November 07, 2003

I'm often amused by the sheer myopic obsession of certain segments of the polity, who have dedicated themselves to the Bush Is Bad philosophy so thoroughly that the tiniest detail becomes an occasion to celebrate their faith.

Take, for example, this breathless expostulation from Web Presence Cory Doctorow:

IRS has a $1MM tax-refund form How much is Dubya's tax-break worth to the hyperrich? Enough that the IRS has a new form for the electronic deposit of a tax refund of $1 million or more. 28k PDF Link. [emphasis in original]

Trouble is, that form--Form 8302, to be exact--has been in use for awhile.

For example, this older version of the Instructions for IRS Form 1039 document was last revised in May 1995...five years before Bush took office. It refers to "Form 8302, Application for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) of Tax Refund of $1 Million or More." So do other pre-Bush tax documents.

This means, of course, that the "hyperrich" were getting mammoth tax refunds long before Bush was in office enacting his Tax Breaks For The Wealthy(TM). Imagine that.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go beat my servants.

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UPDATE:

After receiving a note from me containing the above information (minus the editorializing), Cory revised his post...by crossing out the word "new."

I think he may have missed the point.