Posted on 08/16/2022 5:31:50 AM PDT by SJackson
The Democrats' new reconciliation bill isn't just going to be the largest-ever expansion of a government agency. It's going to be the largest expansion of the domestic police state in American history. Only a statist could believe that a federal government, which already collects $4.1 trillion every year -- or $12,300 for every citizen -- supposedly needs 80 battalions of new IRS cops.
The average American has less reason to be concerned about cops with guns -- though the IRS is looking for special agents who can "carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary" -- than they do bureaucrats armed with pens who are authorized to sift through their lives. If you pay your taxes you have nothing to worry about, Democrats claim. But most law-abiding citizens know they have something to fear from a state agency that doesn't concern itself with your due process, has no regard for your privacy and is empowered to target anyone it wants without any genuine oversight.
And, please, spare us this nonsense about the IRS expansion focusing exclusively on "high earners." White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre promised that the IRS wouldn't engage in new audits of anyone making under $400,000 -- a claim she has no authority to make and could not possibly predict even if she did. Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy also said that the bill was passed to stop an "epidemic of tax cheating amongst the millionaires and billionaires" and promised that "audit rates won't increase for anyone making under $400K."
This is a lie. Nothing in the bill that Democrats passed through the Senate limits audits. Murphy, along with every other Democrat in the Senate, voted against a Republican amendment that would have prevented new agents from auditing individuals and small businesses with less than $400,000 of taxable income. Not long ago, Democrats passed the American Rescue Plan Act -- which had as much to do with rescuing as the Inflation Reduction Act has to do with reducing inflation -- and changed tax code so that mobile payment apps like Venmo and Cash App were now required to report transactions totaling $600 or more per year to the IRS. Does that sound like a party aiming fire exclusively at high-earning Americans?
Indeed, poor and middle-class Americans are far more likely to do their own taxes, and thus more prone to making mistakes. In 2021, those making $25,000 or less (often the young and elderly) were audited at a rate five times higher than everyone else. The wealthier you are the more likely it is that you can hire lawyers and accountants to work within the system. There aren't enough millionaires and billionaires in the world to keep a potential new 87,000 IRS employees busy.
There are other overlooked aspects of the Democrats' IRS expansion. The bill, for instance, strengthens the federal public-sector union monopoly that funds Democrats' political aspirations. IRS and Treasury Department employees spent 353,820 hours engaged in union activism -- their PAC gives every cent to the Democrats -- in 2019. One can imagine what another 87,000 employees would do for that effort. In the real world, laundering taxpayer funds through unions and using them on political campaigns is called racketeering.
None of this is to say that everyone who works for IRS is corrupt or power-hungry or an ideologue. The unassailable rules of giant bureaucracies, however, are that they always experience mission creep, they always do enough to justify their funding, and sooner or later, their leaders become political operatives.
With that said, it's worth remembering that the IRS doesn't simply collect taxes. It enforces speech codes. This is what empowered former IRS official Lois Lerner to target conservative groups -- "crazies and "a--holes" -- who used words like "Tea Party" or "patriots" in their names. But, even at the time, leftists at The New York Times editorial board praised the IRS for going after conservative groups because they did not "primarily" engage in "social welfare," and so did not deserve an exemption under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. Has anything in the evolution of the Democratic Party given you confidence that such power would not be abused or that an engorged IRS would be immune from political pressure?
Wrestling with an insanely complex tax code -- nearly 8 million words -- costs Americans billions every year. Rather than flattening and simplifying this astonishingly convoluted code, which not only would have saved citizens but the government money, Democrats decided we needed up to another 87,000 people to enforce it.
Knowing this, and knowing that I pay all my taxes, every dime I owe, I will assume a threat if approached by one of these tax soldiers.
IRSS.
This is the Obama civilian police force that Obama had wet dreams about. Its coming to fruition and it is the greatest threat to American Liberty since the Civil War.
The reason for it is to enforce whatever executive order the “President” makes without resort to due process or the courts under the current IRS law and procedure.
Seizure of property of conservatives and property of resistants against the Marxists will be sized without a court order , including fore arms.
The large numbers of thse arrested will be incarcerated in gulags already in place and maintained by FEMA.
