Proverbs 13New Living Translation

We got to lower the size of government so we don’t have these abuses like this in the IRS. Cartoonists v. the IRS May 23, 2013 by Dan Mitchell Call me perverse, but I’m enjoying this IRS scandal. It’s good to see them suffer a tiny fraction of the agony they impose on the American people. I’ve already […]

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

Dear Senator Pryor, Why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? As you know that federal deficit is at all time high (1.6 trillion deficit with revenues of 2.2 trillion and spending at 3.8 trillion). On my blog http://www.HaltingArkansasLiberalswithTruth.com I took you at your word and sent you over 100 emails with specific spending cut ideas. However, […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mark Pryor, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Video from Cato Institute on IRS Scandal

Is the irs out of control? Here is the link from cato: MAY 22, 2013 8:47AM Can You Vague That Up for Me? By TREVOR BURRUS SHARE As the IRS scandal thickens, targeted groups are coming out to describe their ordeals in dealing with that most-reviled of government agencies. The Ohio Liberty Coalition was one of […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute | Edit | Comments (0)

IRS cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog

Get Ready to Be Reamed May 17, 2013 by Dan Mitchell With so many scandals percolating, there are lots of good cartoons being produced. But I think this Chip Bok gem deserves special praise. It manages to weave together both the costly Obamacare boondoggle with the reprehensible politicization of the IRS. So BOHICA, my friends. If […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, Healthcare, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Obama jokes about audit of Ohio St by IRS then IRS scandal breaks!!!!!

You want to talk about irony then look at President Obama’s speech a few days ago when he joked about a potential audit of Ohio St by the IRS then a few days later the IRS scandal breaks!!!! The I.R.S. Abusing Americans Is Nothing New Published on May 15, 2013 The I.R.S. targeting of tea party […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mark Pryor, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

We could put in a flat tax and it would enable us to cut billions out of the IRS budget!!!!

August 12, 2022 – 9:56 pm

We could put in a flat tax and it would enable us to cut billions out of the IRS budget!!!! May 14, 2013 2:34PM IRS Budget Soars By Chris Edwards Share The revelations of IRS officials targeting conservative and libertarian groups suggest that now is a good time for lawmakers to review a broad range […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

The IRS has thuggish employees and the President was right to condemn their latest actions

May 14, 2013 – 9:18 am

The IRS has thuggish employees and the President was right to condemn their latest actions. Let’s Thank President Obama for Reminding Americans that They Should Distrust the IRS May 14, 2013 by Dan Mitchell Last week, while writing about the latest IRS scandal, I noted that the IRS has a long record of abusive actions. It has thieving employees. […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell | Edit | Comments (0)

Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

House Passes Huge Spending and Tax Bill Expanding Size of IRS and Green Energy Handouts

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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, speaking to reporters Friday, praises the contents of Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

On a party-line vote, the House narrowly passed a $737 billion measure Friday to dramatically expand green energy subsidies and health care programs while nearly doubling the size of the Internal Revenue Service.

As Republicans decried the inclusion of about $740 billion in new tax revenues, the bill that Democrats dub the Inflation Reduction Act cleared the House at 5:42 p.m. by a vote of 220-207 along party lines.

Four Republicans didn’t vote.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., announced the vote total and said, “The motion is adopted,” spurring cheers from fellow Democrats.

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The vote followed hours of debate.

“Today we make good on our promise to take on climate change and climate justice with historic investment in green technology that will cut carbon emissions by 40% by 2030, create over 9 million good-paying jobs, put $60 billion into environmental justice, and cut energy costs for the average American family by almost $1,000 per year,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., said in remarks on the House floor.

“For the first time we take on big pharma’s price gouging, finally allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices,” said Jayapal, who was first elected in 2016 and chairs the House’s Progressive Caucus.

The Senate voted Sunday evening, also along party lines, to pass the package, which President Joe Biden has said he would sign.

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, accused House Democrats of having “unicorn” energy policies.

“My colleagues now today are going to dump hundreds of billions of dollars into corporate America, screwing over the American people every single day with tax audits, increased energy prices, and increased taxes,” Roy said. “Congratulations. Take that to the polls.”

The bill allocates $79.6 billion to expanding the IRS to boost revenue to pay for Democrats’ pet programs.

Estimates show that 57.3% of the Treasury Department’s estimated 86,852 new IRS agents—or fewer than 50,000—would be assigned to tax enforcement. That calculation is based on $45.6 billion of the $79.6 billion increase for the IRS being dedicated to enforcement activities.

Biden and other Democrats have argued that no American making less than $400,000 per year would be audited by the IRS.

Although Biden and the Democrats assert that no one earning less than $400,000 a year will face new taxes, other analysts project that the bill will impose a $4,500 tax increase on the average American over the next decade.

The bill also includes limits on the sale of oil and natural gas leases on federal lands.

The nonpartisan Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation determined that taxes would increase by up to $16.7 billion for Americans making less than $200,000 in 2023, and increase by $14.1 billion for those earning between $200,000 and $500,000.

The next Congress and next president should reverse Democrats’ legislation, said Matthew Dickerson, director of the Hermann Center for the Federal Budget at The Heritage Foundation, parent organization of The Daily Signal.

“The new spending, tax increases, manipulative subsidies, and price controls in the act will only make stagflation worse. [A total of] 87,000 new IRS agents will increase audits for small businesses and middle-class and working taxpayers,” Dickerson said in a prepared statement, adding:

Harmful new taxes will reduce investment and be shouldered by workers, violating President Biden’s pledge to not increase taxes on working Americans. Hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer-funded corporate welfare will subsidize special interests and drive up energy costs for consumers. And the bill will reduce access to life-saving medical advances.

An analysis of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act by the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania says, in part: “The Act would very slightly increase inflation until 2024 and decrease inflation thereafter. These point estimates are statistically indistinguishable from zero, thereby indicating low confidence that the legislation will have any impact on inflation.”

“Americans are suffering,” Rep. Jason Smith, R-Mo., said in remarks on the House floor. “Are we here to debate how we alleviate that suffering? No. We are debating what Democrats call the Inflation Reduction Act, which everyone from the Congressional Budget Office to 230 different economists—even Sen. Bernie Sanders—says will not actually reduce inflation.”

