President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said, I am wholly unable to figure out the amount of tax, and wrote to the Federal Commissioner of Revenue, may I ask that [the agency] let me know the amount of the balance due. When a friend of FDR was ordered to pay $420,000 in tax penalties, the President called the Commissioner within earshot of reporters and told him to cut the penalties to $3,000. One listener, journalist David Brinkley, recalled years later: Nobody seemed to think it was news or very interesting. Evaluate the Presidents comments and actions as if you were a Tax Professional.

1. Explain whether it is Ethical for a president to ask the commissioner to cut penalties today? Please focus on the ethics only and not make your response a political argument.