Where is our Congress now that we need one?
President Trump is, as of this writing, on the verge of giving private citizen Elon Musk access to everyone’s IRS file, yours included. He says he’s doing this for reasons related to improving the efficiency of the IRS, but has stopped well short of telling what, precisely, those reasons might be.
It’s just data. Personal financial data, but just data nonetheless. If the questions Musk is asking have to do with his understanding of the personnel and technology required to process returns and pursue reluctant payers efficiently, then all he needs is summary information that IRS personnel who are qualified to access our files can provide. What he certainly does not need is names, addresses, Social Security Numbers, and financial details for individual and corporate taxpayers.
Do individual personal and corporate data have value to a private sector player? For purposes related to commercial marketing and political campaigning? Of course, it does. Immensely so.
Can we count on Musk and his private sector employees to protect these data? No. Of course not. IRS employees can be fired and even incarcerated if they violate our privacy. But for Musk and his people, there’s no oversight and no penalty if they misuse or release IRS data to which we’ve given them access.
The irony of this situation is beyond profound. We have a President who has always fought to prevent the disclosure of his tax returns turning over the same kind of data for all 330 million of us to a virtual stranger with whom our government has no legal recourse. We’ve got to ask ourselves if the President understands what he’s doing. What authority is he unleashing by allowing Elon Musk to run amuck among our country’s most private personal and corporate financial information? Or is he too dumb, too nuts, and too in awe of Elon Musk to protect our privacy the way he would protect his own and his family’s?
So, why is Congress allowing President Trump, Elon Musk, and various employees of Musk’s company access to our IRS files? Do Republicans in Congress not care that Trump is turning over their personal tax returns to a virtually untouchable private sector player? Is this where they tell us that they trust Musk and stand behind anything and everything Donald Trump does? …Is that what you, private citizen, who may or may not have voted for Trump, think? Are you kidding me or just fooling yourself?
Wow.
You need to grow a pair, pick up the phone, or email your Congressman, Congresswoman, and Senators. I certainly don’t want my IRS file out there in the great ether. Do you?
One thing’s for sure. Releasing IRS file data to Elon Musk makes concerns about TikTok information accessible to the Chinese government look like child’s play by comparison.
Leave me a comment if you can think of a single rationale, even just one reason why giving Musk access to these data makes sense.
What’s next, President Trump? The nuclear launch codes?
Les Cohen is a long-term Marylander, having grown up in Annapolis. Professionally, he writes and edits materials for business and political clients from his base of operations in Columbia, Maryland. He has a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Economics. Leave a comment or feel free to send him an email to [email protected].