Sam Schoenburg: So why isn't it easy?

		Robert, What if your credit card company made you add up your receipts and tell them how much you had to pay -- and potentially threw you in jail if you got it wrong? That's the way taxes work in America, when paying your fair share as an American could be as simple and easy as paying a credit card bill. So why isn't it easy? Corporate lobbying and campaign contributions. It wouldn't be that difficult or expensive for the I.R.S. to send you a voluntary, pre-filled return based on your tax information -- but tax preparation giants Intuit and H&R Block spent big to stop Congress from making tax filing easier. Big-money influence shouldn't stop commonsense policies that would save Americans time and billions of dollars. Right now, before tax day, is the best time to shine a spotlight on this abuse. Tell Intuit and H&R Block: Don't stand in the way of easy, free tax filing to justify your own profits. Sign Progressives United's petition today. Over the last five years, Intuit alone poured $11.5 million into lobbying to stop easy tax preparation -- more than Apple or Amazon spent on their own lobbying. And how's this for a fat refund: In exchange, Intuit makes almost $1.5 billion a year off TurboTax, its software to "help" people navigate difficult tax forms. The tax preparation industry's coup is another crystal clear example of a corporate deal extracted from Congress at major taxpayer expense. Even though one of President Obama's former top economists has estimated that easy filing could save taxpayers about $2 billion per year, the industry offensive has stalled action in Congress. As progressives, we won't stand for this kind of legalized corporate racketeering that keeps hardworking Americans down and CEO bonuses up. Send a message before tax day: Tell Intuit and H&R Block to stop making it more difficult and costly to file taxes. The lobby shops Intuit hired are littered with former congressional staffers who know how to coax favorable arrangements from their old bosses for a hefty price. We have each other. Our progressive action has captured national attention on overreaches like this before -- let's turn the light of tax day onto this almost unreported taxpayer rip-off. Thanks for uniting as a progressive, Sam Schoenburg Organizing Director Progressives United