Are Our Laws too complicated or are they designed to entrap citizens

Tweet

In the past few days I have read articles that in passing refer to the complicated laws and the need for lawyers and others to explain it to people. We already know that most people, other the simple tax form users, need to hire an accountant or tax preparer to file their Income Taxes. It was reported that in the Presidents Budget is an item to hire hundreds or thousands of Navigators to help people file under the new Obama Care. the law is 2700 pages and they already have 15,000 pages of rules and regulations and they are not done. Even the Head of HSS admits that she does not know and understand the law. I read where the Chairman of the House Oversight Committee is advising people who are potential witness to hire a lawyer to help them answer question not because they might incriminate themselves but so they don't violate the many different National Security secrets laws (which are numerous and complicated) The Gun Control Bill that failed contained language the people could violate the law even if they had no criminal intention. A simple act of handing a gun (that was not yours) to a undercover agent could land you in court as a felon. A few years ago Senator Al Franken (D, MN) was in trouble for not paying income taxes in several states and he over paid in other states because neither he nor his accountants and lawyers understood all the different law. The laws stated that you needed to have a physical presence in the state then you had to pay income tax in that state. Because he wrote books, and sold them in a bookstore in a specific state and did personal appearances he had to pay income taxes but in some states if he just sold the books and never set foot in the state he did not owe for taxes. A college student who was drafted by the NFL made his first call not to his parents but to an accountant who specializes in multiple state income taxes. I have tried to read some of these laws and you keep getting refered to a word change in this statutes and moving a comma in that statute or a new sentence added to a different statute. Even if you understand the law as printed you still have the pages and pages of rules that are developed. The IRS Laws and Rules are so complicated that you can call the IRS for help and they will tell you that any advice you receive can not be used as defense in a Federal Tax Court. In effect the people who make the rules and enforce them can not even tell you what is the law is and how it is interpreted. Maybe it is time for the laws to be written in plane language so the average person can understand them.