Smith said that stripping away the “fake sunset policies,” the bill would spend $745 billion and add $146 billion to the national debt, with $54 billion of that debt in the first five years.

“Lots of spending up front, lots of debt up front, and maybe savings eight years from now?” Smith asked rhetorically, adding:

How is that going to put out the fire of inflation when the price of groceries is up 13.1% over the past year? … [The bill] doubles the size of the IRS so it can target and audit more middle-class families and snoop into their bank accounts. I’m not sure how subjecting Americans to more audits solves the inflation crisis.

However, Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., called the legislation a bold step forward that his party should be proud of.

“I am proud of what we are doing here. I am proud that we are finally allowing drug prices to be negotiated, to lower those costs,” McGovern said, adding:

I’m proud that we are extending the biggest expansion in health care in a decade. I’m proud that we are reducing future energy costs for thousands of families. I am proud that we are making the biggest investment to combat climate change ever. … We have done it. We have moved the ball.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

Issa: Lois Lerner Waived Her Right to Invoke the Fifth Amendment

Kate Hicks | May 22, 2013

There was no way Lois Lerner’s part in the IRS saga would end quietly, even as she invoked her right to remain silent.

The California Republican said Lerner’s Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination was voided when she gave an opening statement this morning denying any wrongdoing and professing pride in her government service.

“When I asked her her questions from the very beginning, I did so so she could assert her rights prior to any statement,” Issa told POLITICO. “She chose not to do so — so she waived.” …

“The precedents are clear that this is not something you can turn on and turn off,” he told POLITICO. “She made testimony after she was sworn in, asserted her innocence in a number of areas, even answered questions asserting that a document was true … So she gave partial testimony and then tried to revoke that.” …

“I understand from her counsel that there was a plan to assert her Fifth Amendment rights,” he continued. “She went ahead and made a statement, so counsel let her effectively under the precedent, waive — so we now have someone who no longer has that ability.”

“Mr. Cummings just said we should run this hearing like a courtroom, and I agree with him,” Gowdy thundered. “[Lerner] just testified. She just waived her Fifth Amendment right. You don’t get to tell your side of the story and then not be subjected to cross examination — that’s not the way it works. She waived her right to Fifth Amendment privilege by issuing an opening statement. She ought to stand here and answer our questions.”

First, unlike in a trial, where she could choose to take the stand or not, Lerner had no choice but to appear before the committee. Second, in a trial there would be a justifiable concern about compromising a judge or jury by providing them with “selective, partial presentation of the facts.” But Congress is merely pursuing information as part of an investigation, not making a definitive ruling on Lerner’s guilt or innocence.

“When somebody is in this situation,” says Duane, a Harvard Law graduate whose 2008 lecture on invoking the Fifth Amendment with police has been viewed on YouTube nearly 2.5 million times, “when they are involuntarily summoned before grand jury or before legislative body, it is well settled that they have a right to make a ‘selective invocation,’ as it’s called, with respect to questions that they think might raise a meaningful risk of incriminating themselves.”

In fact, Duane says, “even if Ms. Lerner had given answers to a few questions — five, ten, twenty questions — before she decided, ‘That’s where I draw the line, I’m not answering any more questions,’ she would be able to do that as well.” Such uses of selective invocation “happen all the time.”

Cartoonists show how stupid the IRS is acting!!!

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell | Edit | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mark Pryor, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Video from Cato Institute on IRS Scandal

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute | Edit | Comments (0)

IRS cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, Healthcare, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Obama jokes about audit of Ohio St by IRS then IRS scandal breaks!!!!!

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mark Pryor, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

We could put in a flat tax and it would enable us to cut billions out of the IRS budget!!!!

August 12, 2022 – 9:45 pm

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

The IRS has thuggish employees and the President was right to condemn their latest actions

May 14, 2013 – 9:18 am

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell | Edit | Comments (0)

Posted in Current Events | Comments (0)

IRS and Allies Downplay 87,000-Person Hiring Binge

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The homepage of the Internal Revenue Service website seen on a computer screen through a magnifying glass. The Inflation Reduction Act would massively increase the funding and scope of the tax agency. (Photo: Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)

In 2021, the IRS issued a report that described what the tax-collecting agency could do with nearly $80 billion in new funding, if only Congress would pass the American Families Plan. The Internal Revenue Service was making the case that the Biden administration’s plan to supercharge funding of the IRS would reap dividends for the federal government.

In a table in that report, the IRS shows that part of the “return on investment” for America would be that by 2031 the IRS could increase the size of its workforce by 86,852 full-time employees.

Last week, that estimate took on renewed significance when the Senate passed HR 5376, the bill called the Inflation Reduction Act but would be more aptly dubbed the IRS Reinforcements Act.

The Inflation Reduction Act includes the same nearly $80 billion in new funding for the IRS over nine years as the American Families Plan, which would increase the IRS’ annual spending by an estimated $14.6 billion by 2031. Since the IRS funding plan remains almost the same, the IRS’ estimate of adding roughly 87,000 full-time employees to its ranks should still be a reasonable approximation.

Unfortunately for the nation’s tax-collecting agency, the idea of adding 87,000 new IRS agents doesn’t appeal to most Americans.

The Senate passage of the Inflation Reduction Act has led many Americans to recount horror stories of IRS harassment. Others remember the political weaponization of the IRS by presidential administrations from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, not to mention the agency’s still unexplained leak of a massive trove of taxpayer data just a year ago. That data leak was exploited for political purposes.

Now, the IRS and its allies are downplaying the size of the reinforcements they’re receiving, portraying the boost in IRS staffing as a moderate increase that will be largely offset by attrition and other factors.

In a Time fact check, a counselor for tax policy at the Treasury Department was quoted as saying: “There’s a big wave of attrition that’s coming and a lot of these resources are just about filling those positions.”

The Time article claimed that the IRS might net roughly 20,000 to 30,000 more employees from the funding. But this is not what the IRS report from last year said.

While the political calculus may have changed, the numbers haven’t.

