U.S. Senators are the type of narcissistic windbags who revel in the opportunity to scold bureaucrats. It gives them the opportunity to fabricate the appearance of being "tough" or "no-nonsense" or whatever on big government waste that irks their constituents. This is especially true when those bureaucrats work for a punching bag like the IRS.
For whatever reason, Mike Johanns (R-NE) figured John Koskinen, the fairly new IRS Commissioner, needed to be reminded that 1,000 or so IRS employees who were not tax compliant received bonus compensation and paid time-off.
It appears Koskinen was ready:
Johanns presses Koskinen on bonuses to tax-delinquent workers. Koskinen: IRS employees have better tax compliance than Hill staffers. Zing!
— Richard Rubin (@RichardRubinDC) April 30, 2014
No word whether Koskinen dropped his mic immediately after making this statement.
Those who said after President Barack Obama’s speech last week to Congress that government does not create wealth, does not create jobs and cannot stimulate the economy spoke nonsense. So do those who say that only private business creates wealth, as if any revenue going to taxes destroys wealth. Adam Smith, who figured out market capitalism in his 1776 book “The Wealth of Nations,” could set them straight. We have plenty of equally competent economists who understand these issues today. They just do not get the attention that the news media lavish on high-profile politicians and pundits who speak with absolute certainty on matters about which their words show they know nothing. [
[K]ey Republicans have not responded positively to signals that President Obama will push for some tax increases in his deficit-reduction plan to be laid out this week. David Plouffe, a senior White House adviser, indicated Sunday that the president would reiterate his call to raise taxes on households making $250,000 and above and also signal a desire to look at other provisions in the tax code that wealthier taxpayers use to their advantage. In his fiscal 2012 budget, released in February, the president called for allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire for income above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples at the end of next year. That statement came roughly two months after a compromise with congressional Republicans had extended current tax rates for the richest taxpayers for two years. [
Pulling off tax fraud is a tough proposition. Hell, even the guys that are good at it