Spending $100,000 to Save $1.16

Loveland, Ohio, City Manager Frederick Enderle's announcement , reported here in PhillyBurbs.com, but seen across the Web, that Deborah Combs was a flagrant offender sounded like one of the FBI's periodic announcements of the capture of a Public Enemy. Combs' crime? Unemployed since 2000, she hadn't filed a city tax return in Loveland, Ohio, presuming that, without any income, she wasn't required to file. It turns out that she owed $1.16. Estimates on the cost of her arrest, arraignment, and processing range to as high as $10,000. If she's convicted and spends four years in jail, which is possible, the total cost for collecting the $1.16 (plus $200 in late filing penalties) could exceed $100,000. There are few better illustrations of the arbitrary stupidity government is capable of. Sean Hannity, on his syndicated radio show, interviewed Ms. Combs on Tuesday of this week, and offered to pay her tax liability and her fines, as well as to offer additional help should Loveland's City Manager persist in his persecution of an unemployed citizen. In the same city, it is worth noting, as in all cities, a recent Supreme Court decision requires Loveland's hospitals to give free service to illegal immigrants, services that Ms. Combs, a U.S. citizen, unemployed for five years and in jail for failing to file a tax return on no income, cannot afford. Is something wrong here?