The 24-page IRS report has only one rather obscure reference to attrition and that’s not in the context of hiring new agents.

Here’s how the IRS describes the expansion of its workforce: “Because the expansion in the IRS’s budget is phased in over a 10-year horizon, each year the IRS’s workforce should grow by no more than a manageable 15%.”

Notice, the IRS describes a growing workforce, and notice that is a rapid rate. If the IRS were to grow by 15% each year for nine years, that would mean a 252% increase in the size of the IRS’ current 81,836-person workforce. That would mean more than 206,000 more IRS employees than today.

That number is clearly unrealistically high, even for the large amount of funding the IRS would receive. But even if the agency grew at an annual rate of 8.4% for nine years—barely over half of the ceiling described by the IRS—the agency would surpass 87,000 new employees.

But was the IRS right? Is there enough funding in this bill for the agency to add 87,000 employees to its ranks? The numbers projected by the Congressional Budget Office suggest the 87,000 figure is very close.

The IRS spent roughly $13.7 billion in 2021 and had 81,600 employees, or about $167,900 per employee. If the IRS were to hire 87,000 additional employees at the same cost per employee, it would cost $14.6 billion, the same amount of funding that the government forecasters projected the IRS would spend in 2031.

So, yes, the IRS’ own estimate of an 87,000-person expansion of the IRS was solid.

One would hope that with millions more audits of American taxpayers coming, at least taxpayer services would improve. But that’s unlikely.

Only $3.2 billion would go to taxpayer services, despite the IRS answering only 18% of the phone calls it received in 2022. That’s a mere 9% increase for funding in things like account services, taxpayer education, and filing assistance.

The lion’s share of the new funding, $45.6 billion, will go to enforcement activities like new audits, litigation, asset monitoring, and collections.

And don’t be fooled by bogus claims that the middle class won’t be affected by the new audits. As Heritage Foundation senior research fellow Rachel Greszler explains, even a 3,000% increase in audit rates for taxpayers making more than $400,000 would fall well short of raising the new revenues being claimed in 2031.

So, if the Inflation Reduction Act passes the House of Representatives and is signed into law, get ready to dust off your copy of the 7,000-pagetax code and 14,000 pages of IRS regulations.

Laura Ingraham: We have now learned more about just how petty and venal Attorney General Merrick Garland is

Ingraham slams Garland or raiding Trump’s home

By Fox News Staff | Fox News

Laura Ingraham analyzed how the raid of former President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago happened because of a document dispute even after Trump’s legal team voluntarily met with government investigators on “The Ingraham Angle.”

LAURA INGRAHAM: Just hours ago, we learned more about just how petty and venal Attorney General Merrick Garland is that he would send federal agents into the home of a former president and likely 2024 candidate over a document dispute. The Washington Post is reporting tonight that Monday’s raid came months after the Trump legal team voluntarily met with government investigators at Mar-a-Lago.

LAURA INGRAHAM: THE REAL TARGET OF THIS INVESTIGATION IS ANYONE WHO DARES TO CALL OUT THE CORRUPTION OF DC

This was back in June. Now, the ostensible reason for the visit was the concern that some documents were retained by Trump when he left office rather than being turned in to the National Archives. Trump stopped by the meetings as it began to greet the investigators, but was not interviewed. The lawyer showed the federal officials the boxes, and DOJ officials spent some time looking through the material.

Attorney General Merrick Garland. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

According to Trump’s attorney, Christina Bobb, Justice Department officials commented that they did not believe the storage unit where these moving boxes were kept was properly secured. So Trump officials added a lock to the facility. Sounds reasonable. When the FBI agents searched the property on Monday, Bobb added, that they broke through the lock that had been added to the door. Of course, at the federal authorities‘ request, they broke their own lock. Keystone Cops here with DOJ credentials. This is absurd.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

WATCH FULL VIDEO HERE:

Open letter to President Obama (Part 644)

(Emailed to White House on 6-10-13.)

President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President,

I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is going on out here.

The federal government debt is growing so much that it is endangering us because if things keep going like they are now we will not have any money left for the national defense because we are so far in debt as a nation. We have been spending so much on our welfare state through food stamps and other programs that I am worrying that many of our citizens are becoming more dependent on government and in many cases they are losing their incentive to work hard because of the welfare trap the government has put in place. Other nations in Europe have gone down this road and we see what mess this has gotten them in. People really are losing their faith in big government and they want more liberty back. It seems to me we have to get back to the founding principles that made our country great. We also need to realize that a big government will encourage waste and corruption. The recent scandals in our government have proved my point. In fact, the jokes you made at Ohio State about possibly auditing them are not so funny now that reality shows how the IRS was acting more like a monster out of control. Also raising taxes on the job creators is a very bad idea too. The Laffer Curve clearly demonstrates that when the tax rates are raised many individuals will move their investments to places where they will not get taxed as much.

______________________

We can fix the IRS problem by going to the flat tax and lowering the size of government.

Why the IRS Persecuted the Tea Party and How to Fix the Problem

May 27, 2013 by Dan Mitchell

Did President Obama and his team of Chicago cronies deliberately target the Tea Party in hopes of thwarting free speech and political participation?

Was this part of a campaign to win the 2012 election by suppressing Republican votes?

Perhaps, but I’ve warned that it’s never a good idea to assume top-down conspiracies when corruption, incompetence, politics, ideology, greed, and self-interest are better explanations for what happens in Washington.

Writing for the Washington Examiner, Tim Carney has a much more sober and realistic explanation of what happened at the IRS.

If you take a group of Democrats who are also unionized government employees, and put them in charge of policing political speech, it doesn’t matter how professional and well-intentioned they are. The result will be much like the debacle in the Cincinnati office of the IRS. …there’s no reason to even posit evil intent by the IRS officials who formulated, approved or executed the inappropriate guidelines for picking groups to scrutinize most closely. …The public servants figuring out which groups qualified for 501(c)4 “social welfare” non-profit status were mostly Democrats surrounded by mostly Democrats. …In the 2012 election, every donation traceable to this office went to President Obama or liberal Sen. Sherrod Brown. This is an environment where even those trying to be fair could develop a disproportionate distrust of the Tea Party. One IRS worker — a member of NTEU and contributor to its PAC, which gives 96 percent of its money to Democratic candidates — explained it this way: “The reason NTEU mostly supports Democratic candidates for office is because Democratic candidates are mostly more supportive of civil servants/government employees.”

