The oligarchs couldn't give a shit since they're immune to paying taxes. Is it just pandering to the libertarians lol?

I mean I'm all for it, at least in the States not in general, not that it'll pass. I guess it puts the Democrats in the hilarious situation of having to defend an institution that 99% of the time only attacks people barely scraping by again. That won't look out of touch at all.

Mix that with the earlier threats of the IRS coming after people making like 600 dollars a year online, you have a really good platform to attack the Dems on.

  • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    They're playing tug-of-war with the agencies themselves. The IRS is largely seen as a "liberal" agency, in contrast to the DEA or ICE which are seen as "conservative".

    Its they same reason conservatives like cutting funding to the Post Office or the State Department. It has relatively little to do with the politics of the respective organizations and far more to do with which team has more of their people staffed within the agency.

    Depending on how this current crop of Republicans views the FBI or the DOJ or the Census Department, they could just as easily be on the chopping block.

      • zifnab25 [he/him, any]
        ·
        2 years ago

        I mean, given its history, the IRS kinda sucks too.

        It mostly just exists to harass black people claiming EITCs by now.

    • NephewAlphaBravo [he/him]
      ·
      2 years ago

      IDK if the FBI is as insane as the CIA but I can't imagine they'd just let that happen.

    • walletbaby [none/use name]
      ·
      2 years ago

      It's hilarious how the Repubs used to be 100% on board with the FBI only to have it turn on them and attack. They used to worship the ground the FBI walked on and now it's turned itself into their #1 enemy.

  • SerLava [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    They're not getting rid of the IRS. They're trying to further degrade the IRS' ability to go after rich people, so that it only targets the poor.

    • Grandpa_garbagio [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      2 years ago

      Well I mean that's what they do now though, I dont see how giving them less money will somehow make them more effective

      • SerLava [he/him]
        ·
        edit-2
        2 years ago

        They still occasionally audit the rich and that makes Republicans very mad. There was also some increase in staffing or like a proposal to increase staffing recently, so they have been screaming about the IRS a lot lately.

        So yeah, they want to make a bad thing worse, news at 11.

  • InevitableSwing [none/use name]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    A percentage of the the GOP voters hates "big government" to a truly insane degree. I think that number is sizable.


    Edit

    And - of course and always - anything that makes the libs mad is great.

  • Leon_Grotsky [comrade/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    As far as the average dingus American is concerned it's the Federalist Society type goons, the "You should be able to drown the government in the bathtub" losers, Reaganites and Libertarians. I know this from having to listen to a couple unhinged screeds last year about the army of Tax Collectors Biden was supposedly putting together to hunt down PPP loan-takers.

    • Dolores [love/loves]
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      army of Tax Collectors Biden was supposedly putting together to hunt down PPP loan-takers

      god i wish that'd happen :ooooooooooooooh: also very telling on themselves

        • Dolores [love/loves]
          ·
          2 years ago

          i like how its cool and manly to do tax evasion/fraud but also piss your pants about the possibility of being called to account

  • M68040 [they/them]
    ·
    edit-2
    2 years ago

    On that note, I wanna know how even some people here end up acting like more IRS agents is a bad thing. You need institutional force of some sort to fight corruption - just gotta get it pointed at the right people.

    • Grandpa_garbagio [he/him]
      hexagon
      ·
      edit-2
      2 years ago

      It's bad in the US, like I said. Under a non fascist government, yes you very much need this. In practice here the IRS focuses on poor small businesses and stops them from being able to last.

      I'm not talking about like car dealership owners or whatever, a good chunk of people who get audited own like a small online shop and fucked up there taxes because they can't afford an accountant.

      They make tax laws incredible arcane as well. You get screamed at to go out and become an entrepreneur and then get fucked by the feds because you bubbled the wrong sentence on your 20 pages of forms

      • OneDakotaPolicy [none/use name]
        ·
        2 years ago

        If they don’t have funding they can’t audit the highest earners. The IRS doesn’t create tax laws, it enforces the laws created by congress. The $600 thing is just fear-mongering. It’s not even really a new policy.

        • Grandpa_garbagio [he/him]
          hexagon
          ·
          2 years ago

          They're already not auditing people who are blatantly not paying their taxes though.

          • OneDakotaPolicy [none/use name]
            ·
            2 years ago

            Because they are underfunded. And it’s usually not blatant how these people avoid taxes. More income means a more complex return means more time and resources required for an audit.

            • Grandpa_garbagio [he/him]
              hexagon
              ·
              2 years ago

              They seem to spend a lot of resources that could be going towards higher earning audits onto easier marks. it's just cop shit

              • OneDakotaPolicy [none/use name]
                ·
                2 years ago

                I’m not saying the IRS is entirely innocent, but the solution is way more nuanced than just eliminating the entire agency. An audit of a multimillionaire can take years, while an EITC audit is just a letter. The issue there is that the EITC (which is claimed by low income earners) audit should be easy to comply with, but external factors like lack of education or stress make it difficult.

            • Grandpa_garbagio [he/him]
              hexagon
              ·
              2 years ago

              I agree it's a good thing if aimed properly, but it's just not. Part of that is funding, part of that is just ideological though.

        • M68040 [they/them]
          ·
          edit-2
          2 years ago

          Also I just kind of doubt anything the right wants on principle. Even if there's an argument to be made for whatever they're calling for in any given situation, there's literally no way they're on the level about it. Giving them what they want'd leave them better off in some way that advances their agenda, and I don't trust like that.

  • Dolores [love/loves]
    ·
    2 years ago

    The oligarchs couldn’t give a shit

    nah they'd rather privatize it. whenever you think a current state policy the oligarchs are insulated from doesn't bother them, you need to think more creatively on how they'd manage to squeeze a buck out of it

  • leftofthat [he/him]
    ·
    2 years ago

    It's an overstep because they know it won't pass. It's spectacle and shows their base they are putting out bold legislation.

    Functionally it is manufacturing consent for cutting payroll taxes soon. And probably some other taxes.

    It's not so much a money grab as it is a lever to make the line go up. And the line needs to keep going up. :stonks-up:

  • 100th [none/use name]
    ·
    2 years ago

    We are going after the rich with 87k new officers

    Also remember to keep track of all that small amounts of change peasant

  • regul [any]
    ·
    2 years ago

    It caters to reducing the effectiveness and scope of the federal government by reducing revenue.

    But before you break out the party hats, just know that the budget cuts will never hit the agencies you hate the most. They'll cut stuff like national parks or public education funding before they touch the alphabet soup boys.