IRS Bureaucracy
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Last year, a friend of mine had her IRS tax refund stolen from her mail box. It was a sizable amount, so she contacted Internal Revenue Service workers to see if they could make restitution.
There followed a long and frustrating period of dealing with a vast, uncaring bureaucracy, with no positive result. Finally, she contacted her congressman, Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles).
His office immediately went into action, and within a matter of weeks she received a replacement check. I, a lifelong Republican, was so impressed by this concern for a constituent that I voted for Democrat Becerra in the last election, and will henceforth.
One question from this episode lingers, however. Why was it necessary to use the clout of a congressman’s office to get results? Shouldn’t a simple letter to the IRS have sufficed?
SAM WOODS
Los Angeles
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