America's Number #1 populist Jim Hightower has weighed in against the IRS anti-privacy plan. Below find an excerpt from the full commentary:

It's time to call 9-1-1 about an IRS proposal to change Section 7216 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Whenever the Bushites revise regulations, you can bet that the revisions do the exact opposite of what the regulatory title claims they do. In this case, the change is titled: "Regulations to Safeguard Taxpayer Information." Uh-oh. This can't be good. Our friendly IRS quietly issued this little gem on December 8, cleverly lumping it in with a set of new rules that the agency labeled "not a significant regulatory action," hoping that no one would notice.

Fortunately, watchdog groups didn't buy the ruse. When they actually read IRS's proposed "safeguards," they were startled to find that this regulation would authorize giants like H & R Block or any other tax preparer to sell the contents of your private tax-return to any corporation wanting to buy it! All of your personal contact information – including your Social Security number – could be sold, as well as information about your income, employer, medical expenses, children, charitable donations, etcetera.