http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2012/04/04/owe-the-irs-bill-would-suspend-passport-travel-rights-for-delinquent-taxpayers/

Travel restriction is the hallmark of all totalitarian regimes.   We can expect it to get worse as the country devolves into its '1984' future. Next will be passports needed to cross state lines and finally for ALL travel. The smart ones have already left.

Did I hear a sheep bleat that this isn't becoming a police state? From Wikipedia:

"A police state is one in which the government exercises rigid and repressive controls over the social, economic and political life of the population. A police state typically exhibits elements of totalitarianism and social control, and there is usually little or no distinction between the law and the exercise of political power by the executive.

The inhabitants of a police state experience restrictions on their mobility, and on their freedom to express or communicate political or other views, which are subject to police monitoring or enforcement. Political control may be exerted by means of a secret police force which operates outside the boundaries normally imposed by a constitutional state."

This describes the new Amerika to a 'T'.

It's becoming harder to be proud to be American.   Use to be when we were FREE. Now we have so much restrictions stuck up our b*tts that we are ''scared'' to voice opinions and views. Oh!! Its for the sake of national security.   Its more like keeping us repressed and depressed since 9/11, which they totally capitalized on to pass new laws and restrictions, strip our rights, tape our mouths shut.   Even lawful protest is ''unlawful'' now.   

I don't know when we as a people are going to wake up and realize we were castraded. I am very angry about the state of our country. What happened to the movement to awaken Americans? Deemed unlawful.

God save our America!!

I'm confused?

Most Republicans are up in arms over poverty level American's not paying taxes but being afforded all the benefits that come from living in America... essentially living off other peoples dimes. So if you accept the fact that this is wrong, then you have to believe these people do not deserve to receive any of the benefits of being American.

But if you've got the money to travel outside the US and you choose not to pay your taxes... essentially again living off other peoples dimes... when the country does something to try to collect on that debt its an impingement of freedom?

@ACP: Can't really claim either R or D for myself.
What *I'm* looking at is how all of these dots connect... based on how they've connected every time they've been enacted in other nations. The holocaust gets better press, but the holodomor killed far more people. (The first passes spell check, while the second doesn't. Something to be said for irony & good marketing.)

It is no longer enough to say "I'll never do anything wrong" when the definition of "wrong" keeps being expanded, minor "wrongs" can get you locked up & strip searched, and secret "wrongs" can even get you disappeared with no charges, trial, or recourse. Nothing to stop error from playing a role, either; Ted Kennedy found himself on a no-fly list. He took care of it with a phone call. You might not get that option.

After 9/11, the common response to skepticism of the new swath of laws & regs was, "Well, what freedoms have you personally lost? If you're not a terr'izt, why worry?" Fewer people are asking that, now.

Dealing with the IRS is something that is not desired. The IRS has many means to collect from those that do not co-operate and make arrangements to pay back taxes.
Would they need authority from congress to implement such a restriction.
I am sure many elected officials will not like this restriction. Big part of the white house staff would be on the list from what I heard on their tax delinquencys.

@JAP69: An amendment exempting gov't employees covers that.
The "owed taxes" angle is a distraction. How long before such a travel restriction is attached to any other (alleged) infraction?

TT - While I respect you're POV - I would hope we've come a long way as a people since the 30's and holodomor.    I think though, that if you don't pay your taxes restricting the ease at which the government allows you to travel isn't really that big of a deal. If you don't pay your sewer bill the county gets up in your face, I don't see this as anything different.