Unbridled Power: Inside the Secret Culture of the IRS
by Shelley L. Davis
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In Unbridled Power, Davis exposes the deceit that has become commonplace at the IRS. Hired to provide the agency with a written record of its past, Davis embarked on what she erroneously thought would be a straightforward mission. Instead she discovered a culture of secrecy that buries its mistakes and hides its unsavory history. Required by federal law to turn over its records to the National Archives, the agency has stubbornly resisted disclosing information about. Itself to the public. show more Many important internal documents have been shredded. What is the IRS hiding? Watergate, for one thing. Under the Nixon administration, Big Brother formed the Special Services Staff, a top-secret rogue unit organized to hound dissidents and political enemies. Davis, against the wishes of her superiors, reveals the truth behind the egregious plan to use confidential tax returns to flush out undesirables. Also uncovered by Davis was a scheme to. Destroy the presidential tax returns, an invaluable archive of past presidential financial records. Further, she unveils the truth about the Congressmen who have dared to question the insidious power of the IRS - our elected representatives who found themselves the subject of unfair and unfounded audits. Unbridled Power is the shocking account of one woman's struggle to overcome an unchecked bureaucracy's fear of its own checkered past Deception. Cover-ups. Malevolence. Head-spinning ineptitude. Illegal misdeeds. Davis blows the whistle on America's most dreaded and secretive government agency. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
An extremely well-written combination of history book and hard-hitting exposé of a deeply ethically-challenged organisation: the Internal Revenue Service of the IRS. Davis's style is accessible, entertaining and interesting. I liked the way she didn't assume everyone has a detailed knowledge of American history: events were described clearly and put into their historical context without a hint of being patronising. I only noticed one small error - it was the Seven Years' War (1756-1763), not the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) which Britain taxed its Colonies to pay for.Loved this book. And at the same time was thoroughly disturbed by the nature of the institution it describes.
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Author Information
1 Work 54 Members
Awards and Honors
Notable Lists
Common Knowledge
- Publisher's editor
- Sandberg, Kirsten
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, Politics and Government, History, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 353.0072 — Society, government, & culture Public administration & military science Specific fields of public administration
- LCC
- HJ2361 .D38 — Social sciences Public finance Public finance Revenue. Taxation. Internal revenue By region or country
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 54
- Popularity
- 565,231
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.60)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
