Dear Family,

Wow...You give London an Olympics and a bunch of jerks get mad. What pettiness. Is it really necessary to kill people because you're miserable in your life?

If they devoted as much energy and resources to treating their children well, to giving them an education that would help them survive and prosper in the modern world, they'd love their lives.

Do you have any idea how many millions of dollars al-Queda and their ilk pour into their murderous activities? Why can't they use that money to improve lives instead of destroying them. Cowards!

Moving on to more pleasant topics...

I finally got to go out and see a movie or two. It's been a long while. Have you seen War of the Worlds? I did.

The good folks at The Principal have invited you to join them at another session of their WOMEN IN BUSINESS TELECLASS SERIES. Please see the details under Workshops, below.

And due to some scheduling conflicts this past week, I've moved the Copyright workshop to next week. So, if you're in town, come join us. After all, if you've got a website, or have a book inside you...you'll want to know how to protect your intellectual assets.

We've had lots of interesting questions about estate and international issues. They are just too long to post here. And there have been so many of you with good, valid, important questions that I really haven't had time to help.

Please, remember, Ask TaxMama is designed to be a form of entertainment and amusement, much like Dear Abby. It's not designed to replace advice from your tax professionals. I try to do my best to give you the best advice in the world. But I can't always do it in time. Or for everyone.

Please, don't wait for, or rely on, me to give you all the answers to your tax questions. And, for heaven's sake, don't proceed without getting advice.

There are a LOT of good tax professionals in your communities. Please seek them out.

Just in...National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson has delivered her annual report to Congress. This year's focus is to suggest that IRS back off a bit on the zeal for enforcement and put more emphasis on encouraging and assisting voluntary compliance.

Olson writes. "As Congress noted in RRA 98, the IRS is far more than an enforcement agency - it must serve all taxpayers. Thus, the IRS should specifically state that its primary organizational goal is to increase voluntary compliance."

If you really think about it, you do want IRS to enforce the tax laws and to collect lots of money. If IRS were to collect ALL the taxes due, perhaps we could cut taxes for everyone.

So, yes, IRS, enforce the laws - just, please do it to someone else. Not me.

Time to go. You have a lovely weekend.

Best wishes,
Eva Rosenberg, EA
Your TaxMama is watching...out for you.

President Bush and Social Security
If you want to express your own opinion on Social Security to President Bush and your legislator's, please feel free to use the link at the bottom of this letter.