Today, The New York Times published a story documenting a recent and disturbing trend in government: allowing the regulated to write regulations. The story begins by detailing an IRS program in which tax lawyers and accountants are encouraged to draft rules on behalf of IRS. These tax professionals — who make money by finding new ways to reduce their clients' tax burden — will now formulate the regulations they will later be subject to. I challenge you to find a better example of a conflict of interest. The IRS program is merely the tip of the iceberg. The article goes on to broadly discuss the outsourcing of regulations: It is common for special interests of all types to be closely involved in drafting legislation and shaping rule making. But in recent years there has been a quickening pace of moves to outsource the actual work of regulation, hiring contractors to write the rules. Considering, as the article states, "Rule making is the heart of what Washington does," one would think federal regulators would take the process seriously. Instead, the federal government is passing the buck, then allowing industry to pocket it.