This is my response to the letter to the editor condemning Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez for voting for the IRS to hire 87,000 agents.
I applaud Marie because she read the facts and is supporting middle and low middle income people. That is her job.
The facts and the history: The IRS has not audited people with money for years because they have not had the manpower. The audits are difficult because they include attorneys specializing in not paying taxes, shelters and ways to hide their money, such as overseas tax shelters.
Instead, the IRS will only audit middle or low income people. That is what the IRS can do with their resources. This was in the Newspaper. That’s me! I fall into this audit category. For years, the Republicans have degraded the IRS by not funding their budgets and the IRS has been unable to hire staff. This has resulted in upper income people protecting their interests and money. They also got massive tax breaks under Trump and the Republicans.
The Facts: C-SPAN completely dissected this bill.
The IRS wants the staffing to:
1. Audit higher income people who are not paying taxes
2. Hire staff that the Republicans have eliminated, and replace thousands of IRS staff that are retiring over the next 10 years.
3. Hire staff so middle and low income taxpayers can be helped. Now low staffing makes this almost impossible.
4. Hire staff to make computer upgrades, which helps middle and low income taxpayers.
This bill occurs over 10 years. I wonder why middle or low income Republicans don’t support this. Why are they not as upset as I am?
As a middle income taxpayer, I resent that higher income earners not paying their fair share of taxes, and the tax burden has been placed on middle and low income people. Instead of more help for middle or low middle taxpayers, higher income people want less help.
The letter that opposed the hiring of more IRS agents confirms my point. The writer stated that the poorest families are audited five times higher compared to 2% for millionaires. The writer wants this practice to continue by not hiring agents to audit the millionaires or people with money or businesses.
Beware when someone complains about the hirings. Think about who they are: Why don’t they support all people paying taxes? Why do they want to hurt and put the burden on middle or low middle income people? What is their reason? Why are they giving you distorted information? Be suspicious.
Marie Gluesenkamp Perez voted for the bill because she saw the facts and is supporting middle or low income people. This is her job. She does not support people who want to hide their money or don’t pay taxes. This is a bipartisan issue. Beware of those who are distorting the benefits to all of us taxpayers.
Judy Bell
Centralia
