>> Correction appended at the end of this post. <<
It's a common response you hear from supporters of big government tyranny when someone complains: “if you don’t break the law, you don’t have to worry.” On Sunday’s NBC’s Meet the Press, instead of speaking truth to power he decided to defend it and tell people that if they pay their taxes and don't cheat, they don’t have to worry about the 87,000 new IRS employees the Biden administration plans to hire.
While interviewing Republican Congressman Andy Barr, Todd displayed his ignorance: “let me ask you about the IRS talking point because I just don't get it.”
Todd continued to complain that “a lot of Republicans have talked about dealing with waste fraud and abuse. The current head of the IRS, who is a Trump appointee said he didn't have enough people to essentially, that the biggest problem we have is people don't pay the taxes that they're supposed to pay.”
“If you are upset about extra IRS agents, stop cheating on your taxes, Congressman. I'm not saying you personally, but I'm talking about in general” Todd snarked.
Barr explained to Todd that while “everybody believes that people should pay their taxes” the fact is “$20 billion of these audits are going to come at the expense of low and middle-income Americans.”
“When Joe Biden and his campaign promised the American people that, oh, taxes were not going to go up for people earning less than $400,000, that was a lie. This bill is going to come at the expense of the American people,” Barr noted.
Todd is delusional if he thinks these newly hired IRS agents are just going after wealthy people who didn’t pay their taxes. Reality is they will be unleashed on everyday Americans who are just trying to live their lives.
Did you make $100 selling your old belongings in a garage sale recently? Well you better report it to the IRS before Biden’s IRS army comes after you.
Correction: This article originally referred to “87,000 new armed IRS agents the Biden administration just hired.” In fact, only a small percent of the planned hires by the IRS, in the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, would be armed agents. Also, the hiring has not yet all taken place. It will occur over a period of ten years.
To read the relevant transcript click “expand”:
NBC’s Meet the Press
August 21, 2022
10:50:16 a.m. EasternCHUCK TODD: Let me ask you about the IRS talking point because I just don't get it because a lot of Republicans have talked about dealing with waste fraud and abuse. The current head of the IRS, who is a Trump appointee said he didn't have enough people to essentially, that the biggest problem we have is people don't pay the taxes that they're supposed to pay.
If you are upset about extra IRS agents, stop cheating on your taxes, Congressman. I'm not saying you personally, but I'm talking about in general.
ANDY BARR: Right. Chuck, well, look, everybody believes that people should pay their taxes, but the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office looking at this legislation, this reconciliation bill, this inflation expansion act says that $20 billion of these audits are going to come at the expense of low and middle-income Americans.
When Joe Biden and his campaign promised the American people that, oh, taxes were not going to go up for people earning less than $400,000, that was a lie. This bill is going to come at the expense of the American people.
