it’s good to be accepted, i suppose…

i read a news story today that confused me a bit…

…or at least the headline did.

US Gov’t says Toyota accepted record $16.4M fine

since when does the government give the private sector the option to “accept” or “reject” (assuming that’s the over verb that coulda been in this headline) a fine it’s levied?

i’m confused.

for the first time in over a decade i owe the IRS money. i do. shoulda filed, didn’t file, ’cause i owe them money and didn’t have it at the time. in hindsight i still shoulda filed (will this week) ’cause they’ll let you pay it out, and the longer you wait the more interest and penalties you have to pay. maybe that’s why toyota “accepted” the fine – if they hadn’t interest and penalties on a dollar amount that large ($16,400,000.00) would be a hell of a lot more than what i owe the IRS ($462).

so how do i get on that progam where i can reject government fees? do i have to be japanese? i can change “L’s” to “R’s” if that helps…