It's tax season again and I'm reminded of it weekly as I receive statements in the mail, tally year-end payments and expenses, and watch my wife enter the entire mess into our computer for what else; computing.
As the government grapples with how to cut spending and ultimately erase the nation's deficit it burns me to discover how much of our tax dollars are spent defending anti-hunting groups and environmental extremists. These folks are bent on keeping you and me from hunting, or even from using our public lands, and they get money from the government to push their agenda.
These groups have discovered they can get their legal activities reimbursed by the federal government via the Equal Justice Act. It's actually quite simple. Groups or individuals who file lawsuits against the federal government get their legal fees paid back by you and me. There are limits on who can get the money based on net worth of a company, but many are nonprofit groups and they are exempt, regardless of their net worth.
In fact, one leg of this act is called the Judgment Fund and is used exclusively to pay back litigation tied to the Endangered Species and the Clean Water acts. Can you say "no wolf hunting season?"
What's ridiculous is that many of the groups using this fund have more money than the government when the printing presses at the Treasury Department aren't printing. PETA, HSUS and Defenders of Wildlife are a few that come to mind.
If you think this is as crazy as a black bear drunk on fermented berries, then contact your congressional delegates and point them in the direction of the Open EAJA (Equal Access to Justice Act) Act of 2010. This act would make it public knowledge who is getting the money since the government doesn't currently keep records of the payouts.
Thanks for helping to save my tax dollars.
That's it! I'll start litigating against the government to get some of my tax dollars back.