IRS pinky-promises 87,000 more employees won't​ lead to more audits

"Imagine thousands of IRS agents descending upon America like a swarm of locusts!" That was the imagery Ted Cruz used on Wednesday to describe Democrat bill peddled by Sen. Chuck Schumer and Sen. Joe Manchin.

Of course, the always honest New York Times published an article claiming that the IRS pinky-promises 87,000 more employees will not lead to more audits. According to the New York Times, Charles P. Rettig, the Internal Revenue Service commissioner, said the agency would use $80 billion to modernize technology and crack down on wealthy tax evaders.

“These resources are absolutely not about increasing audit scrutiny on small businesses or middle-income Americans. As we have been planning, our investment of these enforcement resources is designed around Treasury’s directive that audit rates will not rise relative to recent years for households making under $400,000,” Rettig explained in a letter to Congress.

But according to Cruz, the bill aims at small businesses and individuals. "The Democrats' idea is that if they audit the hell out of Americans, think of all the money they can raise," said Cruz.

The Senate will take up the climate, health, and tax bill on Saturday.

What's in the bill?

TheBlaze reported that the spending bill would advance a progressive agenda with items including:

• Raising taxes by instituting a minimum corporate tax rate of 15%, which Democrats estimate will raise just $313 billion of revenue.
• Beefing up IRS tax enforcement to raise $124 billion.
• Permitting Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, raising a projected $288 billion.
• Spending $369 billion on "energy security and climate change."

Of course, the New York Times did what it does and found a way to blame former president Donald Trump.

"The agency’s scrutiny has crossed party lines, according to the I.R.S. inspector general. But it came under fire again last month after The New York Times reported that James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and his deputy, Andrew G. McCabe — both perceived enemies of former President Donald J. Trump — faced rare, exhaustive audits during the Trump administration. The I.R.S. said Mr. Rettig had not been involved in the audits," The NYT wrote.