Tim concludes with a wise observation.

As long as we have a civil service workforce that leans Left, and as long as we have an income tax system that requires the IRS to police political speech, conservative groups can always expect special IRS scrutiny.

And my colleague Doug Bandow, in an article for the American Spectator, adds his sage analysis.

The real issue is the expansive, expensive bureaucratic state and its inherent threat to any system of limited government, rule of law, and individual liberty. …the broader the government’s authority, the greater its need for revenue, the wider its enforcement power, the more expansive the bureaucracy’s discretion, the increasingly important the battle for political control, and the more bitter the partisan fight, the more likely government officials will abuse their positions, violate rules, laws, and Constitution, and sacrifice people’s liberties. The blame falls squarely on Congress, not the IRS.

I actually think he is letting the IRS off the hook too easily.

But Doug’s overall point obviously is true.

…the denizens of Capitol Hill also have created a tax code marked by outrageous complexity, special interest electioneering, and systematic social engineering. Legislators have intentionally created avenues for tax avoidance to win votes, and then complained about widespread tax avoidance to win votes.

So what’s the answer?

The most obvious response to the scandal — beyond punishing anyone who violated the law — is tax reform. Implement a flat tax and you’d still have an IRS, but the income tax would be less complex, there would be fewer “preferences” for the agency to police, and rates would be lower, leaving taxpayers with less incentive for aggressive tax avoidance. …Failing to address the broader underlying factors also would merely set the stage for a repeat performance in some form a few years hence. …More fundamentally, government, and especially the national government, should do less. Efficient social engineering may be slightly better than inefficient social engineering, but no social engineering would be far better.

Amen. Let’s rip out the internal revenue code and replace it with a simple and fair flat tax.

But here’s the challenge. We know the solution, but it will be almost impossible to implement good policy unless we figure out some way to restrain the spending side of the fiscal ledger.

___________________________

At the risk of over-simplifying, we will never get tax reform unless we figure out how to implement entitlement reform.

Here’s another Foden cartoon, which I like because it has the same theme asthis Jerry Holbert cartoon, showing big government as a destructive and malicious force.

_____________

Thank you so much for your time. I know how valuable it is. I also appreciate the fine family that you have and your commitment as a father and a husband.

Sincerely,

Everette Hatcher III, 13900 Cottontail Lane, Alexander, AR 72002, ph 501-920-5733, lowcostsqueegees@yahoo.com

We know the IRS commissioner wasn’t telling the truth in March 2012, when he testified: “There’s absolutely no targeting.”

May 27, 2013 – 7:17 am

We know the IRS commissioner wasn’t telling the truth in March 2012, when he testified: “There’s absolutely no targeting.”However, Lois Lerner knew different when she misled people with those words. Two important points made by Noonan in the Wall Street Journal in the article below: First, only conservative groups were targeted in this scandal by […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, President Obama | Edit | Comments (0)

A great cartoonist takes on the IRS!!!!

May 26, 2013 – 2:37 pm

Ohio Liberty Coalition versus the I.R.S. (Tom Zawistowski) Published on May 20, 2013 The Ohio Liberty Coalition was among tea party groups that received special scrutiny from the I.R.S. Tom Zawistowski says his story is not unique. He argues the kinds of questions the I.R.S. asked his group amounts to little more than “opposition research.” Video […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

“Schaeffer Sundays” Francis Schaeffer’s own words concerning what the First Amendment means

May 26, 2013 – 12:38 am

Francis Schaeffer: “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” (Episode 2) SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENTS Published on Oct 6, 2012 by AdamMetropolis The 45 minute video above is from the film series created from Francis Schaeffer’s book “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” with Dr. C. Everett Koop. This book really helped develop my political views concerning […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Francis Schaeffer | Edit | Comments (0)

Cartoonists show how stupid the IRS is acting!!!

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell | Edit | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mark Pryor, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Video from Cato Institute on IRS Scandal

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute | Edit | Comments (0)

IRS cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, Healthcare, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Obama jokes about audit of Ohio St by IRS then IRS scandal breaks!!!!!

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mark Pryor, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

We could put in a flat tax and it would enable us to cut billions out of the IRS budget!!!!

August 12, 2022 – 9:42 pm

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Posted in Cato Institute, President Obama | Comments (0)

With 87,000 New Agents on Way, 4 Facts About IRS Gun Arsenal

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With congressional Democrats voting to add 87,000 agents at the Internal Revenue Service, here are some surprising facts about the IRS gun arsenal. (Photo: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

Some of the 87,000 new agents whom Democrats propose to hire at the Internal Revenue Service could come with some extra firepower.

On Friday, House Democrats gave final passage to the tax and spending bill they dubbed the Inflation Reduction Act, which, among other things, would double the size of the IRS with 87,000 new agents to beef up enforcement.

As of two years ago, the IRS had an arsenal of 4,600 guns, reported OpenTheBooks, a government watchdog group.

Two federal investigations in the past decade found that IRS agents had not been sufficiently trained and were accident-prone with the weapons they have. Armed IRS raids on nonviolent taxpayers surfaced as a concern almost 25 years ago during a Senate hearing.

Democrats’ bill, which the Senate passed Sunday, awaits the signature of President Joe Biden should it clear the House as early as Friday.

The legislation, which unwinds from 2023 through 2031, would devote $80 billion to expanding the IRS and boosting tax revenue to pay for Democrats’ green energy subsidies and other pet projects.

Americans for Tax Reform, a conservative group that opposes the legislation, assembled information about the IRS arsenal from government and media reports.

During the House floor debate Friday, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., raised concerns about arming IRS agents.

“This bill has new IRS agents and they are armed, and the job description tells them that they need to be required to carry a firearm and expect to use deadly force if necessary,” Boebert said. “Excessive taxation is theft. You are using the power of the federal government for armed robbery on the taxpayers.”

Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., suggested that no IRS agents are armed.

“The idea that they are armed—I know that Ms. Boebert would like everybody to be armed, but that’s not what IRS agents do,” Yarmuth said. “I would implore my Republican colleagues to cut out the scare tactics. Quit making things up.”

In a posted job opening for a special agent, the IRS specified that applicants should be “willing and able to participate in arrests, execution of search warrants, and other dangerous assignments,” and able to carry “a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”

After sparking some controversy amid the proposed expansion of the agency, the IRS deleted “willing to use deadly force” from the job description.

The IRS referred questions to the Treasury Department as to whether the arsenal would increase as the number of personnel multiplies.

The Treasury Department did not immediately respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment for this report.

Here are four key things to know about the Internal Revenue Service and weapons.

1. IRS Guns and Ammo

The current IRS workforce includes 78,661 full-time employees, so Democrats’ legislation, if passed as written, would more than double the agency’s employees.

A 2020 report from OpenTheBooks, titled “The Militarization of the U.S. Executive Agencies,” shows that the IRS Criminal Investigation division has a stockpile of 4,600 guns.

The firearms include 3,282 pistols, 621 shotguns, 539 rifles, 15 fully automatic firearms, and four revolvers, the report says.

The Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog agency, reported in 2018 that the IRS had 3.1 million rounds of ammunition for pistols and revolvers.

The tax agency had 1.4 million rounds of ammunition for rifles, the GAO report said, along with 367,750 shotgun rounds and 56,000 rounds for automatic weapons.

2. Armed Agents ‘Not Properly Trained’

The IRS’s National Criminal Investigation Training Academy has the responsibility to implement firearms training and a related qualification program nationwide.

However, IRS agents assigned to the Criminal Investigation division regularly failed to stay up to date with training or to report incidents of improper firearms use, according to a 2018 report from the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration.

The inspector general’s report notes that “there is no national level review of firearms training records to ensure that all special agents meet the qualification requirements.”

“Special agents not properly trained in the use of firearms could endanger the public, as well as their fellow special agents, and expose the IRS to possible litigation over injuries or for damages,” the report says.

For qualification, each agent must score 75% or higher on the firing range, but the IRS lacked documentation showing its agents met the standards, according to the inspector general.

The report says that 79 of the 459 special agents in the agency’s long gun cadre failed to meet standard qualification requirements. Further, the report says the IRS could not provide information about whether 1,500 special agents were trained in tactical equipment proficiency.

In fiscal year 2016, the inspector general’s report determined, the IRS Criminal Investigation division “did not maintain documented evidence that 145 out of 2,126 special agents met the firearm standards established by CI [Criminal Investigation] and therefore were not qualified law enforcement officers.”

3. More Unintended Discharges Than Intended Ones

The poor firearms training for IRS agents has led to more accidental firings than intentional firings, according to a separate inspector general’s report from 2012.

“Having the availability of deadly force puts hiring so many new agents into perspective,” Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, told The Daily Signal.

The inspector general for tax administration “found they fired their guns more times by accident than on purpose,” Norquist said. “I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.”

The poor training was not a new problem, since the 2012 report from the inspector general found similar issues with firearms training.

“If there is insufficient oversight, special agents in possession of firearms who are not properly trained and qualified could endanger other special agents and the public,” the report says.

The 2012 report not only found that IRS agents fired their weapons by accident more times than intentionally, but that the agency concealed details about the accidental discharges.

“There were a total of eight firearm discharges classified as intentional use of force incidents and 11 discharges classified as accidental during FYs 2009 through 2011,” the report says.

And, the inspector general’s report continues, “we found that four accidental discharges were not properly reported.”

It says that “the accidental discharges may have resulted in property damage or personal injury.”

The public report, however, redacts four references to unreported accidental discharges of firearms.

4. IRS History of Armed Raids

In 1998, the Senate Finance Committee held investigative hearings into IRS abuses that featured testimony from a Virginia restaurant owner.

The restaurant owner said that armed IRS agents with drug-sniffing dogs burst into his restaurant during breakfast hours and ordered customers to get out.

Agents took his cash register and records, the restaurant owner told the Senate committee. When he returned home, he found that his door had been kicked open and his residence had been raided.

A tax preparer from Oklahoma gave similar testimony, saying that about 15 armed IRS agents came to his business and harassed his clients.

The owner of a Texas oil company recounted that agents came to his office and told employees: “Remove your hands from the keyboards and back away from the computers. And remember, we’re armed!”

In each case, the agents came up empty-handed.

The Washington Post reported at the time that Democrat and Republican lawmakers alike expressed dismay, and that the Clinton administration’s IRS commissioner, Charles O. Rossotti, promised an investigation of such actions.

At a separate hearing that year before the same Senate committee, Treasury Department’s inspector general, Harry G. Patsalides, told senators that the IRS had tolerated car thefts and anonymous bullying by promoting an agent accused of sexual harassment and allowing agents to conduct armed raids on nonviolent taxpayers.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the url or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

Should the IRS Get More Money or Less Money?

April 18, 2022 by Dan Mitchell

April 15 is usually the worst day of the year, giving Americans ample reasons to both laugh and cry.*

Because of a holiday in Washington, D.C., however, tax returns this year are due on April 18.

So let’s celebrate (or commiserate) this awful day by wading into the debate about whether the Internal Revenue Service should have a bigger budget.

Proponents usually claim the IRS is under-funded by comparing today’s budget to how much the bureaucracy received in 2011.

But that was a one-year spike because of all the money in Obama’s failed stimulus package. If you review long-run data, you can see that the IRS’s budget has increased significantly.

And these numbers are adjusted for inflation.

But perhaps proponents are right, even if they use deceptive numbers.

The Washington Post has a new editorial on this topic, arguing that the bureaucracy needs more money.

The IRS is currently limping along without enough staff or funding. Congress, especially Republicans, needs to face up to reality. …It’s not a mystery how the IRS deteriorated. …the core problem is that Republicans slashed the IRS budget about 18 percent in the past decade. That’s not belt-tightening, it’s gutting an agency. …The Biden administration is rightly asking for a big increase for 2023 (a request of $14.1 billion). This isn’t some Democratic wish list item; it’s about restoring the basic functions of America’s tax collection agency.

