The GOP's first bill exposes the lie of right-wing populism

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

After a bruising battle over the speakership, House Republicans kicked off their legislative agenda on Monday. It was a farce.

The GOP’s first policy bill would defund President Joe Biden’s efforts to help the Internal Revenue Service crack down on tax cheats. It’s a bill that’s predicated on disinformation, whose only real constituency is wealthy people who don’t want to pay their fair share. And it underscores how the Republican Party’s so-called populism isn’t about empowering the working class — it’s about exploiting them.

After a historic struggle to become House Speaker, Kevin McCarthy immediately tried to rally the troops on Saturday by promising to “repeal funding for 87,000 new IRS agents, because the government should be here to help you, not go after you.” It was classic red meat for the base: For months, Republicans have messaged that the new agents would be recruited into a heavily armed “shadow army” designed to weaponize the IRS against the middle class. Conservative activists and media, which have frequently and wrongly accused the IRS of bias against the right, enthusiastically encouraged these claims.

This narrative is a work of fiction. In reality, the funding is going toward an understaffed federal agency in desperate need of personnel to perform its basic functions. The IRS’s staff size today is the same as in 1970, and there are a lot more tax returns to deal with today. The 87,000 figure refers to the total number of employees that would be hired by the Treasury Department, and a majority will not be agents involved with enforcement. According to the Treasury, just 1 percent of new employees would be agents assigned to details that require carrying firearms.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-gop-s-first-bill-exposes-the-lie-of-right-wing-populism/ar-AA16cZMK

[lapfog_1]

1. don't want more IRS agents...

how about a much simpler tax code...

For example... no deductions for anyone... progressive tax rates... and eliminate the capital gains tax rate (make it the same as earned income).

No tax breaks for charitable giving, interest on borrowed money, and even limited tax breaks for family size (at 8 billion people, we don't need more of us on this planet).

One page tax return... how much did you make... here is your tax rate... pay up.

Kill the useless tax industry.... and the IRS (for the most part, still need enforcement).

[Walleye]

4. I am old enough to remember when Paul Ryan told us we could do our taxes on a postcard

[Grins]

7. Couple years ago, a story that most didn't have to report...

…income or even file because the IRS already had the information!

But it was going to kill Turbo Tax and the small tax preparers and they lobbied against it.

And here we are…

[PortTack]

2. It's already law! WTF..they need a basic lesson in how congress works?

[Freethinker65]

3. I had the pleasure of paying thousands for capital gains

In a brokerage account that lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Add to that, I was required to pay quarterly taxes this past year. Just sent in my latest check due next week.

I pay my taxes, whereas wealthier taxpayers with more complicated returns get away with hiding income and taking improper deductions. We need IRS over the next 20 years to replace those retiring, and to be able to audit complex returns of wealthy tax cheats.

[70sEraVet]

5. We should at least have as many IRS employees, as the nation's billionaires have accountants.

[Martin68]

6. The "Party of Fiscal Responsibility" still a hot mess of dysfunction.

[cstanleytech]

8. House Republicans make Pinocchio look like a rank amateur.