Political Quotes

“I hope that there is an opportunity here for us to take a hard look at some of the issues surrounding the Republican assault on the IRS. We have documented that they have dramatically cut not just the resources, but the ability of people to implement it. There has been a refusal to hire people in some cases who make for the government $5,000 an hour or more. Now, these are people who would be dealing with audits for the people who, you know, for one reason or another give themselves the benefit of the doubt when it comes to filling out the tax form. So this audit function makes a significant amount of money for the taxpayers, money that doesn't have to come from increased taxes or reduced services. Mr. Speaker, there is a tax gap. It is well known and well documented, $400 to $450 billion or more a year. Being able to adequately fund the Internal Revenue Service will enable the government to deal with an amount of money that is due and payable and owing, and it is usually because they have more money to lose track of or to be able to have different alternatives for how they characterize it or how they choose to move forward. It tends to be larger, they tend to be business enterprises and people who have more money. But it is not just dealing with the audit function.…”