When this topic was being debated last year, Ryan Ellis explained that the IRS will target small businesses if it gets a bigger budget.

Here are some excerpts from his piece in National Review.

…the idea is that if taxpayers fund the IRS to the tune of $40 billion over the next decade, the IRS will step up audits and collect an additional $100 billion in tax revenue, penalties, and interest. This is lauded as a good because of the supposed “tax gap,”… Apparently, it doesn’t occur to anyone that the IRS, which is seeking this extra $40 billion in taxpayer funding, has every incentive in the world to exaggerate this “tax gap” and to make wild promises about the new money that additional enforcement will yield for the Treasury. …Giving money to IRS bureaucrats to conduct fishing expedition audits on millions of honest self-employed people? The same IRS behind the Lois Lerner scandal a decade ago, when the IRS inappropriately targeted conservative political groups during the 2012 election season, when Obama was running for reelection?

Ryan is right to point out that the IRS is undeserving because of bad behavior.

He mentions the Lois Lerner/Tea Party scandal. I think the recent leak of taxpayer data is equally reprehensible.

Advocates of more funding will argue that the bureaucracy’s malfeasance is a separate issue and that more employees and more audits are needed regardless of whether criminals at the IRS are caught and punished.

But this brings us to another important topic, which is whether it would be best to fix the underlying tax laws instead of throwing more money at the IRS.

In a column for the Louisville Courier-Times, we get this point of view from Richard Williams of George Mason University’s Mercatus Center.

…money won’t fix this problem. …Another approach would be drastically reducing the complexity of federal taxes. …The Tax Foundation estimates that we give up 3.24 billion hours and $37 billion to comply with federal taxes each year. Given the headaches and anxiety that come with this, Americans don’t need more IRS workers. We need a leaner agency…individual filers and small businesses represent a huge proportion of the public who would gain from simplification. …There is no need to hire more people to oversee a reformed system. What’s not to like?

Amen.

When proponents say the IRS needs more money, they implicitly are arguing for the current, convoluted tax system.

They want the IRS to be in the business of collecting revenue. But that’s just one role.

They also want the IRS to administer welfare programs.
They also want the IRS to redistribute income.
They also want the IRS to administer health care.
They also want the IRS to play a role in child care.

And that’s just a brief list of the things that the IRS now does in addition to generating revenue.

Get rid of these added roles, ideally as part of a total replacement of the tax code with a flat tax, and the discussion would be about how much money could be saved by reducing the IRS’s budget.

But that means less power for politicians, so don’t hold your breath waiting for genuine tax reform.

That being said, supporters of good policy should feel no obligation to help prop up the current system by shoveling more money to the IRS.

An underfunded corrupt IRS administering a bad tax code is better than a well-funded corrupt IRS administering a bad tax code.

*April 15 may be the worst day of the year, but there’s an argument to be made that October 3 is the worst day in history.

P.S. From my archives, here are some examples of the bureaucrats who will benefit from a bigger IRS budget.

P.P.P.S. And since we’re recycling some oldies but goodies, here’s my collection of IRS humor, including a new Obama 1040 form, a death tax cartoon, a list of tax day tips from David Letterman, a cartoon of how GPS would work if operated by the IRS, an IRS-designed pencil sharpener, two Obamacare/IRS cartoons (here and here), a sale on 1040-form toilet paper (a real product), a song about the tax agency, the IRS’s version of the quadratic formula, and (my favorite) a joke about a Rabbi and an IRS agent.

IRS not only hated Tea Party but also the Constitution!!!

SEPTEMBER 23, 2014 11:57AM

Targeting the Constitution

By NICHOLAS QUINN ROSENKRANZ

[Cross-posted from The Volokh Conspiracy]

It is now well known that the IRS targeted tea party organizations. What is less well known, but perhaps even more scandalous, is that the IRS also targeted those who would educate their fellow citizens about the United States Constitution.

According to the inspector general’s report (pp. 30 & 38), this particular IRS targeting commenced on Jan. 25, 2012 — the beginning of the election year for President Obama’s second campaign. On that date: “the BOLO [‘be on the lookout’] criteria were again updated.” The revised criteria included “political action type organizations involved in … educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.”

Grass-roots organizations around the country, such as the Linchpins of Liberty (Tennessee), the Spirit of Freedom Institute (Wyoming), and the Constitutional Organization of Liberty (Pennsylvania), allege that they were singled out for special scrutiny at least in part for their work in constitutional education. There may have been many more.

The tea party is viewed with general suspicion in some quarters, and it is not difficult, alas, to imagine the mindset of the officials who decided to target tea party organizations for special scrutiny. But federal officers swear an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” It is chilling to think that these same officials who are suspicious of the tea party are equally suspicious of the Constitution itself.

What is most corrosive about this IRS tripwire is that it is triggered by a particular point of view; it is not, as First Amendment scholars say, viewpoint-neutral. It does not includeobfuscating or denigrating the Constitution; only those “involved in … educating on the Constitution” are captured by this criterion. This viewpoint targeting potentially skews every national debate about politics or government. And the skew in not strictly liberal; indeed, it should trouble liberals as much as conservatives. The ultimate checks on executive power are to be found in the United States Constitution. Insidiously, then, suppressing those “involved in … educating on the Constitution” actually skews national debate in favor of unchecked executive power.

For example, this IRS tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the NSA should collect the phone records of every American citizen. But it would be triggered by teaching that the Fourth Amendment forbids “unreasonable searches and seizures.” This tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the president should unilaterally suspend politically inconvenient provisions of federal law, like ObamaCare. But it would be triggered by teaching that, under Article II, section 3, the president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” This tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the president should appoint NLRB members unilaterally. But it would be triggered by teaching that, under Article II, section 2, such appointments require “the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” This tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the president should target and kill U.S. citizens abroad. But it would be triggered by teaching that, per the Fifth Amendment, no person shall “be deprived of life … without due process of law.” This tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the president should declare war unilaterally. But it would be triggered by teaching that, under Article I, section 8, “Congress shall have Power … To declare War.” In short, the IRS was “on the lookout,” not for those who preach unlimited executive power, but for those who would teach about constitutional constraints.

