F3SS Posted July 16, 2014 #1 Share Posted July 16, 2014 House Strips Funding for IRS Bonuses, Fancy IRS Conferences Article highlights... The House passed a spending bill Wednesday that prevents the IRS from spending any money in the next year on bonuses for IRS officials, or on pricey conferences in resort spots around the country. Members passed several IRS-related amendments on Tuesday and Wednesday before passing the 2015 spending bill in a 228-195 vote. Those amendments included several that stripped out nearly $1.5 billion from the IRS’s enforcement budget — a 30 percent cut that will make it harder for the IRS to conduct audits of taxpayers, companies and organizations. Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-Fla.) added that the IRS has complained about the lack of funding to do its work, even as it has handed out millions in bonuses. “It is interesting they were paid by the new commissioner when the prior commissioner had decided that it was not appropriate to pay those bonuses,” Crenshaw said. “And then the new commissioner testified before our subcommittee how he was outraged that he didn’t have enough money to answer more than 61 percent of his phone calls.” The House also approved an amendment from Rep. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) to prevent the IRS from spending money on conferences. DeSantis noted one conference that cost more than $4 million that wasted money on a speaker who “created paintings on stage to make his point that one must free ‘the thought process to find creative solutions to challenges.’ ” “The troubling thing about the report was that the bulk of that money, $3.2 million, came from unused funds that were allocated for hiring,” DeSantis said. “Now, this is at the exact same time that the IRS began to single out conservative groups that sought tax-exempt status, in part, they said, because the agency simply did not have the manpower to handle the number of applications pouring in.” Late Tuesday, the House approved two other amendments related to the IRS. One from Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.) prohibits the IRS from spending money to violate the Federal Records Act, and the other from Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) prevents the IRS from paying a salary to any employee who has been held in contempt of Congress. These changes and the $1.5 billion funding reduction were additions to a bill that was already tough on the IRS before it was considered on the House floor. For example, the bill already imposed a ban on new IRS regulations for regulating the political activities of groups, and prohibits the IRS from targeting groups based on their beliefs or for exercising their First Amendment rights. http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/07/16/house-strips-funding-for-irs-bonuses-fancy-irs-conferences/ I guess that with a DoJ who refuses to acknowledge these crimes that this is the best we can hope for. It's too bad they left them any funding at all. I really wish they'd go away. Fair tax anyone? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OverSword Posted July 16, 2014 #2 Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) Very nice. Wonder if at some point there will be some form of passive/aggressive retaliation? Edited July 16, 2014 by OverSword Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F3SS Posted July 16, 2014 Author #3 Share Posted July 16, 2014 Very nice. Wonder if at some point there will be some form of passive/aggressive retaliation? How do you mean? From whom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F3SS Posted July 16, 2014 Author #4 Share Posted July 16, 2014 (edited) My god I might actually have to eat my words, according to this breaking headline... The Justice Department is conducting a criminal investigation into the loss of Internal Revenue Service emails that could shed light on the agency's treatment of conservative groups. As part of its criminal probe into the IRS's treatment of politically active conservative groups, the Justice Department is "investigating the circumstances of the lost emails from [former IRS official Lois Lerner's] computer," according to prepared testimony by James Cole, the deputy attorney general. Mr. Cole is set to appear at a... http://online.wsj.com/articles/lost-irs-emails-to-be-investigated-by-justice-dept-1405544018 Apparently you have to subscribe to WSJ to read their articles? So, is this Eric Holder's doing? Couldn't be. What's the catch? Lol edit: Shasta.Red.Banks of theblaze just answered that for me. All this means is that no one will be able to discuss these emails because 'there is an ongoing investigation'. This is one of Holder’s main ploys. Edited July 16, 2014 by F3SS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danielost Posted July 17, 2014 #5 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Nothing will be done, this investigation is smoke and mirrors. Holder is more worried about a float in Nebraska than anything illegal going on in the government. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F3SS Posted July 17, 2014 Author #6 Share Posted July 17, 2014 We'll this is the most of anything being done so far. It's just been a lot of yelling and scorning. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bubblykiss Posted July 17, 2014 #7 Share Posted July 17, 2014 Wow a useful law is passed. Kinda surprised that the gov't would have the political will to do anything, at all, ever..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now