I remember the good old days in the 1990's when sensible policies--fiscal, foreign policy, the whole gamut--gave this country a budget surplus. And things were so good that the GOP picked on the easiest populist target of all, the Internal Revenue Service, to show that they cared about the average Joe and not just corporate America.

Even that storyline is over for the GOP. In an article on tax cheats, the Washington Post notes that the "White House has requested more money for enforcement" to track down tax cheats.

The irony would be funny if this was not a sign of fiscal apocolypse.