Photo By 401(K) 2012/Creative Commons
Column By Mike Bibb
Republican Presidential candidate, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, believes the Internal Revenue Service is corrupt and should be abolished.
I’m confident he’s not alone in his opinion.
Similar to recent revelations of the Department of Justice and the FBI being politically “weaponized” as a tool against individuals opposed to the Biden Administration’s questionable behavior in many national policy decisions, it now appears the IRS is also a member of this club.
Several government whistleblowers have stepped forward to reveal information they believe exposes problematical methods and lawful procedures of the service.
Actually, IRS has long been accused of acting outside the law when dealing with individuals, certain corporate entities, and charitable organizations.
During the Obama Administration, IRS was exposed as being exceedingly harsh upon selected church and tax-exempt organizations.
Following economic and financial uncertainties brought on by mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, Biden’s proposed addition of 87,000 new agents makes DeSantis’ point abundantly clear.
Fortunately, tax-payer protection legislation was passed in the House of Representatives on a straight party-line vote of 221 Republicans for, and 210 Democrats against on Jan. 9, 2023.
Close, but enough to thwart the Dems ambitions of more tax-collecting agents seeking additional revenue wherever they can find it.
Including, between the cushions of your couch – euphemistically speaking.
However, five months have passed and the previously defeated IRS funding is back again, buried within the debit limit proposals.
DeSantis, currently trailing Donald Trump for the 2024 Republican nomination by a significant margin in various polls, remarked on the 87,000 new IRS hires “Of all the things that have come out of Washington that have been outrageous, this has got to be pretty close to the top. I think it was basically just the middle finger to the American public, that this is what they think of you.”
Realistically, the IRS – for all intents and purposes – is the tax collection agency of the federal government and the Federal Reserve banking system.
When the government borrows money from the Fed, there has to be some kind of enforcement apparatus to ensure the collection and repayment of their loans. Otherwise, the scheme wouldn’t work, and default would be inevitable.
The American taxpayer, in all forms, is collateral for these financial transactions.
IRS and the Federal Reserve (which isn’t a department of government, but a private banking organization), were created by Congress about the same time.
The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ratified on Feb. 3, 1913, authorized the collection of “taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived.”
Sounds straightforward and legitimate; when the true understanding of “income” is considered.
After a couple of rejections by the Supreme Court, the 16th Amendment was finally considered to be Constitutionally permissible because the word “income” was inserted to help define the intent of the legislation.
At the time, income meant “Profit or gain from the investment of capital and labor.”
It did not include wages, salary, or remuneration for one’s labor, for the simple fact such direct taxation was already prohibited by the Constitution.
Today, of course, a person can be fined, tried, and convicted for income tax evasion, failure to file a tax return, or other alleged violations, if a yearly IRS form is not submitted detailing their wages or remuneration.
Yet, for obvious reasons, the 16th Amendment has never been amended to include an individual’s wages or remuneration.
IRS and the courts merely ignore this inconvenient truth, knowing the government’s excessive borrowing, taxing and spending habits would be greatly jeopardized if adherence to the amendment was lawfully obligated.
Ironically, IRS now considers income as being whatever revenue comes in.
In my opinion, that is the biggest middle finger ever thrown by the IRS and the Department of Justice to tens of millions of U.S. citizens during the past several decades.
Even with IRS’ sometimes brutal procedures, our leaders have managed to rack up nearly $32 trillion in debt – through Democrat and Republican administrations – guaranteeing perpetual financial slavery for generations to come.
Incidentally, since repayment of principal is virtually impossible, interest on this indebtedness is one of the largest expenditures in the government’s annual budget.
In spite of all the waste, misspending, and fraud, the President and Congress can’t seem to find a way to reduce the budget by a measly five percent.
So, deeper in the hole we go – year, after year, after year. . .
The opinions expressed in this editorial are those of the author.
