Everyone also acknowledges that tax compliance continues to be a major problem here. Indeed, a retired businessman says if Greeks had actually paid all the taxes owed over the past decade or so, they wouldn't be in nearly such bad shape. Of course, we noted that tax compliance has been very good in the U.S., especially when compared to the rest of the world. This means we don't have a large source of potential revenue available simply from doing a better job enforcing existing tax laws.

On this score, we can understand why the Obama administration is ramping up the size of the IRS, and stepping up tax enforcement. They plan massive tax increases for Americans, including a myriad of fees and mandates embodied in health care and other complex and detailed legislation. They know that a result of this will be that tax compliance in the United States will be "Europeanized" -- along with everything else.

via Power Line - Ray Hartwell reports from Greece.