Is Biden really that bad?
- Thread starter Jimdamick
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Fogdog
Well-Known Member
There are three problems with that statement. Why am I not surprised?
First, one does not follow the other. That there was a scandal over the IRS purportedly targeting conservative groups, does not mean the IRS's enforcement capability should be squeezed to the point where it can no longer assure compliance with tax laws.
Second, the IRS did not target audits at all. They targeted political groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax exempt status. They did not pay damages. As a result of the settlement, the IRS admitted it was wrong when it based screenings of the groups’ applications on their names or policy positions, subjected the groups to heightened scrutiny and delays and demanded unnecessary information from the groups, the agreement in the Washington case said.
Third, it was only a scandal about the IRS targeting conservative groups because Republicans said so.
Four years later, the IRS tea party scandal looks very different. It may not even be a scandal.
It all seemed to add up. At least it did then.
The Internal Revenue Service, according to outraged Republicans and many media accounts at the time, targeted tea party organizations and other conservative nonprofit groups that were seeking tax-exempt status between 2010 and 2012. Critics said the tax agency had subjected the targeted groups to extra scrutiny, questioning and long delays, largely because their names suggested they would be political opponents of the Obama administration and the Democratic Party.
The allegations formed one of the best-known scandals of former president Barack Obama's administration and led to months of congressional hearings, official investigations and damning news coverage.
Now, it seems, it wasn’t so simple.
A report released Thursday by the Treasury Department's inspector general for tax matters indicates that the IRS also singled out nearly 150 organizations whose names suggested they were affiliated with liberal organizations. Without specifically characterizing the politics of the groups, the report said the IRS initiated reviews when applicants' names included words such as "occupy," "progressive" and "green energy" between 2004 and 2013.
The IRS targeted groups with Tea-Party names. They also targeted groups with liberal names. But the scandal was portrayed by the right as if they were being singled out A better look at what happened showed nothing of the sort. At the end of the day, the scandal was made into political dirt that was heaped on Obama who had nothing to do with it in the first place.
In any case, it is idiotic to think the appropriate action, rather than better oversight or checks and balances, would be to deprive the IRS of funds to the point where it cannot continue to perform its intended function. That is a lame idea.
doublejj
Well-Known Member
They will have to get them translated first....because they are in russian
Offmymeds
Well-Known Member
You could also remind readers that the vast majority of those 501(c)'s are conservative organizations. The bottom line is that these organizations are able to keep dark money flowing without taxation. The IRS has been tasked with making subjective calls over the law\regulations of a vast number of these orgs with few personnel. Their hands are tied. There's little wonder why they attempted some shortcuts to find offenders. Even though the only groups penalized were liberal groups, the conservatives are somehow the "victims".
We need to change the laws and quit tasking the IRS with this job.
Highway61
Well-Known Member
Political grifting has become big business especially since the Citizens United case was decided and the 501(c) scam is popular among conservative grifters. But paying taxes is unpopular among conservative grifters. That's why the conservative grifters are trying to make us believe that their own fear of the IRS should be all of our fear. I'd rather they just pay their taxes like the rest of us and quit hiding behind 501(c)s.
Paul Drake
Well-Known Member
No
ActionianJacksonian
Well-Known Member
Yeah yeah and the Census just made a little boo boo and let blue states keep what, 7 or 8 Congressional seats they lost from population exodus? I'm sure it's just a coincidence.
Herb & Suds
Well-Known Member
Trump never missed an opportunity to cheat
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/documents-reveal-trump-administrations-unprecedented-attempts-influence
https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/documents-reveal-trump-administrations-unprecedented-attempts-influence
Paul Drake
Well-Known Member
Thank goodness for foia
Paul Drake
Well-Known Member
Cheaters, liars and thieves, oh my…
DIY-HP-LED
Well-Known Member
President Biden's Approval Gets A Boost In New Polling
34,447 views Aug 29, 2022 President Biden's poll numbers have gotten a boost since July in new CBS News/YouGov polling. The president's approval now stands at 45 percent, up from 42 percent in July. The Morning Joe panel discusses.
Paul Drake
Well-Known Member
Don’t forget Reagan emptied the mental hospitals as well. I blame him for a major part of the homeless population.Oh horse shit, man.
