Dead Of Night
Freedom is on the march.
Last night, behind everyone's back, the Republicans tried to slip a paragraph into the middle of a rushed, 3000-page spending bill. The paragraph would have allowed the (Republican) leadership and anyone they deputized -- but no one else -- to read anyone's tax return for any purpose whatsoever. Extortion, political embarrassment, selective prosecution -- anything the Republicans liked.
For example, the Republicans could check the tax returns of people applying for government jobs (or seeking tenure at a state university) to see if they gave money to the ACLU or didn't support a Christian church.
Fortunately, someone noticed. My initial impression is that the United States just came within a few hours of becoming a one-party dictatorship.