This legislation will hurt American families, damage our economy, and move us further away from the economic freedom that has provided more people with greater opportunity than any other system in the world. The bill deals with a lot of hotly debated subjects, but one provision in particular is fueling anxiety that we are headed to more socialism and less freedom.
The bill gives the IRS an $80 billion windfall of your tax money to hire 87,000 new IRS agents whose job it will be to collect even more of your hard-earned money in taxes. Currently, the IRS has around 79,000 full-time staffers. Incredibly, the Biden administration and their congressional allies will more than double that.
The IRS will now have more employees/agents than the combined workforce of the Pentagon, State Department, FBI, and Customs and Border Protection. Their job will be to collect more money to fund more socialist schemes. And the chances of the IRS being politicized to go after conservatives is high. It has happened in the past.
The Biden administration claims these new IRS agents will concentrate on collecting more taxes from big corporations and the super-rich. But is that all? The Joint Committee on Taxation, the official bi-partisan "scorekeeper" on legislation like this, said that only 9% of the additional money the gigantic new IRS will collect will come from those making more than $500,000. All those extra agents will target working-class and middle-class taxpayers, like you, along with small entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses.
That is why the James Dobson Family Institute is so concerned. The average American family can't afford to hire high-powered attorneys and an army of accountants. Middle-class Americans and small-businesses are the core of our nation's economic success and job creation. A bigger, more aggressive IRS "on steroids" will make it much more difficult for middle American families. This is happening at a time when family budgets are already being crushed by higher food, fuel and housing costs.
During the all-night debate in the Senate, Senator Mike Crapo (R - Idaho) filed an amendment to the law that would specifically prevent the new IRS "army" from going after middle-class Americans through more onerous audits. Senator Crapo said, "My colleagues claim this massive funding boost will allow the IRS to go after millionaires, billionaires and so-called rich 'tax cheats.'"
Predictably, the amendment failed with 50 Republicans voting "yes" to protect middle-class Americans and small businesses, and 50 Democrats voting "no." That vote tells us the real intent of the legislation.
In the Bible, Christ was famously asked about paying taxes. He pointed to a coin with Caesar's image on it and told the crowd, "Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's." (Matthew 22:21 KJV) Historians said at the time that tax rates in the Roman Empire were between 1% and 3%.
Today you can be sure that 87,000 new IRS agents will be taking a lot more of your hard-earned money for "Caesar" and leaving a lot less for your family and church.
Action Items:
Pray. America was founded by men who believed our liberty came from the God of the Bible, not big government socialists. Pray that God will awaken the American people.
Vote. This November will be one of the most consequential elections in our history. If there is a massive turnout of God's people, a new House and Senate can help restore economic liberty, shrink growing government power and restore America to "one nation under God."