Even more to the point, perhaps, this IRS tripwire would not be triggered by arguing that the IRS should discriminate against the tea party. But it would be triggered by teaching that such discrimination constitutes unfaithful execution of the tax laws. And thus, alas, there is a perverse logic to targeting constitutional educators alongside tea party organizations. Political discrimination in the administration of the tax laws is not merely “outrageous,” as President Obama has said; it is an assault on our constitutional structure itself. For an official who has chosen to go down this road and target the tea party, there is an Orwellian logic to targeting constitutional educators as well. After all, they are the ones who might shed light on this very point.

This is a new low for American government — targeting those who would teach others about its founding document. Forty years ago, President Richard Nixon went to great lengths to try to conceal the facts of his constitutional violations, but it never occurred to him to conceal the meaning of the Constitution itself, by targeting its teachers. Politicians have always been tempted to try to censor their political adversaries; but none has been so bold as to try to suppress constitutional education directly. Presidents have always sought to push against the constitutional limits of their power; but never have they targeted those who merely teach about such limits. In short, never before has the federal government singled out for special scrutiny those who would teach their fellow citizens about our magnificent Constitution. This is the new innovation of Obama’s IRS.

“We the People” do not yet know who first decided to target “political action type organizations involved in … educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights.” But there is at least one person who does know. Ironically, though, Lois Lerner, former director of the Exempt Organizations Division of the IRS, is making full use of her own constitutional education: “I have been advised by my counsel to assert my constitutional right not to testify …. One of the basic functions of the Fifth Amendment is to protect innocent individuals, and that is the protection I’m invoking today.”

Five years ago, President Obama, our constitutional law professor-in-chief, presented his first, ringing Constitution Day proclamation: “To succeed, the democracy established in our Constitution requires the active participation of its citizenry. Each of us has a responsibility to learn about our Constitution and teach younger generations about its contents and history.” Quite so. Perhaps this year, Obama could explain why his IRS would target those who answered this call.

Open letter to President Obama (Part 440) A suggestion to cut some wasteful spending out of the government Part 6 (includes editorial cartoon)

October 28, 2013 – 12:46 am

(Emailed to White House on 3-15-13.) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get a pulse on what is […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, President Obama,spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 438) A suggestion to cut some wasteful spending out of the government Part 5 (includes editorial cartoon)

October 25, 2013 – 12:38 am

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, President Obama,spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 436) A suggestion to cut some wasteful spending out of the government Part 4 (includes editorial cartoon)

October 23, 2013 – 12:32 am

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, President Obama,spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 434) A suggestion to cut some wasteful spending out of the government Part 3 (includes editorial cartoon)

October 21, 2013 – 12:27 am

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, President Obama,spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 432) A suggestion to cut some wasteful spending out of the government Part 2 (includes editorial cartoon)

October 18, 2013 – 5:23 am

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, President Obama,spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 430) A suggestion to cut some wasteful spending out of the government Part 1 (includes editorial cartoon)

October 16, 2013 – 12:29 am

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, Healthcare, President Obama, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, here are some spending cut suggestions (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

August 14, 2014 – 11:42 am

_ Dear Senator Pryor, here are some spending cut suggestions (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor) __________________ Senator Pryor pictured below: Why do I keep writing and emailing Senator Pryor suggestions on how to cut our budget? I gave him hundreds of ideas about how to cut spending and as far as I can […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mark Pryor | Edit | Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 644) Why the IRS persecuted the Tea Party

August 8, 2014 – 12:09 am

Open letter to President Obama (Part 644) (Emailed to White House on 6-10-13.) President Obama c/o The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President, I know that you receive 20,000 letters a day and that you actually read 10 of them every day. I really do respect you for trying to get […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, President Obama | Edit | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, here are some spending cut suggestions (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

July 31, 2014 – 1:40 am

___________________ Senator Pryor pictured below: Why do I keep writing and emailing Senator Pryor suggestions on how to cut our budget? I gave him hundreds of ideas about how to cut spending and as far as I can tell he has taken none of my suggestions. You can find some of my suggestions here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here, and […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Mark Pryor, spending out of control | Edit |Comments (0)

Open letter to President Obama (Part 637 1/2) Abolish the Dept of Transportation and return the responsibility to the States!!!

July 30, 2014 – 9:28 am

________ ________________ Pres Obama talking to a youngster outside Arthur Bryant’s BBQ tonight in KC on July 29, 2013. What It’s Like To Get Invited By Obama For Dinner President Obama spends the night in downtown Kansas City Kansas City is ready to host President Obama President Obama has dinner at Arthur Bryant’s Raw: Obama […]

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, President Obama | Edit| Comments (0)

Posted in Current Events, President Obama | Comments (0)

Fact-Checking Team Biden on Who Those 87,000 New IRS Agents Would Audit

August 12, 2022 – 5:13 pm

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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, pictured July 28 at a press conference, writes: “I direct that any additional resources—including any new personnel or auditors that are hired—shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels.” (Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

The Biden administration has promised not to raise taxes on anyone making under $400,000 a year. And despite estimates from official congressional scorekeepers that the Schumer-Manchin-Biden tax increase indeed would raise taxes on those Americans, the administration has doubled down on the claim as a final vote nears on Democrats’ bill.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a letterWednesday to IRS Commissioner Charles P. Rettig that includes this statement:

Specifically, I direct that any additional resources—including any new personnel or auditors that are hired—shall not be used to increase the share of small business or households below the $400,000 threshold that are audited relative to historical levels.

Yellen’s directive follows Rettig’s Aug. 4 letter to U.S. senators declaring the same objective:

These resources are absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans. As we’ve been planning, our investment of these enforcement resources is designed around the Department of the Treasury’s directive that audit rates will not rise relative to recent years for households making under $400,000.

But considering the sheer magnitude of 87,000 new IRS agents and an estimated $204 billion in new revenues from enforcement, is it possible for all those new audits and revenues to involve only taxpayers making over $400,000?