The IRS was gutted right after Republicans took over in 2010. The cut and cut and cut the IRS budget to the point where the can't even answer phone calls for help with taxes. Their computer systems still run on COBAL. They can no longer pursue large corporations or wealthy tax cheats because they have neither the man power or lawyers to do so. Their ability to conduct audits has been cut to a fraction of what's needed to ensure compliance with tax laws.
We all know why Republicans did this. They are as corrupt as five day old road kill. It's all about paying less in taxes and the less the IRS is able to do, the easier it is to get away with dodgy schemes.
I know you won't listen to this but maybe others will, it's quite an eye opener assuming one doesn't close their eyes tightly shut. Your level of cynicism is sickening.
How the ultrawealthy devise ways to not pay their share of taxes
How the ultrawealthy devise ways to not pay their share of taxes
Journalist Jesse Eisinger says a trove of IRS data acquired by ProPublica shows that many of America's billionaires avoid paying any taxes — sometimes by claiming big deductions from posh hobbies.www.npr.org
DAVIES: A lot of Republicans have attacked this additional IRS funding, saying that they're really going after ordinary Americans and that it's going to be an intrusive attack. And I have to share quotes that were in The Washington Post from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy. This is the Republican leader in the U.S. House of Representatives. He said, quote, "do you know what the IRS has? Four thousand six hundred guns, 5 million rounds of ammunition. Why? Democrats want to double its already massive size." He further adds, "with this new power, the IRS will snoop around in your bank account, your Venmo, your small business. They, the government, will shake you down for every last cent." And then he adds that in light of the FBI's search on, you know, President Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago, "do you really trust this administration's IRS to be fair, not to abuse their power?" This has really gotten some traction, particularly in conservative media. What do you make of all that?
EISINGER: Well, I mean, let's be frank. It's ridiculous. These claims are based on lies. They're lying that these IRS agents are going to be armed. A bare, small percentage of them will be for only the most egregious situations of tax evasion for drug dealers, you know, cartel owners, organized crime. And they're going to have more agents, but they're losing agents at a huge clip and you - losing employees at a huge clip, so they can't answer phones for people. So most of these new employees are going to be answering phones for average people and helping them get their questions answered so that they can pay taxes.
This is a campaign against the IRS to protect corporations and the wealthy because corporations and the wealthy have had it so good for the last few years and decades and been able to avoid taxes and their tax burden - the largest corporations and the wealthy, especially the ultrawealthy - has collapsed. They're not paying their fair share. And the Republicans are protecting those people by attacking the IRS. And it would be comical - these lies are so easily debunked - except that when they talk about the IRS wielding weapons and Chuck Grassley talked about agents having AK-15s - I think he meant AR-15s, which is ludicrous - what that's doing is putting civil servants, hardworking IRS people, at risk. And in fact, the commissioner of the IRS, just in the recent days, had to put a safety alert out and a safety assessment out for employees because of all the threats that IRS employees are experiencing.
Fogdog
Well-Known Member
Try to at least reply on topic. Your ass was handed to you again. And your reply another fake grievance. Your cynicism sickens you.
The Census did its job despite all of the interference Trump gave it. It was hampered by Republican's bullshit, lies and mismanagement but still managed to do a job that would hold up in a court of law.
Let's get back to what happened to the IRS in 2010.
How the IRS Was Gutted
An eight-year campaign to slash the agency’s budget has left it understaffed, hamstrung and operating with archaic equipment. The result: billions less to fund the government. That’s good news for corporations and the wealthy.
How the IRS Was Gutted
An eight-year campaign to slash the agency’s budget has left it understaffed, hamstrung and operating with archaic equipment. The result: billions less to fund the government. That’s good news for corporations and the wealthy.
In the summer of 2008, William Pfeil made a startling discovery: Hundreds of foreign companies that operated in the U.S. weren’t paying U.S. taxes, and his employer, the Internal Revenue Service, had no idea. Under U.S. law, companies that do business in the Gulf of Mexico owe the American government a piece of what they make drilling for oil there or helping those that do. But the vast majority of the foreign companies weren’t paying anything, and taxpaying American companies were upset, arguing that it unfairly allowed the foreign rivals to underbid for contracts.