When this bill is signed to day the Tree of Liberty has been poisoned, possiibly beyond saving , ubkess we act to secure our own government back from these Marxists and repeal the entore law. What a travesty.
And is was so important to the MArxist that the bought of the Two Dem Senators who resisted them in the name of freedom. Now they are part of the problem too.
Roll up your s;eevs FRiends. We have a lot of work to do between now and Nov. 8 to assure we have a secure vote.
The Rats are all about terrorizing the citizens.
Republicans must canvas or help fund local turnout
Republicans must canvas or help fund local turnout>>>>>>>
Absolutely.
And they must locally assure they have enough ballots, another favorite deny the vote trick of Marxist Democrats.
Good point regarding enough ballots.
“There aren’t enough millionaires and billionaires in the world to keep a potential new 87,000 IRS employees busy.”
Well, Silly! Those people aren’t the target! WE ARE!
Pay what you owe, but no more. Read a tax schedule. See if what you’re doing for ‘taxable income’ is worth your time and effort. Is that ‘second job’ you took actually COSTING you more in taxes?
Discover new tax benefits/exemptions which may apply to you:
https://www.kiplinger.com/taxes/602075/most-overlooked-tax-breaks-and-deductions
Barter and trade for services where you can.
If you have a spouse and kids, see if you can live on one income. In many parts of the USA, you still can.
“Of course, for some, the individual income tax trumps all else. In that case, look to Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming. In these states taxpayers keep all they earn (excluding federal taxes, of course), even if they pay more for other life necessities, such as food and shelter. Conversely, Hawaii, Oregon, California, Rhode Island, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Maine have the highest income tax rates.”
https://turbotax.intuit.com/tax-tips/state-taxes/worst-tax-states-when-on-a-tight-budget/L8lUAF92h
Look into all the hidden taxes you pay on this and that...and stop buying/reduce use of those things. (Alcohol, cigarettes, gasoline...)
Starve The Beast!
As a kid (45 years ago), we would go down to the local Dump, AKA Police outdoor Range and shoot Rats. We did this at night because it was more fun to “spot” the rats.
Box of Cheerios, flashlight and our own 22’s and away we went. Place a few piles of Cheerios out and wait for Rats to come eat. We’d blast about 10 on a good night. Rats got smart at about that point, so we went home until next time.
Remember, Rats aren’t stupid, just slow. That way you don’t have to lead them as much.
Will come out to be 27 IRS agents per county.
The meme all over the country: “Oh my we did not expect such a huge turnout and have run out of ballots!”
Each poll needs to order 30 to 50 % more paper ballots than usual.
And they need not mail them to everyone on the voter lists.
My idea(once again): Eliminate the income tax. Start off by lowering it to 1%. Then go to work on eliminating the amendment that made it ok. Replace it with a consumption(Fair) tax. Everyone gets to see their whole paycheck on payday minus the 1%.
It would be populist. The Fair Tax could be lowered with a corresponding elimination of non-essential departments. That’s most of them.
I thnk this is a great idea. It also would allow much more money to be dedicated to our military. A very uncpomplicated transparent trace of where our mooney goes.
“The accumulation of all powers legislative, executive, and judiciary in the same hands, whether of one, a few or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” - James Madison
They likely have 87 applications by now. 🙄
Actually, USG spending on its “departments” is a very small part of the spending problem. The true spending problem is one no one wants to talk about or acknowledge it’s “entitlements” - Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. It requires us all to hold up a mirror and say, “We are the spending problem!”.
We stupidly have believed politicians who have continuously promised us “Heaven on Earth” with minty fresh breath if we just take one more small dip into the taxpayer pocket. We have believed this since FDR days and a majority continue to do so. This “misdirection” into concentrating on the “gnat” - government department spending and ignore the “camel” entitlements will guarantee we will never solve the problem!
How about that the IRS start hiring - and training - enough non-union members just so they can answer the d#*&@ phones?!
All that these IRS “agents” will be doing is checking citizens with Schedule C income to document their mileage and other expenses.
Not fully documented? Not allowed.
And the penalties and fines start from the date of the return.
I’ve seen entitlement estimates as low as 60% and as high as 84%. Here’s an article defending my point.
https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-much-spending-uncontrollable
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.