> How do I even begin to disagree with the IRS, for example?
Have you ever had a bad interaction with the IRS? If so, it is probably because the IRS is chronically underfunded.
Anecdotal but among the people I know, the consensus is the people at IRS are very kind. Contrast that with the people at a state, any state, Department of Revenue. You do not want to make those people mad.
In any case, the answer is as I'm sure you know, to get a lawyer.
I am so saddened by comments like these which come from a position of privilege. They don't know nor understand the kind of pain people go through.
A friend of mine can't get a bank account because her father wrote bad checks in her name. She refused to make a police report (he was already in jail).