Pfeil and the IRS started pursuing the non-U.S. entities. Ultimately, he figures he brought in more than $50 million in previously unpaid taxes over the course of about five years. It was an example of how the tax-collecting agency is supposed to work.
But then Congress began regularly reducing the IRS budget. After 43 years with the agency, Pfeil — who had hoped to reach his 50th anniversary — was angry about the “steady decrease in budget and resources” the agency had seen. He retired in 2013 at 68.
After Pfeil left, he heard that his program was being shut down. “I don’t blame the IRS,” Pfeil said. “I blame the Congress for not giving us the budget to do the job.”
If your lizard brain can manage it, think about it. 2011. The US was in recession and the US government was taking in less revenue than it was spending in record amounts. And Congress CUT the enforcement arm of the US revenue system. We all know why. It wasn't because of that scandal they ginned up, That scandal took place a year after GOP fascists cut the budget to the point where Pfeil could no longer do his job.
They began cutting the IRS's budget a year before they initiated that witch hunt and "found" that the IRS was targeting political groups. Their answer was to ruin the department. Therin lies the difference. Democrats seek is remedy when things go wrong. Republican MAGA fascists seek revenge. That is what make them them party of small minds and poor governance. We are so much better off now that most people see your kind as different, strange, violent and unworthy of positions of power.
Corporations and the wealthy are the biggest beneficiaries of the IRS’ decay. Most Americans’ interaction with the IRS is largely automated. But it takes specialized, well-trained personnel to audit a business or a billionaire or to unravel a tax scheme — and those employees are leaving in droves and taking their expertise with them. For the country’s largest corporations, the danger of being hit with a billion-dollar tax bill has greatly diminished. For the rich, who research shows evade taxes the most, the IRS has become less and less of a force to be feared.
The shittiest part of the story is unfolding now. Asshat GOP MAGA fascist leaders are encouraging their gun toting mindless fascist followers to make death threats to IRS employees. All because wealthy people are cheating on taxes.
ActionianJacksonian
Well-Known Member
Said the IRS: “The IRS admits that its treatment of Plaintiffs during the tax-exempt determination process, including screening their applications based on their names or policy positions, subjecting those applications to heightened scrutiny and inordinate delays, and demanding some Plaintiffs’ information that TIGTA determined was unnecessary to the agency’s determination of their tax-exempt status, was wrong. For such treatment, the IRS expresses its sincere apology.”Try to at least reply on topic. Your ass was handed to you again. And your reply another fake grievance. Your cynicism sickens you.
The Census did its job despite all of the interference Trump gave it. It was hampered by Republican's bullshit, lies and mismanagement but still managed to do a job that would hold up in a court of law.
Let's get back to what happened to the IRS in 2010.
How the IRS Was Gutted
An eight-year campaign to slash the agency’s budget has left it understaffed, hamstrung and operating with archaic equipment. The result: billions less to fund the government. That’s good news for corporations and the wealthy.
How the IRS Was Gutted
An eight-year campaign to slash the agency’s budget has left it understaffed, hamstrung and operating with archaic equipment. The result: billions less to fund the government. That’s good news for corporations and the wealthy.www.propublica.org
In the summer of 2008, William Pfeil made a startling discovery: Hundreds of foreign companies that operated in the U.S. weren’t paying U.S. taxes, and his employer, the Internal Revenue Service, had no idea. Under U.S. law, companies that do business in the Gulf of Mexico owe the American government a piece of what they make drilling for oil there or helping those that do. But the vast majority of the foreign companies weren’t paying anything, and taxpaying American companies were upset, arguing that it unfairly allowed the foreign rivals to underbid for contracts.
Pfeil and the IRS started pursuing the non-U.S. entities. Ultimately, he figures he brought in more than $50 million in previously unpaid taxes over the course of about five years. It was an example of how the tax-collecting agency is supposed to work.
But then Congress began regularly reducing the IRS budget. After 43 years with the agency, Pfeil — who had hoped to reach his 50th anniversary — was angry about the “steady decrease in budget and resources” the agency had seen. He retired in 2013 at 68.
After Pfeil left, he heard that his program was being shut down. “I don’t blame the IRS,” Pfeil said. “I blame the Congress for not giving us the budget to do the job.”
