February 11, 2015 should be seen as a day of contradictory principles for Congressman Mike Kelly (PA-3). First, Kelly mentioned a House Ways and Means Committee hearing about possible IRS abuses by seizing and forfeiting assets from a family of farmers that own South Mountain Creamery. This action by the agency is due to a law that an IRS form must be filled out if a deposit is more than $10,000 so the IRS can investigate the source of the funds to determine if it is from criminal activities. However, criminal enterprises changed their behavior after this law was passed and deposited money under $10,000 through several transactions to avoid IRS suspicion. The second comment was how both houses of Congress decided on a final bill for the Keystone XL Pipeline. What makes this an interesting issue for Kelly is how, in one instance (the Creamery farm), he is angry how Randy Sowers (the owner of the farm) says, "It is not right that the government can take all of your money on the basis that they think you have done something wrong. Also, when the government shows up at your door with armed agents and hands you a subpoena, your whole life is turned upside down" (pg. 2). In the second instance, Kelly supports allowing a foreign company claiming eminent domain to take land away a farm that has been in the family for over 100 years. How can Kelly reconcile these two positions? According to Kelly's office civil seizing and forfeiture is "illegal. The second, under the doctrine of eminent domain there's a legal principle in play. The power of the state or the national government. To take private property when properly compensated for public use. That's a little different than civil forfeiture."
