{"id":1599662,"date":"2022-08-10T17:01:34","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T21:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1599662"},"modified":"2022-08-10T17:02:07","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T21:02:07","slug":"irs-hiring-spree-is-the-biggest-expansion-of-the-police-state-in-american-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/irs-hiring-spree-is-the-biggest-expansion-of-the-police-state-in-american-history\/","title":{"rendered":"IRS Hiring Spree Is The Biggest Expansion Of The Police State In American History"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Firs-hiring-spree-is-the-biggest-expansion-of-the-police-state-in-american-history%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1599662&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Democrats\u2019 new reconciliation bill isn\u2019t just going to be the largest-ever expansion of a government agency, it\u2019s going to be the largest expansion of the domestic police state in American history. The statist architects of IRS supersizing believe the federal government, which already collects $4.1 trillion every year\u2014or $12,300 for every citizen\u2014needs <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/opinion\/86-852-new-irs-employees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">80 battalions<\/a> of new IRS cops.<\/p>\n<p>So, it\u2019s completely rational for law-abiding citizens to fear an agency that isn\u2019t bound by fundamental due process, has no regard for your privacy, and is empowered to target anyone without any genuine oversight. Most American are less concerned about cops with guns\u2014though the IRS is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jobs.irs.gov\/resources\/job-descriptions\/irs-criminal-investigation-special-agent\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">looking for<\/a> special agents who can \u201cCarry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary\u201d\u2014 but bureaucrats armed with pens who are authorized to sift through your life and demand you prove your innocence.<\/p>\n<p>And, please, save us this nonsense about the IRS expansion focusing exclusively on \u201chigh earners.\u201d White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/video\/news\/video-2747987\/Video-Jean-Pierre-promises-no-IRS-audits-making-400k.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">promised<\/a> that the IRS wouldn\u2019t engage in new audits of anyone making under $400,000\u2014a claim she has no authority to make and could not possibly predict even if she did. Connecticut\u2019s Chris Murphy also <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ChrisMurphyCT\/status\/1555728987560841216\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> that the bill was passed to stop an \u201cepidemic of tax cheating amongst the millionaires and billionaires\u201d and promised that \u201caudit rates won\u2019t increase for anyone making under $400K.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MikeCrapo\/status\/1556177703098884103\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voted against<\/a> a Republican amendment that would have prevented new agents from auditing individuals and small businesses with less than $400,000 of taxable income.<\/p>\n<p>Not long ago, Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/venmo-paypal-zelle-must-report-600-transactions-irs-rcna11260\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">passed<\/a> the \u201cAmerican Rescue Plan Act\u201d\u2014which had as much to do with rescuing as the \u201cInflation Reduction Act\u201d has to do with reducing inflation\u2014and changed tax code so that mobile payment apps like Venmo and Cash App were now required to report transactions totaling $600 or more <em>per year<\/em> to the IRS. Does that sound like a party aiming fire exclusively at high-earning Americans?<\/p>\n<p>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) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbsnews.com\/news\/irs-audit-eitc-five-times-as-likely-to-get-audited\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">were audited<\/a> 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\u2019t enough millionaires and billionaires in the world to keep a potential new 87,000 new IRS employees busy.<\/p>\n<p>There are other overlooked aspects of the Democrats\u2019 IRS expansion. The bill, for instance, strengthens the federal public-sector union monopoly that funds Democrats\u2019 political aspirations. IRS and Treasury Department employees spent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atr.org\/irs-agents-spend-tens-thousands-hours-taxpayer-funded-union-time\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">353,820 hours<\/a> engaged in union activism\u2014their PAC gives <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atr.org\/irs-union-gives-100-of-pac-spending-to-democrats\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">every cent<\/a> to the Democrats\u2014in 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. <\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>With that said, it\u2019s worth remembering that the IRS doesn\u2019t simply collect taxes, it enforces speech codes. This is what empowered Lois Lerner to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/economy\/irs-admits-targeting-conservatives-for-tax-scrutiny-in-2012-election\/2013\/05\/10\/3b6a0ada-b987-11e2-92f3-f291801936b8_story.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">target<\/a>\u00a0conservatives groups \u2013 \u201ccrazies <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/story\/2014\/07\/irs-lois-lerner-email-crazies-109544?hp=t2_3\">and<\/a> \u201ca\u2014holes\u201d \u2014 who used words like \u201cTea Party\u201d or \u201cpatriots\u201d in their names. But, even at the time, leftists at The New York Times editorial board <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2012\/03\/08\/opinion\/the-irs-does-its-job.html\">praised<\/a><\/em> the IRS for going after conservative groups because they did not \u201cprimarily\u201d engage in \u201csocial welfare,\u201d 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?<\/p>\n<p>Wrestling with the complexity of a tax code that is 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.<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">\n  David Harsanyi is a senior editor at The Federalist. Harsanyi is a nationally syndicated columnist and author of five books\u2014the most recent, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Eurotrash-America-Reject-Failed-Continent\/dp\/0063066017\/\">Eurotrash: Why America Must Reject the Failed Ideas of a Dying Continent<\/a>. His work has appeared in National Review, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Reason, New York Post, and numerous other publications. Follow him on Twitter, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/davidharsanyi\/\">@davidharsanyi<\/a>.<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-comments mt-30 mt-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-comments-container d-flex flex-column align-items-center py-30\">\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"110\" height=\"106\" src=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/fdrlst-mark.svg\" class=\"img-fluid mb-20\" alt=\"The Federalist logo eagle mark\" \/>    <\/p>\n<p>Unlock commenting by joining the Federalist Community.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/plans\/pricing\/\" class=\"btn btn-on-white\">Subscribe<\/a>  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Democrats\u2019 new reconciliation bill isn\u2019t just going to be the largest-ever expansion of a government agency, it\u2019s going to be the largest expansion of the domestic police state in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":831,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1599662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1599662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1599662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1599662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1599662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1599662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1599662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}