If your lizard brain can manage it, think about it. 2011. The US was in recession and the US government was taking in less revenue than it was spending in record amounts. And Congress CUT the enforcement arm of the US revenue system. We all know why. It wasn't because of that scandal they ginned up, That scandal took place a year after GOP fascists cut the budget to the point where Pfeil could no longer do his job.
They began cutting the IRS's budget a year before they initiated that witch hunt and "found" that the IRS was targeting political groups. Their answer was to ruin the department. Therin lies the difference. Democrats seek is remedy when things go wrong. Republican MAGA fascists seek revenge. That is what make them them party of small minds and poor governance. We are so much better off now that most people see your kind as different, strange, violent and unworthy of positions of power.
Corporations and the wealthy are the biggest beneficiaries of the IRS’ decay. Most Americans’ interaction with the IRS is largely automated. But it takes specialized, well-trained personnel to audit a business or a billionaire or to unravel a tax scheme — and those employees are leaving in droves and taking their expertise with them. For the country’s largest corporations, the danger of being hit with a billion-dollar tax bill has greatly diminished. For the rich, who research shows evade taxes the most, the IRS has become less and less of a force to be feared.
The shittiest part of the story is unfolding now. Asshat GOP MAGA fascist leaders are encouraging their gun toting mindless fascist followers to make death threats to IRS employees. All because wealthy people are cheating on taxes.
What's wrong with GOP protests? Maxine Waters told us to get in their face. Schumer told us to unleash the whirlwind.
You can skew it all you want but you know I'm right. Obama doubled the debt. Trump added to it, largely because democrats stepped on his toes every step of the way. Also because of covid. Plus, interest alone on the 20 trillion dollar debt he inherited from Obama and Joe could pay for medicaid for everybody. Before covid we had the best economy in 50 years. Cheap gas, no new wars, lowest black unemployment in history.
Black unemployment drops to lowest level in recorded U.S. history, job numbers soar
The unemployment rate for black Americans fell to 5.4 percent in October, the lowest level since the government first started recording employment data in 1972.
Fogdog
Well-Known Member
dumbass.You can skew it all you want but you know I'm right. Obama doubled the debt. Trump added to it, largely because democrats stepped on his toes every step of the way. Also because of covid. Plus, interest alone on the 20 trillion dollar debt he inherited from Obama and Joe could pay for medicaid for everybody. Before covid we had the best economy in 50 years. Cheap gas, no new wars, lowest black unemployment in history.
Black unemployment drops to lowest level in recorded U.S. history, job numbers soar
The unemployment rate for black Americans fell to 5.4 percent in October, the lowest level since the government first started recording employment data in 1972.www.thecentersquare.com
That debt was due to Bush's recession. Your kind creates disasters and blame the crew cleaning up for the damage.
Worst pandemic response belongs to Joe. How long were businesses and schools shut down? How many people lost their jobs because of vaccine mandates that dont work? How long were the shelves bare without any test kits? Even 2 years later, Joe cant get out any treatment. Just vaccines that dont work for everybody. Yeah, great job democrats. Trained to stand up for high gas prices, inflation, crime, illegals, vaccine mandates and trannys. You guys are nuts.
Fogdog
Well-Known Member
Recall that Trump was always jiggering data to polish numbers. Those unemployment numbers didn't wash. Since when does unemployment go down to 1.5% and wages not rise? It is not believable. So, all you are bragging about is how good Trump was at deceit.You can skew it all you want but you know I'm right. Obama doubled the debt. Trump added to it, largely because democrats stepped on his toes every step of the way. Also because of covid. Plus, interest alone on the 20 trillion dollar debt he inherited from Obama and Joe could pay for medicaid for everybody. Before covid we had the best economy in 50 years. Cheap gas, no new wars, lowest black unemployment in history.
Black unemployment drops to lowest level in recorded U.S. history, job numbers soar
The unemployment rate for black Americans fell to 5.4 percent in October, the lowest level since the government first started recording employment data in 1972.
Paul Drake
Well-Known Member
What do you have against transsexuals?
Fogdog
Well-Known Member
I was so glad to see Biden's team get to it and do the heavy lifting required to get vaccines out. Only then could people start to get the economy up and rolling again.
Biden's performance after his first year:
6.2 million more employed after his first year. You prefer people to be unemployed for Trump's political gain.
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