Rich People Cheer As Republicans Cut IRS Budget

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


Steve Benen points me to the last paragraph of today’s Washington Post story about our shiny new $1 trillion spending package:

At domestic agencies, the EPA’s budget would be cut by $60 million, and the IRS would lose $345.6 million. The nation’s tax agency also would be banned from targeting organizations seeking tax-exempt status based on their ideological beliefs.

Isn’t that great? Republicans loathe the EPA as an engine of economic destruction that’s dedicated to destroying the coal industry, shredding the Fifth Amendment, and regulating American corporations into bankruptcy. But even at that, they only lost $60 million. The IRS, by contrast, lost six times as much.

I’m sure the public justification is punishment for the IRS’s supposed targeting of conservative tea party organizations. But in fact, this is business as usual. After being decimated for years following the Roth hearing witch hunts of the 90s, the IRS managed to slowly but steadily rebuild its enforcement staff during the aughts. Things had gotten bad enough that even George Bush was on board. Then Republicans took over Congress after the 2010 elections, and enforcement was once again targeted for cuts. In every year since then, the IRS budget has declined, enforcement staff has been cut, and audit coverage has gone down.

Why? It’s simple: If the IRS budget gets cut, it means fewer audits of corporations and rich people. Any other questions?

DEFEND THE TRUTH. DEFEND JOURNALISM.

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

DEFEND THE TRUTH. DEFEND JOURNALISM.

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate