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Comment by cycomanic | Hacker News Reader

So will there be criminal charges brought. I highly doubt it. That is typically the problem, a normal person gets the book thrown at them (even if they e.g. commit a crime accidentally), while nobody goes after the big guys because it is deemed to be too expensive or some other reason.

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That's exactly it. Rich people have the resources to fight for longer than you will hold your office.

There's a really eye opening report 2 years ago from Charles Rettig, commissioner of the IRS, where he openly states that his agency focuses audits on poorer people, because they have less resources to fight and are more likely to just pay up and move on. Most of the audit resources are targeted at people claiming the earned income tax credit.

(Any links or direct quotes?that sounds more like interpretation than a report but I'd be curious to see! Thx)

(not op). It's an essentially direct quote from the current head of the IRS.

https://www.propublica.org/article/irs-sorry-but-its-just-ea...

Sadly Congress isn't going to fix this because it requires a much simpler tax system instead of one that is filled from end to end with special carve outs and rules.

When our current President subscribes to using tax law shenanigans to avoid paying taxes you can damn well bet much of the rest of Congress and high ranking state leaders will be found doing the same. One of the larger avenues of abuse is through S Corporations which let individuals shunt off income thereby avoiding certain types of taxes. It is also used by leadership of various charitable organizations to redirect money for purposes many would think fraudulent; like using them to buy homes for use by organization leadership or cover business jet ownership

Those who know the rules of a game and can play it well are often best suited to make good changes as long as incentives align.

There's been a pretty protracted effort to defund the IRS and it would seem that it's achieved its intended result.

It’s sad, even the place that is supposed to be fair isn’t due to money. Money rules too many of America’s systems. But I have a feeling that money will always find a way to be influential.

Money is just a proxy for power. Power is synonymous with influence.

There are plenty of influential broke people. Just look at YouTube.

Exactly. That's why money is a proxy, not equivalent to power.

A YouTuber cant use their likes to get the best lawyer can they? Even if they can (promos), it still means the legal system is unfair. The ones who benefit the system the most benefit from it.

Influencers can easily raise hundreds of thousands to fight legal cases if they have an audience that cares about their cause.

Edit: s/YouTubers/Influencers

And they can turn that influence into money very quickly. They might lose some of it when they cash in (or sell out), but it's pretty convertable.

And the conversion rate is good at quantifying how much actual influence a person has. Which may be less than they think.

How much influence a typical YouTuber with 10k subscribers have? Very little, actually - they can affect audience's thinking in a limited domain, or get them to buy some stuff to a limited degree. All restricted to how much a cohort of volunteers cares about what their entertainers tell them.

Contrast that with a person wielding a $100. They can literally get someone to do almost anything for them for a couple of hours. Or, in general, they can exchange it for $100 worth of goods and services provided by an industrial civilization. That's what hard influence looks like.

> even the place that is supposed to be fair isn’t due to money

What place is that?

The legal system (The court room)

And if someone gets charged it's the company which ends up paying a relatively small fine, since companies are people but we cannot send them to prison.

> but we cannot send them to prison.

I think this belief is the problem. At the very least, a company has representatives; if it was to go to jail for a crime, then the C-suite or board could go in its place. A reasonable risk and form of accountability for the high rewards they already get.

But I think it's fair to take it a step further: imprison the company. That is, apply any effects you would apply to a prisoner to that corporation. Lack of communication or direct control of assets and funds for the equivalent period of time for a start.

Would that be existential, if not company ruining for any large length of time? Sure, just as it is for the average citizen. They'll lose many of the things they own, their jobs and livelihood and sometimes much more with any large prison sentence. Their loved ones and dependants' and acquaintances' lives are dramatically affected. So too can it be made the same for a company.

The limit of limited liability should change with scale.

Don’t worry... She will be pulled over, peppered sprayed and held 3 months without a hearing.

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