This week, U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., spoke on the Senate floor and requested unanimous consent to pass his legislation to rescind funds in the “Inflation Reduction Act” allocated to hire 87,000 Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents.
As expected, Scott’s proposal for consent failed.
He said the following in his speech:
“Last month, in a completely partisan process, Senate Democrats pushed through their progressive and deceivingly-named ‘Inflation Reduction Act.’ That bill was a disaster full of reckless tax increases and spending, but perhaps the worst part of it was that it authorized $80 billion in new funding to the IRS.
“$80 billion. For reference, that is about the same as what we allocated for Florida’s entire state budget when I was governor, and Florida is the third largest state in the nation.
“Even though the IRS does a poor job with the resources it currently has, Democrats opted to supersize the IRS so they can fund 87,000 new IRS agents, some of whom will be armed and willing to use ‘deadly force’ to carry out their duties. So while Democrats are calling to defund the police and leaving our border patrol agents without the tools they need to secure the border, they are happy to enlarge the IRS. We don’t even have 20,000 border patrol agents – a quarter of the number of new IRS agents Democrats want. Yet they have now approved 87,000 additional IRS agents. That’s insane.
“That many agents under the direction of President Biden should concern every American.
“We all remember that when Joe Biden was Vice President, the IRS went after conservative groups and Tea Party organizations. Now armed with tens of billions in new funding and tens of thousands of new agents, what is stopping Joe Biden from directing the IRS to go after other groups he doesn’t like? What about 501(c)3 pregnancy resource centers? Or Pro-Second Amendment groups?
“Here’s what Democrats are doing: They are turning the IRS into a super-agency to audit more Americans so they can fund even more of their reckless tax-and-spend agenda. And let’s not forget that last year Democrats wanted the IRS to spy on nearly every American’s bank account and track their everyday transactions.
“American families can see straight through Biden’s plans, and they are furious. We all should be furious.
“Without a single Republican vote, Democrats authorized 87,000 more IRS agents – doubling the size of the agency – all to pull as many dollars as they can away from hardworking families and small businesses so they can fund liberal projects and appease their radical base with more government handouts.
“Case in point: Biden’s illegal order to forgive student loan debt. Someone has to pay for the hundreds of billions of dollars in debt that these borrowers voluntarily took on. Now, instead of the borrowers paying for their own education, that burden is now borne by every American taxpayer. You didn’t go to college? Democrats don’t care. You will pay the debt of lawyers and doctors. Have you already paid off your loans? Biden doesn’t want to hear it. Tough luck. Your taxes are the money pot for other people’s student debt.
“And if Democrats are going to keep declaring everything to be free, Biden is going to need a lot more taxpayer money. That, my fellow Americans, is how we get full circle back to the supersized IRS. It’s a vicious cycle to fund a radical, socialist agenda.
“We must stop it now.
“I’m here today to do what countless Floridians have asked me to do: strike this terrible policy from law. It’s time to rein in the federal government, and that work begins with putting a stop to Biden’s IRS army.
“My bill would simply repeal this disastrous IRS expansion, and I ask all of my colleagues to support it.
Author