—Returning to 2010 audit rates for all individuals making over $400,000 would generate only 28%, or $9.9 billion, out of the estimated $35.3 billion in new IRS enforcement revenues in 2031.

—Even increasing recent audit rates thirtyfold for taxpayers making over $400,000—including 100% audit rates on taxpayers with incomes over $10 million—still would fall more than 20% short of raising the estimated $35.3 billion in new revenues in 2031.

Note: This assumes a 98% increase in the number of tax filers making over $400,000 between 2019 and 2031, based on annual growth rates between 2014 and 2019. Audit rates from 2010 to 2019 by income group and additional tax per individual tax return audited for 2021 is available here from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office.

Estimated revenues from a thirtyfold increase in audits almost certainly is overstated, since 30% to 40% of audits in these income groups result in no additional tax being owed, and audits already target returns with higher likelihoods of underpayments.

—Auditing every single taxpayer with annual income over $1 million would require only 25,000 new IRS enforcement agents, but Democrats’ bill calls for 87,000 new agents. What will all those extra agents be doing?

Note: Estimates are based on the Treasury Department’s estimated new full-time-equivalent agents, and the Government Accountability Office’s estimated hours per audit by individual income level.

Calculations conservatively assume that only 57.3% of the Treasury Department’s estimated 86,852 new IRS agents (49,754 in total) would be assigned to enforcement, based on $45.6 billion of the bill’s $79.6 billion increase for the Internal Revenue Service dedicated to enforcement.

Calculations also assume that 8.9% of IRS enforcement agents would be assigned to corporate audits, based on the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate that corporations account for 8.9% of the tax gap. Enforcement agents are assumed to spend 75% of their paid time auditing tax returns.

Despite the Biden administration’s claims, it’s almost certain that households making less than $400,000 a year would face increased audits under Democrats’ bill.

And that seems to be the true intent of the IRS. According to a 2021 report from the Government Accountability Office, “From fiscal years 2010 to 2021, the majority of the additional taxes IRS recommended from audits came from taxpayers with incomes below $200,000.”

https://youtu.be/KCjqZ4vRxI8

That recommendation is based on audits of lower-income tax returns producing more bang for the buck, as the report noted:

Audits of the lowest-income taxpayers, particularly those claiming the EITC [earned income tax credit], resulted in higher amounts of recommended additional tax per audit hour compared to all income groups except for the highest-income taxpayers.

The Treasury Department’s report on the proposed new funding includes a footnote highlighting the already-high prevalence of IRS audits among low-income households:

“Work by former IRS economist Kim Bloomquist points out that the five counties with the highest audit rates are predominantly African-American, rural counties in the South,” the report says.

High rates of return from auditing low-income households alongside the average large corporate tax filing totaling nearly 6,000 pages says that our current tax code is far too complex.

Instead of increasing taxpayer audits, policymakers should simplify taxes across the board. That way, it would be easier for everyone to pay the correct amount to the government.

Have an opinion about this article? To sound off, please email letters@DailySignal.com and we’ll consider publishing your edited remarks in our regular “We Hear You” feature. Remember to include the URL or headline of the article plus your name and town and/or state.

Issa: Lois Lerner Waived Her Right to Invoke the Fifth Amendment

Kate Hicks | May 22, 2013

There was no way Lois Lerner’s part in the IRS saga would end quietly, even as she invoked her right to remain silent.

The California Republican said Lerner’s Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination was voided when she gave an opening statement this morning denying any wrongdoing and professing pride in her government service.

“When I asked her her questions from the very beginning, I did so so she could assert her rights prior to any statement,” Issa told POLITICO. “She chose not to do so — so she waived.” …

“The precedents are clear that this is not something you can turn on and turn off,” he told POLITICO. “She made testimony after she was sworn in, asserted her innocence in a number of areas, even answered questions asserting that a document was true … So she gave partial testimony and then tried to revoke that.” …

“I understand from her counsel that there was a plan to assert her Fifth Amendment rights,” he continued. “She went ahead and made a statement, so counsel let her effectively under the precedent, waive — so we now have someone who no longer has that ability.”

“Mr. Cummings just said we should run this hearing like a courtroom, and I agree with him,” Gowdy thundered. “[Lerner] just testified. She just waived her Fifth Amendment right. You don’t get to tell your side of the story and then not be subjected to cross examination — that’s not the way it works. She waived her right to Fifth Amendment privilege by issuing an opening statement. She ought to stand here and answer our questions.”

First, unlike in a trial, where she could choose to take the stand or not, Lerner had no choice but to appear before the committee. Second, in a trial there would be a justifiable concern about compromising a judge or jury by providing them with “selective, partial presentation of the facts.” But Congress is merely pursuing information as part of an investigation, not making a definitive ruling on Lerner’s guilt or innocence.

“When somebody is in this situation,” says Duane, a Harvard Law graduate whose 2008 lecture on invoking the Fifth Amendment with police has been viewed on YouTube nearly 2.5 million times, “when they are involuntarily summoned before grand jury or before legislative body, it is well settled that they have a right to make a ‘selective invocation,’ as it’s called, with respect to questions that they think might raise a meaningful risk of incriminating themselves.”

In fact, Duane says, “even if Ms. Lerner had given answers to a few questions — five, ten, twenty questions — before she decided, ‘That’s where I draw the line, I’m not answering any more questions,’ she would be able to do that as well.” Such uses of selective invocation “happen all the time.”

Cartoonists show how stupid the IRS is acting!!!

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell | Edit | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mark Pryor, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

Video from Cato Institute on IRS Scandal

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute | Edit | Comments (0)

IRS cartoons from Dan Mitchell’s blog

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Economist Dan Mitchell, Healthcare, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Obama jokes about audit of Ohio St by IRS then IRS scandal breaks!!!!!

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Cato Institute, Taxes | Edit | Comments (0)

Dear Senator Pryor, why not pass the Balanced Budget Amendment? (“Thirsty Thursday”, Open letter to Senator Pryor)

By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Mark Pryor, spending out of control | Edit | Comments (0)

We could put in a flat tax and it would enable us to cut billions out of the IRS budget!!!!