There is an old adage “if you tell a big enough lie often enough then people will believe it” which apparently is the new Republican campaign mantra. Again the 16,000 or 16,500 new gun carrying IRS agents being hired to enforce the new health care law is just that a lie. The IRS at the end of the last fiscal year 31 Sep 2009 had 93,337 employees, 14, 264 as agents, less than 15% of their employees, if you add in “revenue collection” officers, who collect money owed and special agents who handle criminal cases who are law enforcement agents and the total still comes to less than 25% for all IRS workers.
Let me refer you to page 131 of the new Health Care Law, where it specifically prohibits the IRS from using the liens and levies commonly use to collect the money owed by delinquent taxpayers and rules out any criminal penalties for individuals who refuse to pay the tax for not having coverage or those who do not obtain coverage. So you need 16,000 or 16,500 new agents to enforce what the law specifically prohibits? There is nothing in the new law about hiring new employees.
So just were did the big lie about 16,000 new IRS agents come from? GOP members of the House Ways and Means Committee 18 Mar: The IRS MAY need to hire AS MANY AS 16,500 additional auditors, agents and other employees. Note they said “may” and “as many as” and other employees which can be anything from file clerks to support staff. Just a few quotes. Former Rep. Newt Gringich R-GA “one of the things in the health bill is 16,000 additional IRS agents” on Fox News. Press release from Rep. Dave Camp R-MI “Up to 16.500 new IRS agents would be required”. Rep. Paul Ryan R-WI on 21 Mar Fox News Sunday, “16,000 agents to police the new mandate”. Sen. John Ensign R-NV on the floor of the Senate 25 Mar “16,500 new IRS agents are going to be required to be hired because of the health care reform bill. Do we want IRS agents showing up at people's houses, not only to audit them because of their taxes but because now they are not paying an individual mandate fine”. Rep. Ron Paul R-TX “16,500 ARMED bureaucrats coming to to make the program work”. Almost all of these were reported on the Fake News Channel time and again. Shawn Hannity specifically said on his show that 16,000 new agents would be required even though Juan Williams tried to correct him about the non-enforcement portion of the bill, but Hannity was having none of that. There is nothing on the Fake News Channel anymore that is straight news, it is all slanted one way. The talking heads which make up 90% of the channel tell the lies then the so called news anchors report the lies as news.
While the new law will subject individuals to a “tax” starting in 2014 if they don't have coverage, IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman testified before the Ways and Means Committee on 25 Mar. 2010 that they would not be auditing individuals to certify they have obtained insurance coverage. Insurance companies will issue a form similar to that issued to show interest paid on mortgages. “We expect to get a simple form but we won't look behind, saying that a person has acceptable insurance coverage” Shulman said. “So there is not going to be any discussions about health coverage with an IRS employee” Shulman added.
So who do you believe the hysterical Right Wing Nuts or your lying eyes reading the language in the Health Care Reform Bill and what the IRS Commissioner says.
The Health Care Reform Bill also specifically requires members of Congress and their staffs to purchase their plans through the new health exchanges starting in 2014 when the exchanges should be up and running in all states, these are the same exchanges that individual American citizens will use. We currently subsidized 70% of their preminums through our taxes even though the great majority of those in Congress are multi-millionaires.
Some new employees will be hired by the IRS, the IRS' main job in implementing the new law will be to inform many small business owners of the new tax credits, starting this year, which will pay 35% rising to 50% by 2014 of the employer's contribution toward their workers health insurace premiums. In 2014 the IRS will also be administering additional tax credits to help millions of low and middle income individuals buy health insurance.
Yep, sure sounds like gun packing IRS agents are coming to visit you soon, you betcha! Just when was the last time an IRS agent came to your front door?
One of the 10 commandments is “thou shall not bear false witness”. Last time I checked bearing false witness meant telling lies. I have no comment on as to who has and who hasn't.
I find it strange that many of the loudest critics of Health Care Reform are the loudest of those that claim we are a “Christian Nation”, yet those same people are more than willing to let thousands of Americans die each year due to lack of health insurance and let hundreds of thousands of families go bankrupt each year due to no coverage or not enough coverage. It is also strange that a lot of the opposition to reform came from those over age 65 (more than 60% of those over age 65 polled were opposed to reform) who are covered by Medicare/Mediaid and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefits. For shame.
How do those that oppose an extention of unemployment benefits, free or low cost school lunches for poor or low income students live with themselves? They must believe what the Lt. Governor of SC said when he was speaking of free and low cost school meals in SC, he said his Grandmother told him, “You don’t feed wild animials, because they breed!”. If that is how you really care about children, then God have mercy on you.
To be a better citzen and voter these days you need to be informed, ignorance is no excuse not when there are so many sources to check the facts and too see just who said what and when.
Herbert C. Gullatt
Mount Airy
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