Steadily depressing, low-down...

...mind-messin', working at the car wash blues:

Arriving at Harv's Metro Car Wash in midtown Wednesday afternoon were two dark-suited IRS agents demanding payment of delinquent taxes. "They were deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending," says Harv's owner, Aaron Zeff.
The really odd part of this: The letter that was hand-delivered to Zeff's on-site manager showed the amount of money owed to the feds was ... 4 cents. Inexplicably, penalties and taxes accruing on the debt – stemming from the 2006 tax year – were listed as $202.31, leaving Harv's with an obligation of $202.35.

Talk about pennywise and pound foolish! I SERIOUSLY doubt Tim Geithner or Tom Daschle had to pay a 500,000 percent penalty on their disputed returns. And their bills were quite a bit more... questionable and substantial. Handing such a bill to a small business owner just smacks of extortion.

The standard narrative is that people don't like the IRS because they're selfish and don't like taxes. I believe more of the hatred stems from the agency's tendency to act like unaccountable shakedown artists. At least, toward the little guys...

There's at least one thing the car wash owner can take comfort in: by current standards, he's now highly qualified for a Cabinet position!