The latest sign of the apocalypse: David Cay Johnston has a story today in the New York Times, I.R.S. Letting Tax Lawyers Write Rules:

The Internal Revenue Service is asking tax lawyers and accountants who create tax shelters and exploit loopholes to take the lead in writing some of its new tax rules. The pilot project represents a further expansion of the increasingly common federal government practice of asking outsiders to do more of its work, prompting academics and other critics to complain that the government is going too far.

A number of esteemed commenters, including former Bush regulations czar John Graham (and we don't often agree with him), raise concerns in the story about the idea. Our colleague Gary Bass of OMBWatch gets the last word: "Why don't we just privatize Congress and outsource the development of our laws?" he asked.