50,000, convincing many business owners not to take
the credit. Many companies say it is too complicated to
claim tax breaks, and the ones who try can find
themselves at odds with the Internal Revenue Service.

THE RULE OF LAW IS JEOPARDIZED
When the Senate refused to confirm President
Obama’s picks for the National Labor Relations Board
(NLRB), he proclaimed the Senate to be in recess and
appointed the members anyway. This action made a
mockery of that chamber’s advice-and-consent role.
When Obama disagreed with federal laws criminalizing
the use of medical marijuana, he instructed the Justice
Department not to prosecute transgressors. The bailout
of automobile companies turned contract law on its
head when the Obama White House subordinated the
bondholders’ rights to those of its union allies, which is
contrary to bankruptcy laws.
The government can imprison people for killing
bald eagles, yet companies that produce wind power are
exempt from the law. Congress passed Obamacare, yet

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