Either having forgotten or maybe entirely unaware of why the colonies fought for independence, Joe Biden said some years ago that paying higher taxes was “patriotic.” Now as president, Biden wants to enforce his version of patriotism by siccing the IRS on the country. If only we could declare our independence from politicians so ravenous for other people’s money that they’ll say and do anything.
Among the many shameful and damnable provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August by the Democrats is an extra $80 billion for the IRS. That’s more than six times its current annual budget, and will boost the agency’s enforcement funding by 69% through fiscal 2031. As many as 87,000 new employees will be added to its workforce.
We stand behind our statement from a month ago that this is a weaponization of the IRS. There is not a shred of doubt in us that the additional funding and manpower will be used to increase the harassment, silencing, and prosecutions of taxpayers that the Democratic Party and the administrative state in Washington consider threats to their power.
Gross violations of the civil liberties of taxpayers in general will become more the rule than the exception. The agency’s targeting of conservative groups looking for nonprofit tax status during the Obama era was a mere warmup for what will come under an IRS that will employ more bureaucrats than the Pentagon, State Department, FBI, and Border Patrol combined.
There are other reasons to rein in, and, as soon as possible, replace the IRS with a new arm of the state that is less abusive, whose employees are less antagonistic toward their fellow Americans, will no longer perform “root-canal audits,” will never again violate our privacy, and can’t be used to crush political foes and critics of the establishment.
For instance, the system we have now that is administered by the IRS:
- Requires Americans to spend more than 6.5 billion hours complying with tax filing and reporting requirements, the equivalent, says the Tax Foundation, to “3.1 million full-time workers doing nothing but tax return paperwork.”
- Is so complex that Americans have to hire professionals to prepare their taxes, costing the domestic economy more than $313 billion this year.
- Causes millions of taxpayers to waste millions of hours holding for phone calls before giving up. According to the National Taxpayer Advocate, IRS “assistors” answer only 9% or 10% of the calls that come in. This is not an argument to enlarge the agency but one that clearly indicates the entire tax-collecting blob has to be overhauled.
- Operates with a “lack of transparency” that often leaves “taxpayers confused and frustrated.”
- Produces audits that are incorrect 60% to 90% of the time.
- Obliges “citizens [to] surrender 100% of their personal privacy to the federal government in order to facilitate tax preparation,” says Daniel J. Pilla, founder of the Tax Freedom Institute.
- Assumes “you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent.”
- Drives “an overwhelming majority of citizens” to “screw themselves into the ground to stay on top of their tax obligations,” Pilla has noted.
- Trips up Americans with a tax code that was changed more than 5,900 times from 2001 to 2019.
Apparently congressional Republicans “plan to launch immediate oversight of the Internal Revenue Service if they win control of the House” next month, say media reports. This would be a start, and nowhere close to the finish, which will take years to reach. But the reversal needs to start before the IRS and the FBI join forces to become an uber-Gestapo operating on behalf of the Democrats.
— Written by the I&I Editorial Board
Hire 87,000 new Border Patrol and ICE agents for the southern border before the IRS gets any more guns, ammo or new agents. GOP priority should be taking back control of the USA southern border from the Mexican drug cartels. The Mexican crime cartels are “earning” tax-free $6,000 to $30,000 per person transported across the USA southern border, depending upon the distance traveled. With 4 million to 10 million illegals being transported across the USA southern border, the Mexican cartels are raking in hundreds of billion dollars tax-free. That’s not even counting the tax-free sex and drug rackets. If the USA Border Control could collect $10,000+ per illegal and cut out the Mexican cartels. That’s hundreds of billions of dollars for the Treasury. Arm ICE and Border Patrol with 87,000 new agents. Defund the IRS.
Wow, if they have hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars they must be untouchable!! However as we know they do kill each other and we arrest them. This is just a fantasy.
Yes, the Mexican drug cartels that “own” the Mexican side of the border (and more of USA side each day) battle for the lucrative trade. Just like USA Prohibition gangsters. Arrest a few, and new recruits move up the ladder. Ain’t no fantasy. The Mexican cartels make more money than some of the largest USA corporations, tax-free. The cartels (in some areas = Federales) are better armed than the USA Border Patrol. Even built their own cell networks (Homeland Security says they are entitled to privacy, so Border Patrol is forbidden from listening in). Watchtowers and mountain lookouts on the Mexican side to direct movements. Mexican reporter Oscar Blue Ramirez has walked with the caravans and has drone footage of cartel Border outposts:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDZiYZDRKloOWpYNGBuvJIQ
Much is in Spanish. Steven K. Bannon uses Ramirez as a correspondent and has English language & Border footage.
Zero out the IRS budget, sell the buildings and pour saltine the hole. We need either a flat tax, or more of a tariff-based source of revenue (we’ve had basically that prior to the 16th Amendment). Today our government spends all its time figuring out how to separate taxpayers from as much of our hard-earned money as possible, just shy of fomenting revolution. This must end!
The IRS, never anyone’s favorite agency, has antiquated hardware and software and is very inefficient. We owe the employees of the IRS hardware that actually works, we will all benefit from that. Many of these new employees will be there to install and maintain an adequate computer system.
Yes, that is why the since deleted advertisement for new IRS employees stated that a willingness to use deadly force is required.
The solution to the corrupt IRS would be a flat tax rate. But since a major source of money to politicians is bribery from lobbying by corporations attempting, and succeeding, in changing the tax code to their benefit, this ain’t gonna happen. But it certainly explains the reason for 5,900 changes to the tax code between 2001 and 2019.
Methinks that the GOP is not capable of curbing their dogs. The GOP will talk loudly and carry a twig.
I have a simple solution. Require all federal politicians (House, Senate and SCOTUS) and employees of the IRS to personally do their own taxes. Use IRS help line, that is it.
Problem solved overnight.